By James Thomson

Special thanks to Joanne Vesper for all of her many sacrifices and invaluable assistance.
Blacktop and the Street Saviors contributed by John Polojac, and are used here with permission.
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2
 Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 5 The Office of the Public Defender......................................... 98
Thanks for Visiting Bedlam .................................................... 5 Sample Public Defenders............................................. 99
What You Will Need to Use This Book .................................... 5 The Corrections System..................................................... 100
Bedlam Basics ................................................................. 6 Hospitals and Emergency Services .............................................. 109
How Big is Bedlam? .............................................................. 6 The Fire Department ......................................................... 109
Where is Bedlam?................................................................. 6 Sample Firemen ....................................................... 109
Which Way is Up?................................................................. 6 Sample Arson Investigators....................................... 111
Bedlam’s Economy: How Bad is it? ........................................ 7 Hospitals .............................................................. 114
Crime in Bedlam: How Bad is It? ........................................... 7 Animal Control .............................................................. 117
City of Now ................................................................. 8 Utilities .............................................................. 119
Why are There so Few Superheroes? ..................................... 8 Public Transportation in Bedlam ................................................. 122
Lost Lands and Other Worlds ................................................ 9 Bedlam’s Schools .............................................................. 126
Map of Bedlam City ................................................................10 Public High Schools ........................................................... 127
Neighborhoods of Bedlam? ...........................................................11 Public Middle Schools ........................................................ 129
Important Locations in Bedlam......................................................18 Public Elementary Schools ................................................. 130
History of Bedlam ................................................................24 Private and Parochial Schools............................................. 133
Your Guide to Bedlam’s City Government.......................................30 Notable People Within the Bedlam School System ............... 134
Municipal Council ................................................................30 Higher Education in Bedlam ............................................... 140
City Commissions ................................................................31 Business in Bedlam .............................................................. 142
City Departments ................................................................32 Bedlam High Society .............................................................. 148
Major Political Figures ..........................................................39 Bedlam Low Society .............................................................. 150
Criminal Justice in Bedlam ............................................................46 Shopping in Bedlam .............................................................. 154
The Bedlam City Police Force ...............................................46 Lawyers and Law Firms.............................................................. 157
How to Bribe a Bedlam Cop .........................................46 Security Firms .............................................................. 163
Structure of the Bedlam PD .........................................47 Private Detectives .............................................................. 165
Patrol Services ............................................................48 Sports in Bedlam .............................................................. 171
The Five Precincts.......................................................49 The Media in Bedlam .............................................................. 173
A Crime Scene: Who’s in Charge? ................................51 Newspapers .............................................................. 173
How Does Graft Work? ................................................51 What’s on TV in Bedlam .................................................... 175
Bedlam Patrol Officers .................................................51 Bedlam TV Personalities .................................................... 177
Ranking Officers .........................................................54 Radio Bedlam .............................................................. 178
Stats for a Squad Car and a Paddy Wagon....................58 Bedlam Radio Personalities ................................................ 180
Dispatch Center ..........................................................58 Art and Culture .............................................................. 182
Highway Patrol ...........................................................59 Nightlife in Bedlam .............................................................. 191
Traffic Patrol...............................................................59 Fine Dining in Bedlam .............................................................. 196
Special Operations ......................................................59 Bedlam’s Music Scene .............................................................. 200
SWAT ................................................................61 Social Life and Clubs .............................................................. 204
Sample SWAT Team Members ....................61 Secret Societies .............................................................. 204
Special Assault Squad .........................................63 Religion in Bedlam .............................................................. 208
Sample Members of Assault Squad..............64 Organized Crime in Bedlam: an Overview.................................... 211
Beefing up the Special Assault Squad..........66 Organized Crime in More Depth ......................................... 216
Community Relations Bureau .......................................68 The Mafia .............................................................. 216
Detectives Bureau .......................................................68 The Scarpia Borgatta........................................ 217
Investigative Resources ......................................69 Important Scarpias .................................. 219
Hostage Negotiation Unit ....................................69 The Gorganzua Borgatta................................... 223
Sample Hostage Negotiators ...............................70 Important Gorganzuas ............................. 224
Bomb Squad ......................................................71 Eentsy Z and the Last of the Last...................... 228
Homicide Squad .................................................71 Other Gangs of Wolverton ................................ 229
Robbery Squad...................................................71 The A’s ................................................... 229
Auto Crime Unit..................................................71 The Ravens............................................. 231
Burglary Squad...................................................72 The Rock and the Stone............................................ 231
Organized Crime Squad ......................................72 The Mara .............................................................. 237
Vice Squad.........................................................72 Other Gangs of Hardwick Park................................... 242
Narcotics Squad .................................................73 The Latin Aces ................................................. 242
Missing Persons Squad .......................................73 Los Furies........................................................ 243
Computer Crime Squad.......................................73 Gangs of Stark Hill.................................................... 246
Fraud Squad ......................................................73 The O’Ryan Boys ...................................................... 248
Juvenile Crime Squad .........................................73 The Brotherhood ...................................................... 248
Special Victims Liasion Unit .................................73 Gangs of the Country Club ........................................ 252
Gang Task Force ................................................74 The Triads .............................................................. 252
Sample Police Detectives ....................................74 The Iron Wind Society...................................... 252
Administrative Services................................................80 The Yip-Wing Tong .......................................... 254
Sample Police Administrators .......................................81 The Organizatsiya..................................................... 255
Training Bureau ..........................................................83 The Yakuza .............................................................. 258
Federal Law Enforcement in Bedlam .....................................83 The Narcotrafficantes................................................ 259
The FBI ................................................................84 Ellmore Place ........................................................... 260
The DEA ................................................................85 Invincible Ya-Ya Massive ........................................... 261
The UNICORN.............................................................86 Thunder Road .......................................................... 264
The Court System................................................................91 The Murder Club....................................................... 265
The Office of the District Attorney................................92 Beefing up the Resistance ......................................... 267
District Attorney Cord Killingsworth......................92 Legendary Criminals .............................................................. 269
Sample Assistant DAs .........................................93 Creepy Rumors and Sinister Forces............................................. 271
Judges of Note ...........................................................96 Running a Bedlamite Campaign .................................................. 273
The Probation Department ..........................................98 Metaplots and Grand Designs ..................................................... 277

3
Heroes of Bedlam ..............................................................278 Doctor Boogie and the Disco Pirates................................... 353
Nocturne ..............................................................278 The Brain-Raper .............................................................. 356
His Delta Interceptor.................................................280 Horrible Secrets for the GM Only ................................................ 358
Hammer of Justice.............................................................281 Denizens of Ash Street ...................................................... 358
The Midnight Shadow ........................................................283 The Bedlam Train Station .................................................. 358
Justice Xtreme ..............................................................284 The Smirlock Building ........................................................ 358
The Street Saviors .............................................................286 Secrets of Stone Ridge: Doktor Gertrund Harder ................. 359
Homegrown Menaces ..............................................................287 Father Dennis and the Celestial Spirit Fellowship ................. 360
The Nowhere Men .............................................................287 Big Chuck O’Ryan.............................................................. 360
Woodchuck Man .......................................................290 Where Does Assault Squad Keep Prisoners?........................ 361
The Ratcatcher .........................................................292 Operation Salami .............................................................. 362
Grim Diddle ..............................................................293 Rainbow Acres Treatment Center ....................................... 362
Stabbo the Clown ..............................................................294 Public School 113 .............................................................. 363
Doctor Scorch ..............................................................296 Greely Bridge .............................................................. 364
Mister Twisted ..............................................................298 The Serpent Room ............................................................ 366
Blacktop ..............................................................300 Gorgah the Lady-Killer....................................................... 369
Capricorn ..............................................................303 The Office of Tax Assessment ............................................ 369
Capricorn’s Murder Map .....................................................304 Detective Johnny Valentine................................................ 371
The Scarlet Man ..............................................................306 The Office of the District Attorney ...................................... 372
Eat-Em-Up Jack ..............................................................308 Dave Odnarski .............................................................. 372
The Queen of Skulls...........................................................310 Calabria Workingmen’s Benevolent Association ................... 373
Big Scary Guys From Out of Town...............................................312 Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars...................................... 373
Doc Zombie ..............................................................312 Mister Nobody .............................................................. 377
The Black Eagle ..............................................................315 Torchy the Firebug............................................................ 378
Captain Condor ..............................................................317 The Cannon .............................................................. 379
Doctor Frightful ............................................................ 319 Lucius Hardwick IV............................................................ 381
Hitler’s Brain ..............................................................323 Club Del Morocco .............................................................. 383
Hell-Girl and God-Boy ........................................................324 Berth 13 .............................................................. 384
Thor ..............................................................326 Mack the Hack .............................................................. 384
Code Name: Wifebeater .....................................................328 Doctor Death .............................................................. 385
Officer Friendly ..............................................................331 Rocco the Stick .............................................................. 385
Stupid and Violent .............................................................333 The Triads .............................................................. 386
Captain Violent .........................................................334 The Narcotrafficantes ........................................................ 388
Doctor Stupid ...........................................................336 Gom the Unspeakable ....................................................... 389
Naked Man ..............................................................338 Capricorn .............................................................. 391
$#!+face ..............................................................340 The Terrible Truth About the Diabolical Doctor Boogie......... 391
#@%&face ..............................................................342 Appendix A: Adventures in Bedlam ............................................. 393
Smashface ..............................................................344 Showdown at Papal Discount Warehouse............................ 393
Th’ Pope ..............................................................346 Stabbo the Clown’s Big Wacky Adventure ........................... 394
Master-Bot ..............................................................350 Open Game License .............................................................. 399
Minions of Master-Bot ...............................................351

4
Thanks for Visiting Bedlam What You Will Need to Use This Book
Welcome to Bedlam—the meaner, poorer, This is not a stand-alone game or an adven-
smaller, town next door to your main ture module (although we do have a couple
campaign city. The Gary, Indiana to its of adventures for you in the back.) It’s a
Chicago, the Newark to its New York, the setting for M&M Superlink adventures, a
Compton to its Los Angeles. The town fully-fleshed-out city that you can drop right
where your PCs can go to have grim urban into your campaign with NPCs and neigh-
adventures for a change of pace. borhoods and plot hooks all ready to go.
At least, that’s the way we You are going to need a copy of the M&M
conceived of it. If you would rather make core book and a bunch of willing players.
Bedlam the home city for your campaign, go And that’s about it, apart from the
right ahead, but we thought its dark and dice and snacks. While we’ve imported
corrupt atmosphere might be better for an some NPCs from other Plain Brown Wrapper
occasional visit than for a whole campaign. Games’ products (The Bad Guys, More Bad
This grim and gritty stuff can get pretty Guys, Another 13 Shades of Darkness) you
depressing after a while (just ask a certain won’t need any of those books to use this
pointy-eared Dark Knight.) It’s probably not one.
a great setting for a traditional four-color
campaign. It’s not a very four-color kind of
place.

5
Bedlam is a medium-sized city, probably problems. The stats we have included
located either on the East Coast or in the should work for any city in that size range.
Upper Midwest, somewhere near a much If you want to make it significantly bigger,
bigger metropolis (unless the GM decides add some more wards, some extra police
otherwise.) It has a waterfront, a harbor and fire stations, and increase the size of its
and a shipping terminal, but whether its Municipal Council. If it’s smaller, reduce
harbor opens onto an estuary or a lake them. You can still use the same map either
we’re leaving up to the GM. way—just assume there are either more or
Formerly an industrial town, less little side streets in between the big
Bedlam’s factories have largely closed. For main ones.
a while everyone hoped that the new
shipping terminal on Rook Island would
bring prosperity back to the city. Instead it
brought vast amounts of pollution and a
resurgence in organized crime. Then, We’ve carefully avoided including any details
through corruption and mismanagement, that fix the location of Bedlam in any one
the shipping terminal began to lose its cli- state. New Jersey and Pennsylvania would
ents. Bedlam gained a reputation as a place make a lot of sense. So would Michigan or
where shakedowns were common and Wisconsin. You could locate it California or
everybody wanted a bribe, so most of the the Pacific Northwest, but that would take
big ships stopped coming here. more fudging and require more changes. It
The municipal government has would be even harder to locate Bedlam in
fallen into default on its loans. To keep the the Southeast or Texas without changing a
city’s services functioning a lot of them have lot of the details. It’s meant to feel like an
been sold off to private contractors who are East Coast or a Rust Belt town.
now accountable to no one and provide But of course you don’t even need
exactly the kind of service you’d expect. to specify a part of the country. Bedlam is
It’s the kind of town where a visit to really located in the comic book territory of
the Department of Transportation won’t get Gothic Urban Wasteland: Night.
a pothole fixed, but a visit to the local
Mafiosi probably will. Bedlam’s cops are
famously crooked and trigger-happy—more
on them below. No major world-class One of the things we haven’t specified is
superheroes make their home here (unless where exactly Bedlam is in relation to the
the GM decides otherwise) but there might larger metropolis. It could be in any
be a vigilante or two lurking in the shadows. direction and anywhere up to about a
hundred miles away, to make it simpler for
you to integrate. For this reason, we
haven’t marked the directions on the
Bedlam map. While the top of the page
could well be north, it doesn’t have to be.
Use whichever set of cardinal directions
Because we don’t know how big your main makes the most sense in terms of where
campaign city is, we won’t set a specific your main campaign city lies.
population figure for Bedlam. It’s
somewhere between 120,000 and 500,000.
Not a huge city, but a big enough to have a
skyline, a waterfront and some big city

6
Let’s face it—not everyone in Bedlam can be Bedlam is not a post-apocalyptic ruin (where
a criminal or unemployed. Not everyone nobody has a real job and everyone is a
can be on public aid. Just how bad is criminal.) At least not yet. It’s nowhere
Bedlam’s economic crisis and where do the near as bad as, say, Baghdad. The crime
people with jobs get them? Here are the rate is one incident per 100 people, and in
statistics. some neighborhoods (like the Country Club)
Unemployment in Bedlam is at a it rises to an astonishing 1 per 20 residents.
totally shocking 12%. That’s about the In an average week you can expect
same as Flint, Michigan or Gary, Indiana and there to be about 240 felony offenses in
it’s nearly three times the national average. Bedlam, of which 140 will be violent crimes
The Median income is $27,200 for and 100 will be crimes against property.
individuals ($35,000 for men, $24,400 for Add to this 870 misdemeanors (thefts, car
women) and $32,205 for households. The thefts, vandalism, etc) and you have a city
per-capita income is $14,383. More than a that is by American standards positively
quarter of the population (25.8%) lives overrun with crime. But these are no worse
below the poverty line. This puts it firmly in than the conditions that really exist in some
the worst twenty cities in America in terms smaller US cities right now. There are cities
of poverty and unemployment. In most in other countries that have far more serious
years, it makes the bottom ten or even the problems with crime and poverty (Lagos and
bottom five. Calcutta for example.)
The largest employers in Bedlam are As bad as things are in Bedlam,
the Rook Island Shipping Terminal, the more than half the population has a job, not
Greely Point Docks, the Airport (which is all the local industries have entirely
actually expanding its employment collapsed and some areas (Greely Point and
opportunities), the Greely toy factory, the the Meadows) are actually experiencing
Snacktastic candy company and the host of economic growth.
smaller businesses associated with the But of course how bad Bedlam is
harbor, docks and airport (longshoremen, depends most of all on how bad the GM
warehousing, service and maintenance for wants it to be. If you picked up this book
airport vehicles, etc.) looking for a post-apocalyptic ruin, then feel
Except for the Greely Point docks, free to shut down Rook Island, cripple
the airport and the businesses associated Greely Point, put everyone out of work, and
with it, all of these sources of employment dial the crime rate up to something insane
are in decline and have experienced multiple like 1 per 10. Then buckle on your body
rounds of layoffs in recent years. armor and load up some extra magazines.

7
 Because we want to give your PCs a chance
to shine. The official rationale is that
Bedlam is a smaller city and statistically
speaking it doesn’t have enough of a
population to have more than a handful of
superheroes and vigilantes looking after it.
But in fact, it’s because we want to put your
Bedlam never really had a nickname, so in
PCs at the center of the campaign, where
the 1990s the Redevelopment Commission
they should be. When the city is in danger,
spent a lot of money trying to give it one.
there will be no one else to save it.
At first they wanted to use “The Steel City,”
Nocturne is too hard to get in touch
despite the fact that Bedlam’s steel mills
with and the other two vigilantes care only
were always a minor part of its economy.
about their individual neighborhoods. If the
Huge numbers of promotional buttons,
PCs don’t try to clean up Bedlam, who will?
banners, fliers and refrigerator magnets
Not the Hammer of Justice or the Midnight
were produced. A public statue was
Shadow—they’re part of the problem. And
commissioned and a giant gala celebration
not Nocturne, either, since he’s so focused
scheduled to launch the new name, along
on bigger, national issues and doesn’t feel
with a series of television commercials
much connection to his adopted city. It’s all
featuring a lovable mascot (a dog in a
in the hands of the Player Characters. The
hardhat named “Steel Hound”.)
decisions they make, their mistakes, their
Alas, it turned out the city of Gary,
victories and their defeats are going to
Indiana already had the rights to the name
matter.
“The Steel City” and they threatened to sue.
This also accounts for the relative
So the campaign had to be scrapped before
scarcity of super-villains in this book. It’s
it was ever launched.
true that a town this size probably wouldn’t
Without much development money
have a whole massive horde of superhuman
left, the Commission went to a lower-end
criminals living in it, but we also wanted to
publicity firm, which devised the slogan “The
throw the GM’s own villains into sharper
City of Now.” The Commission launched a
relief by giving them less competition.
considerably scaled-back promotional roll-
There are plenty of supervillains listed at the
out, which didn’t get the kind of attention
end of this book but most of them are either
they hoped.
hired guns that organized crime can bring
The logo looks old and dated, no
into Bedlam as needed, or else menaces
one uses the motto if they can help it, but
from out of town who might show up and
until they get the funds to come up with
go on a rampage. There are relatively few
something better, Bedlam remains the City
home-grown super-criminals to clutter the
of Now. Although some people really have
stage and get in the way of whatever villains
started calling it “the Steel City” which, it’s
the GM dreams up as antagonists for our
generally agreed, is a much cooler
heroes.
nickname.
Of course, it’s possible that the GM
might not have the time or the inclination to
devise their own villains, in which case you
can either have new ones roll into town on a
regular basis (this happens in the comics all
the time) or have one or more villain decide
to settle down in Bedlam and make it their
home.

8
Enclaves of dinosaurs hidden at the our view of Atlantis or the galaxy’s
Earth’s poles, secret fairy tale kingdoms in political balance to interfere with yours.
the alps, alien civilizations sprawling For this reason, we’ve tried really
across the stars—I’m afraid we don’t have hard not to include any NPCs with origins
any. As I mentioned back in the or back-stories that might conflict with
introduction, we want Bedlam to fit as your broader campaign history. There are
smoothly into your campaign as possible, no aliens, no Princes of Lost Atlantis, no
without distorting its edges. For that gods—not even any exiles from secret
reason, we haven’t included anything at science cities full of talking gorillas.
all about the Secret History of the World, (though I must admit I was gravely
the True Nature of the Universe or tempted by that last one.) Bedlam is
anything else that’s going to contradict really intended as an adjunct to your
your campaign’s back-story. We’re sure campaign world, not as a universe in its
you already have an alien Star Empire and own right. It’s frankly a challenge to try
an undersea kingdom or two. We don’t to write it this way, but I think it’s worth
want the extra effort.

9
10
 the inexpensive kind. Even dealers and
junkies leave this neighborhood as soon as
they can afford anything else. It’s the
roughest place in Bedlam, and yet only the
lowest levels of organized crime operate
here. The mob doesn’t want to dirty itself
with the Country Club, just as the country
Here’s a brief guide to the city’s individual
club wouldn’t have admitted them.
neighborhoods, including the bedroom
community of Stone Ridge, and the
Ash Street
unincorporated area outside the city limits
Known informally for the largest street that
that everyone informally calls “The
runs through it, Ash Street is a commercial
Meadows.”
district near the harbor, between Gravesend
Beach and the smog-poisoned heights of the
The Country Club
Country Club. Ash Street was dying even
Bedlam’s wealthiest citizens invested a lot of
before the new shipping terminal opened
money into creating a first rate golfing
and choked it with diesel exhaust. It’s not
resort and country club, on some wooded
as polluted as the Country Club, because it’s
hills overlooking the harbor. They had a
at the base of the hill rather than up on top.
good view of Rook Island and the charming
Still, the failure of the beach to attract
old Rook Island Naval Station.
business and the overall economic decline
The club was nearly ready to open
has shuttered most of the stores on Ash
when the Navy sold Rook Island, which
Street. There are a few shabby resale and
shortly became a freight terminal. Giant
thrift shops, a storefront church or two but
cranes and derricks worked day and night
for the most part Ash Street is utterly
rebuilding the island, ripping up the old 19th
desolate. Even criminals avoid this place,
century buildings and replacing its trees with
for the most part, since no one here has
a sea of concrete. The Country Club was
anything worth stealing. The low level of
already getting unpopular by the time the
street crime and abundance of abandoned
first of the giant ocean-going container ships
buildings have made Ash Street Bedlam’s
arrived. Soon you could hear the deafening
Skid Row.
blasts of their horns at any hour of the day
Most of the buildings along Ash
or night, and the huge old trees around the
Street itself are two-story shop fronts, in a
country club began to die from the clouds of
style best described as “ugly.” Everything
reeking exhaust.
here seems to be made out of brown brick,
Today the country club stands
smudged with smoke from the diesel fumes.
empty, its putting greens gray and dead, its
It smells of exhaust, like most of the
trees bare skeletons clutching at the sky.
neighborhoods near the shipping terminal.
Ironically enough, the shipping terminal
The horns from the giant ships are very loud
which killed the club is now dying, too.
here, and can be heard at all hours of the
The name “The Country Club” has
night (although not quite so much, now that
come to apply to the surrounding
Bedlam’s port is failing.) Trash collection
neighborhood, where fine old homes have
isn’t very good, and there are a lot of papers
been divided and subdivided into
and old plastic bags blowing through the
apartments for people who can’t afford to
desolate streets. No aluminum cans,
live anywhere else. The meandering streets
though. Collecting discarded cans is the
stink of exhaust and the police venture here
only form of ready employment this
only in groups. A brisk trade in narcotics
neighborhood offers.
goes on in the Country Club itself, but only

11
Gravesend Beach There is a real shortage of locally
Bedlam never did have much of a beach. owned businesses here and there are no
The sand at Gravesend is cold and hard and supermarkets or department stores at all.
slopes down too sharply into the water, People buy food from little corner markets
creating vicious undertows. It recent years and convenience stores, which offer high
it has eroded a great deal, leaving what prices and not much variety.
remains of the beach narrow and The police and other emergency
uncomfortably small. It’s a truly excellent services are notoriously slow in this
place to go of you would like to find neighborhood. Emergency response time is
cigarette butts and broken beer bottles double what it would be in Stark Hill. In the
under your beach blanket. winter, their streets always seem to get
The city’s Department of Public plowed last (but only because the Country
Works used to post lifeguards here all Club’s streets never seem to get plowed at
summer. Now they post signs that say all.)
“Swim at Your Own Risk” instead, since
that’s a lot cheaper. Hardwick Park
Most sections of the beach are
accessible directly from the street, and yet
not many people visit. Not because of the
trash or the cold and dangerous water, but
because of the shipping terminal across the
harbor. The giant container ships that dock
there make so much noise and release so
much diesel exhaust that if one is pulling
into port, a day at the beach can become
unbearable.
Now that less ships come to Bedlam
it’s not quite so bad, but people have yet to
rediscover the dubious pleasures of
Gravesend Beach.

Wolverton
This is the neighborhood that most people
think of when they think of Bedlam.
Impoverished, dangerous, predominantly
African-American, Wolverton is wracked with
street crime and has a serious problem with
drug-dealing gangs. It sits between the Within sight of the towers of Downtown you
mean streets of Hardwick Park and the can find the troubled neighborhood called
meaner streets of the Country Club. The Hardwick Park. Mostly small drab apartment
ruined factories of Industrial Drive hem buildings and little shopfronts, it clusters
Wolverton in on the East. around Lucius Hardwick Memorial Park,
The people who live here aren’t as Bedlam’s largest and most dangerous public
badly off as the folks in the Country Club. space.
Property values are low, but that means that Formerly an Italian and Polish
most residents own their own homes. neighborhood, it has slowly become the
Wolverton consists of one-story houses on home of most of Bedlam’s Hispanic
small lots, with occasional commercial strips residents. There are just a few bitter
here and there—most of them no more than holdouts from the old neighborhood here
one street wide. There are few apartment and there, yearning angrily for the days
buildings, and the ones that do exist tend to when the Mafia ran Hardwick Park.
be in very bad repair. Most of the people who live here
came from El Salvador, but some are from

12
Puerto Rico, Honduras and Mexico. It’s a Stark Hill
tight-knit community, for the most part,
but it has a serious gang problem.
Smaller than Wolverton, in some
ways it’s a better place to live and in other
ways it’s worse. More of its businesses
are still functioning, and almost all of
them are locally owned. There are lots of
little streetcorner bodegas and resale
shops here, and numerous pupusa stands.
Not many of the storefronts are boarded
up and empty. But it has other problems.
Almost everyone here rents their home,
and a few rich Anglo landlords from Stone
Ridge own most of the neighborhood.
They have grown even richer by cutting
corners and letting their buildings fall
apart. Since many of the folks who live
here are either illegal aliens or don’t trust
the American legal system or both,
complaints are rare no matter how bad Once Bedlam’s toughest neighborhood,
conditions get. Stark Hill has now long since been
For the most part the people in surpassed by places like Wolverton and
Hardwick Park work hard and try to stay Hardwick Park. A mixed Irish, Italian and
out of trouble, but organized crime has Polish community, it sprawls over the hills
gained a deep foothold in the behind downtown, a maze of twisting
neighborhood. narrow streets where it’s hard to find your
A Honduran gang called the Mara way around unless you’ve lived here all your
has reportedly grown very strong here, life. Someone keeps taking down the street
pushing out all the other street toughs signs, which makes it even harder.
and establishing a firm hold on the local Stark Hill is full of cheap bungalows,
drug trade. They say the Mara is no ancient rowhouses, pizza joints and corner
simple youth gang, but a national network bars. A working-class place, it has always
with chapters all over the Western been the kind of drab, dreary neighborhood
that ambitious kids try to escape. Now that
Hemisphere. They are said to practice
hard times have come to Bedlam, it’s gotten
weird and bloody occult rites that
worse. Most of Stark Hill’s residents are
resemble a kind of tainted Santeria and to
over fifty. The few young people who stay
execute their rivals in human sacrifices. in town could wind up as dock workers or
No one knows if any of this is true (a bartenders or running errands for the Mafia.
Streetwise Check vs. DC 25 reveals that There aren’t a lot of other options. An
it’s half true—the Mara do have other atmosphere of shabby decay hangs over the
chapters scattered around the country in a whole neighborhood, many of the shops
kind of loose federation and they do like have closed. Yet there is almost no street
to scare people by claiming to practice the crime here, no muggings or burglaries or
occult.) stick-ups. For this is the stronghold of the

13
Bedlam Mafia. Many eyes watch the street. Downtown Bedlam
Outsiders are instantly noticed and quickly
made to feel unwelcome. Local residents
know better than to report things to the
cops, who in any case are likely to owe
more loyalty to the Scarpia family than to
the Municipal Council. Their grip may be
weakening elsewhere, but in Stark Hill the
Mafia still controls absolutely everything.
It used to be that Stark Hill was
divided into an Irish and a smaller Italian
neighborhood, separated by an invisible line.
But once Hardwick Park became a Hispanic
neighborhood, most of its Polish and Italian
residents fled to Stark Hill, and jumbled
things up considerably. Now the only Bedlam has an impressive skyline for a town
important consideration for being accepted its size. It has more than ten skyscrapers
in Stark Hill is being white. Black and over thirty stories high, and a whole cluster
Hispanic families have tried to move into the of lesser towers in the 20-30 story range. If
neighborhood more than once, but they you saw Bedlam from a distance, at night,
always get driven out. In fact, the reason you would have no idea that it was in so
the Mob has always held such a powerful much trouble. At least until you looked a
clutch on Stark Hill is that they keep non- little closer, and saw the amputated stump
whites out of the neighborhood, so people of the Gorman Tower looming unlit over
regard them as the lesser of two evils. downtown.
There is a lot of casual prejudice here—and Bedlam built most of its skyscrapers
some of it isn’t so casual. A black person early, back in the first part of the twentieth
who gets lost and wanders into Stark Hill century. A redevelopment push in the
may find themselves in serious danger. 1980s added some strange looking
“Dapper Donny” Scarpia, Bedlam’s postmodern buildings to its art-nouveau
most powerful Mafiosi, still lives in Stark Hill. skyline. Presently its architecture is a
Unlike a lot of Mob overlords he has never peculiar mix of crumbling gothic stone
felt the urge to move to the suburbs. facades and cold, weird asymmetrical steel
Supposedly he hangs out with the same and glass designs. Either one would be
buddies at the same arcade (it doesn’t really charming and strange by itself. The
have a name—the sign above the door just combination looks odd and ugly.
says “Arcade”) playing the same pinball At street level downtown is a mess.
games as he did when he was a teenaged Bedlam suffered through some bad riots in
streetcorner thug. Some people wonder the late 1960s and parts of the central city
why he clings to this dying world, but in fact still haven’t recovered all these years later.
it gives him a huge advantage over his There were massive redevelopment efforts
competitors, the Gorganzua family. in the 80s and 90s, but they failed midway
Dapper Donny knows everything through. Many of the older buildings are in
that happens on his streets, stays intimately poor repair, their baroque facades stained
in touch with his supporters and so gets and crumbling. There aren’t enough renters
much more loyalty out of them. People for all the office space, so large parts of the
serve him out of fear, but a lot of them love bigger buildings sit vacant. Then there is
him too. And love, as he says, is a the Gorman Tower. This ugly monstrosity
commodity you can’t buy, steal, or beat out was only half-built before they abandoned
of anybody. it, yet at forty stories high it is still the tallest
building in Bedlam. For years it has marred
the downtown skyline, jagged and
incomplete. The city doesn’t have the funds

14
to demolish it and there is no way to do enriched the Mafia, which is deeply involved
bring it down safely in any case. So it hulks in every aspect of the facility, and
there, deserted except for the rats and strengthened their grip on the city. Even
derelicts. Bedlam’s wealthy families have suffered
(see the section on “The Country Club”.)
Rook Island Shipping Terminal The pollution from the big ships isn’t as bad
The heart of what remains of Bedlam’s as it used to be, now that the Terminal is
economy, freighters from around the world failing.
dock at the Rook Island Terminal, taking Tours of the island are not regularly
advantage of Bedlam’s low taxes and loose available to the public. However, there is a
safety regulations. Once freight is unloaded small (and rather shabby) Naval Museum
at Rook Island, it travels to the mainland located at the north end of the island, in the
either on trucks, across the Terminal and last of the Naval Station’s old brick
Greely Bridges, or by boat, into Bedlam buildings. Open from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Harbor or the smaller dock facility at Greely on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, it
Point. receives few visitors.
Ten years ago Rook Island was a
quiet, wooded place. An old 19th century Bedlam Harbor
naval station stood here, though the Navy
didn’t use it for much anymore. It was a
local tourist attraction, with its huge trees
and picturesque old brick buildings.
Then the Navy ceased operations on
the island altogether, and turned it over to
the Bedlam City Government. The Municipal
Council arranged to bring a new shipping
terminal to the island and with it new
prosperity for Bedlam. The deal was
approved behind closed doors, the public
was shut out and so the Rook Island
Shipping Terminal got built without a lot of After the Rook Island Shipping Terminal
oversight or controls. Almost all the island’s opened, Bedlam Harbor flourished for a
trees were cut down and all but one of its while. The Scarpia crime family flourished
beautiful old buildings were bulldozed. with it. They already had their claws deep
There are still a few tiny strips of trees and in the harbor and controlled what little trade
marsh up at the North end of the island, but came through it. When Rook Island opened
they’re dying. Most of Rook Island is a for business, they had a sudden windfall.
concrete maze of giant cranes, derricks and Then they blew it. Greedy and
warehouse facilities. Even the largest cargo disorganized, the Scarpias stole too much,
ships can dock here, which ironically has took too big a cut, roughed up people
done the city more economic harm than unnecessarily and gave Bedlam a bad
good. reputation among shipping companies and
Rook Island is much too close to a freighter captains alike.
populated shore for giant freighters to dock They have now officially killed the
there safely. These huge vessels give off goose that laid the golden egg. Few ships
clouds of pollution that have made whole come to Rook Island anymore, and the
neighborhoods undesirable places to live. warehouses at Bedlam Harbor sit half empty
Their thunderous horns can be heard at any most of the time. The smaller facility across
time of the day or night, deafeningly loud. the river at Greely Point gets most of the
A lot of people have moved away trade that still comes through Rook Island,
and a lot of local businesses have closed, which causes the Scarpias no end of
while a handful of investors have grown exasperation, since it’s controlled by
very rich. The shipping terminal has also

15
Bedlam’s other mafia family, the point, between Lurman and Moon, is
Gorganzuas. Bedlam’s oldest Italian neighborhood. It’s a
Bedlam Harbor is a scary place at small place, just a few blocks wide, where
night. The streets are deserted, there is tall, narrow row-houses pile up the steep
nowhere to eat or have a cup of coffee, the hillside, seemingly on top of one another.
dead warehouses loom on either side of the This is the stronghold of the Gorganzua
darkened street, unlit and silent. crime family. It isn’t as scary and desperate
looking as Stark Hill, but you can see that
Greely Point it’s old and poor. Just as in Stark Hill, there
The smaller port across the river from is almost no street crime in this part of
Bedlam Harbor, when the local Mafiosi were Greely Point and outsiders don’t feel
dividing up turf, Greely Point was the booby welcome here. Sailors from the ships
prize. The big and powerful Scarpia family docked at Rook Island know better than to
took Bedlam Harbor and threw Greely Point walk into any of the little neighborhood bars
to the smaller, weaker Gorganzuas. But around Lurman Avenue.
because the Gorganzuas were less
organized and less thorough than the The Meadows
Scarpias, they weren’t able to lock Greely An unincorporated zone out near the airport,
Point down as tightly as the Scarpias the Meadows is the only one of Bedlam’s
controlled Bedlam Harbor. In the long run neighborhoods that seems to be growing,
this worked to their advantage. Freighter rather than shrinking. The airport’s relative
captains didn’t experience as many success has spawned a host of other
shakedowns at Greely Point and the harbor businesses—warehouses, machine shops,
officials weren’t as crooked, so they came to building suppliers and so forth, and this has
prefer it to Bedlam Harbor or Rook Island. in turn brought in workers, who need
Both ports are in a state of decay, but restaurants to eat at, gas stations to fill up
Bedlam Harbor has decayed a lot faster and their cars and places to live. Poorly zoned
worse. There is still money to be made at and loosely controlled, the whole area has
Greely Point—a little of it anyway. sprung up at random, outside the city’s
The commercial and warehousing jurisdiction.
district behind the docks goes up a steep Not very heavily built-up, the
hill. People joke that you need four-wheel Meadows looks like sprawl, which it is—all
drive here when it snows. strip malls and gas stations with lots of
Most of the construction on this side empty space in between. Almost no
of the river is shabbier and more recent buildings here are more than two stories
than it is in Bedlam proper. There are no tall. All the streets are named for letters or
skyscrapers. Everything looks tall and numbers. There is a vague plan to name
narrow, hunched together on the hill as if them after presidents or famous people at
scared of falling off. some point, but no one has gotten around
There aren’t a lot of residential to it yet.
neighborhoods in Greely Point, but some For the most part this is still a
people do live here. Up on top of the hill commercial district. Only a few actual
(past Moon Avenue) there are some big old residents have moved in, most of them in
19th century homes, mostly subdivided onto apartments above storefronts. But as the
apartments. And over on the south slope of population of the Meadows grows, so will its
the hill is one of Bedlam’s last wealthy problems. Local police services are provided
neighborhoods, where huge oaks and elms by the county sheriff’s office—the Bedlam
tower over fine old houses around Griswold police occasionally come over here, but not
Street. Most of the remaining residents are often. Nor does the overworked Bedlam
elderly and some of their beautiful old Fire Department make a priority out of calls
houses are starting to fall into disrepair. from the Meadows. It is unclear at the
The hill is steeper on the north moment where children from the Meadows
slope, and just where it's at its steepest are supposed to go to school.

16
 The Meadows also falls into a gray ordinances, it has rules, enforced rigidly by
area in terms of its relations with organized the homeowner’s association. No deviation
crime. It’s a boomtown with a slow police from their standards of clean, tidy lawns and
response time, which makes it a prime blandly right-wing politics are allowed. The
target for Bedlam’s Mafia families. But it wrong political bumper sticker earns you a
didn’t exist when they last drew up the fine. Wearing the wrong kind of clothes
boundaries of their turf, so it doesn’t earns you a bigger one. If you have a
officially belong to either of them. The problem with the way your trash gets picked
Gorganzua family got a head start here, but up or a security guard who intimidated your
the Scarpias are rapidly moving in. This spouse for no reason, you don’t have
causes confusion and resentment on the anyone to complain to but the Association,
part of local business owners—people don’t and whether your complaint gets heard
know who to pay their protection money to. depends on how well-connected you are.
So far the two families have avoided directly Stone Ridge has roughly three types
confronting each other, but it’s unclear how of houses. Huge and ugly, gigantic and ugly
long this can last. and enormous and ugly. Officially there are
six different “styles” of house available, but
Stone Ridge they all look more or less the same.
There are still rich people in Bedlam—or at There are no sidewalks—here
least right outside of it. The wealthy gated people get in their cars to drive to the
community of Stone Ridge offers exclusive community shopping center a block away.
living for what remains of the city’s Built quickly and cheaply, the immense
moneyed class. It’s beyond the jurisdiction houses are prone to electrical faults and a
of the city government, so they have been host of other problems. Most of the
able to hire their own utility contractors, residents came from the neighborhood
their own garbage collection service and of around Bedlam’s country club (see “the
course their own private security firm. Country Club”) and didn’t have much time to
Surrounded by an eight-foot stone be choosy.
wall with broken glass covering the upper Many of Bedlam’s wealthiest and
two feet, guarded by hulking armed guards most prominent citizens live here, including
night and day, Stone Ridge is effectively its Channel 13’s anchorman, Obediah Brick and
own separate community—run at a profit. (it is rumored) “Young Junior” Gorganzua,
Stone Ridge has its own tennis club, head of the Gorganzua crime family. No
shopping plaza and detention center. You one ever sees Young Junior around the
could grow up there without ever having to neighborhood, but then again, no one has a
leave it at all. clear idea of what he looks like, either.
Instead of taxes, everyone pays
homeowner fees. Instead of local

17
Here is a brief and far from comprehensive
list of locations in Bedlam. We hope it’s
detailed enough to give your PCs a feel for
the city, but loose enough to give you plenty
of room to add your own locales.

City Hall
Bedlam City Hall is presently closed for
renovations, and has been for five years.
Cost overruns and a corruption scandal
halted the refurbishment and then the city’s
ongoing fiscal crisis kept them from starting
construction up again. The city fathers have
spent a lot of time reassuring the public that
City Hall will reopen soon, better than ever.
But then, for the last year or so, they have
gradually stopped talking about it.
Home to rats, winos and the
occasional temporary crack den, the huge,
decaying old building with its classical The trains may not run on time in Bedlam,
façade was recently featured on the news, but they do still run. Unlike a lot of
when it was discovered that one wing had medium-sized American cities, Bedlam still
become infested by venomous snakes. has a functioning passenger train station.
When they have to hold private Perhaps “functioning” is too kind a term.
meetings, the City Council either use one of Built back in the city’s glory days at
the conference rooms at the County the turn of the twentieth century, Bedlam
Courthouse, or gather in one of their private Station is a graffiti-scarred hulk of a building
residences. They tend to hold public where the intercom never works right, the
meetings in school auditoriums. floors are never clean, the employees are
notoriously surly and drugs and other illegal
Bedlam City Train Station commodities can be purchased in the
restrooms.
Big for a city this size, the station
building itself is magnificent, with a high
arched ceiling, crumbling Art Nouveau
statues and a giant skylight in the middle of
the main hall. A little sun still dimly filters
through the layers of grime on the skylight.

Bedlam Bus Terminal

Serving both Trailways and Greyhound, the
Bedlam Terminal is where folks come when
they can’t afford any other way to get out of
town. The terminal has been officially under
construction for years, but the last
contractor defaulted on the project and after
that the city ran out of money. They’ve

18
been trying intermittently to find another sentimental attachment to his hometown,
contractor, but no one wants to do it for the and the package of incentives they offered
amount of money they can afford to offer. him looked very generous. Building
In the meantime, the ticketing office and regulations were circumvented, five or six
waiting rooms are housed in a large trailer, office buildings were acquired through
located under a freeway overpass. eminent domain and then bulldozed, and
There are fans set up in the corners work began on the Gorman Tower.
of the waiting room, but it still gets stiflingly It was planned as an eighty-story
hot in summer. It’s also too small. People monolith, with a shopping mall and state-of-
who can’t find a seat inside sit around the the-art meeting center on its lower floors.
dusty parking lot, waiting for their buses to But at around the time the frame of the
arrive. Some sit on the steps, some lean on building reached the fortieth floor, Dick
the rails, some just flop down in the dirt. Gorman quarreled with the city authorities
Two years ago someone threw an and decided to locate his headquarters
air conditioner off the overpass and it elsewhere. Work was suspended and the
punched a three-foot-wide hole in the legal battles began.
waiting room ceiling. The hole is still there, The City of Bedlam’s underfunded
covered by a sheet of plywood. and disorganized attorneys were no match
The restrooms are housed in a for Dick Gorman’s lawyers. The city’s
separate, smaller trailer across the lot. Yet attorneys showed up late for court dates,
for some reason the waiting room smells like failed to file papers on time and generally
a busy latrine. The actual bathrooms smell bungled their case so badly that not only did
like nothing of this earth. the judge (and later the appellate court)
The ticket agents sit in a hastily rule that Mr. Gorman didn’t have to pay for
constructed bulletproof glass cube at one demolishing the structure, but that the city
end of the terminal. They often leave the had to cover all his court costs. They have
door of their cube open, since it tends to get been quietly paying it off in installments
unbearably hot inside. ever since. In the meantime, they have a
Drug dealers sell crack in the huge, dangerous eyesore in the middle of
bathrooms, and underage boys sometimes downtown. The city has boarded up its
sell other services there as well. Yet the entrances, which has not kept out the
Bedlam Terminal isn’t as crime-ridden or derelicts and rats. They have posted
dangerous as the bus stations in big cities warning signs around it, which does not
like New York and Chicago. There are no stop little pieces of the building from falling
dark corners for muggers to hide in and no off and puncturing roofs blocks away.
one here has anything worth stealing, which There was some talk of reopening
keeps violent theft at a minimum. There the case, but Dick Gorman’s commercial
aren’t even very many panhandling vagrants empire collapsed in 2002 and there doesn’t
around, since no one here has any spare seem to be much point in suing him any
change. more. A court injunction keeps the city
government from blowing the building up,
The Gorman Tower but in fact they don’t have the money to
Forty stories high and only half complete, have such a huge structure demolished,
the Gorman Tower is an eyesore on the anyway.
Bedlam skyline that no one seems to know More and more pieces seem to fall
how to get rid of. Its history is a sad lesson off each year—and they’re getting bigger.
in how this city works (or fails to.) How long will it be until the whole thing
In the late 1990s, Bedlam comes down?
Redevelopment Commission approached an
eccentric internet tycoon named Dick Bedlam International Airport
Gorman with an offer to build his new One of the few really vibrant parts of
corporate headquarters in Bedlam. This is Bedlam, the airport is beginning to outgrow
the city where he grew up, he felt some its current facilities, but there are as of yet

19
no funds available to expand it. Meanwhile, into relocating here. “Justice Xtreme” was
a whole neighborhood is growing up around having some troubles just then, although no
it and taking part in its economic success one realized quite how bad their troubles
(see “The Meadows” on Page 174.) were. They had a new team leader (Mister
Bedlam has tried and tried to attract Extreme), a brand-new lineup of heroes and
at least one national airline to its busy little they needed a new base of operations.
airport, but no one has taken them up on it. The deal Bedlam offered them was
For now it mostly serves cargo planes, generous. The city paid for everything and
although two state airlines run irregular promised them the cooperation of local law-
flights off its runways. Facilities for enforcement. But there was a condition.
passengers are fairly primitive. There are The Redevelopment Commission wanted to
no jetways here—passengers walk out onto change the team’s name to “Maximum
the runway to board the aircraft. Nor is Xtreme.”
there anywhere to eat or buy a newspaper Mr. Extreme didn’t like the new
inside the terminal. Just rows of dusty name, because he hadn’t thought it up
vending machines full of snacks that haven’t himself. He also didn’t like the statue they
been replaced in a while. Yet Bedlam’s low city built outside the main entry hall. A
taxes and loose regulations make this an generic statue of a superhero soaring into
ideal cargo transshipment point, even the sky, he felt it didn’t look enough like
though the Mafia takes a bite of everything him.
moving through the facility. Despite these warning signs that all
Initially the Mob ignored the airport. was not right with Justice Xtreme and its
When they divided up the city’s turf, leader, construction continued and Mister
Bedlam’s organized crime groups paid little Extreme continued to audition new team
attention to it—they were much more members at the city’s expense. He seems
focused on the docks and the Rook Island not to have wanted to pick anyone who
Shipping Terminal. might overshadow him. The results of this
And so it became Gorganzua turf. policy became disastrously apparent when
But since the Meadows aren’t officially Justice Xtreme faced its first battle in
anyone’s territory, the bigger, meaner Bedlam. The newly reconstituted team
Scarpia Family has been hijacking cargo failed so disastrously and so publicly that no
once it leaves the facility. This is the single one could ever look at them the same way
thing most likely to provoke a mob war in again. See Page 284 for a full account of
Bedlam. It’s a war the Gorganzuas probably the terrible events that happened that day.
couldn’t win—unless they were to cheat and The police asked the surviving team
bring in hired superhuman talent from out of members not to return to Bedlam for their
town… own protection. Everyone sued everyone,
the whole mess is still tangled up in appeals
The Citadel and the headquarters sits half built and
People don’t like to talk about the Citadel. unoccupied, ten years later.
It covers most of a block downtown, with a People in Bedlam still feel so hostile
wide stretch of dirt and concrete out front to Justice Xtreme that the city has had the
that was supposed to be a public park. Still statue encased in a concrete block to
only half-constructed, this was going to be prevent it from being defaced any further.
the headquarters of Bedlam’s one and only Only its feet stick out.
superhero group—Justice Xtreme. Its
official name is the “Citadel Xtreme” but The Wolverton Community Canter
people think that sounds stupid, so they just This small building is called a beacon of
call it the Citadel, when they can be hope for the neighborhood, by everyone
persuaded to speak about it at all. who doesn’t know better. A huge banner
Ten years ago Bedlam’s above the door says “Aspire”, which is the
Redevelopment Commission managed to center’s motto. It hosts drug treatment
talk a nationally recognized superhero team programs, public meetings, midnight

20
basketball and a dozen other programs to Hardwick Memorial Park, where feuding
help keep kids off the street and on track. crack gangs make every stroll an adventure.
The center is run by Ellwood “Big Named after one of Bedlam’s oldest
Daddy” Grimes and his protégé, Justice “Big and meanest city fathers, this beautiful old
Daddy Junior” Jackson. They both have park was his gift to Bedlam—or at least to
checkered pasts. Justice was a talented but the other rich people who lived in his
angry student who got sent to prison for neighborhood. Rumor has it that mean old
threatening a teacher. Big Daddy was a Mr. Hardwick hated his sons so much that
former drug dealer who experienced an when he died, he willed all his money into
epiphany in prison and took Justice under the construction and landscaping of this
his wing. He helped the boy survive and the park (his sons had to go out and make their
two of them determined that when they got own huge fortunes.) It does look
out they would dedicate their lives to expensive, with arcaded stone walks and
keeping other kids from the same fate. decorative arches, caked now with many
Both became heavily involved in the layers of graffiti. A scowling, long-jawed
Community Center and now the two of them statue of Lucius Hardwick stands in the
run it. They are smart, charming, articulate park’s very center, glaring with disapproval
guys who hold forth at great length about at the state his legacy has fallen into.
how the Community Center serves the youth The Honduran street gang called
of Wolverton. Big Daddy Junior is actually a the Mara controls all the open-air drug sales
poet, and intends to be the next Langston in Hardwick Park, but there is friction among
Hughes if he can’t become the next Andrew the different crews who operate there, and
Young. Anyone who makes a Streetwise it has turned violent in the past. Worse, the
Check vs. DC 20 will find that the fact that crack is available in the park means
Community Center is an excellent place to that desperate addicts are always skulking
buy drugs, get an illegal loan or put out a around, looking for ordinary folks to rob so
contract on somebody’s life. Rock Johnson, that they can go buy another hit. But all of
one of Wolverton’s two reigning crime lords, these things happen in the south end of the
has effectively made the Community Center park.
his own. When Big Daddy and Big Daddy What few people outside the
Junior tell their inspirational story, they neighborhood know is that the north end of
somehow neglect to mention the fact that Hardwick Park has been declared off-limits
they sell kids dope or sometimes execute to drug traffic and armed confrontations.
them when they can’t pay. The Mara want there to be a place where
local families can go to enjoy a little
Lucius Hardwick Memorial Park sunshine and fresh air, so the park’s
northern end is kept rigorously safe. All the
playground equipment and basketball courts
are located up there, and on any nice day
you can see kids playing with their parents
and scary looking gangbangers taking the
day off to shoot a few hoops and relax.
There are always a few thugs looming
around in their gang colors, but they aren’t
here to hurt anybody—they’re here to make
sure nobody gets hurt. This is not as nice
as it sounds. The safe end of the park is
small and crowded, and the Mara don’t
extend their protection to anyone who isn’t
of Honduran decent. If you are, for
Would you like to get mugged in the middle example, African-American and you want to
of the afternoon? Then visit Lucius spend time in the park, you are out of luck.

21
The Celestial Spirit Fellowship now how he could have dreamed up a work
A glimmer of light in the darkness that is of such visionary grandeur. This thirty story
Bedlam, Father Dennis’ youth shelter offers tower is a unique example of the Art Deco
a helping hand to any lost or runaway child style, strange and asymmetrical in its
who seeks it. proportions. It’s hard to discern its outline
There is one central headquarters properly from a distance—people keep
on Ash Street, with a half dozen other safe misjudging its height and even its position
houses scattered around the city. Each on the Bedlam skyline. Inside it’s even
physical location can house between ten and odder, with slanting ceilings and strangely
twenty children. Father Dennis also knows shaped halls.
a whole network of good, caring families It was intended to house the
around Bedlam who can take in a child in Smirlock Bank and provide luxury
need. The PCs may be aware that he has apartments in the upper floors. Yet every
quietly used his network of contacts to help major business that has moved into the
parahuman children—even to hide them if building has failed and it never caught on as
they are being threatened by some powerful a place to live—it’s too sterile and too weird
foe. and people who spend much time there
The Fellowship never has enough tend to develop mysterious headaches.
money, they are always short on beds and As an odd footnote to its history,
Father Dennis is forever robbing his own more people have disappeared inside the
meager income to help out someone or Smirlock Building than in any other structure
other. in Bedlam. There have been no less than
Ostensibly a church, the shelter is six mysterious disappearances within the
nondenominational and doesn’t try to building, including Norton M. Smirlock
impose any one set of spiritual beliefs on its himself.
young charges. Father Dennis himself is an The Bedlam City Paper recently ran
Episcopalian priest, but the Celestial Spirit a humorous article on the Smirlock Building,
Fellowship is completely independent of the in which they published old photographs of
Episcopal Church. Despite being ordained, its exterior and interior over the years. Both
Father Dennis has no congregation and little the inside and the outside of the building
formal contact with the Episcopal hierarchy. have come to look progressively stranger
He seems to have no political and more elaborate as the years have
agenda, no desire to make a name for passed, yet there has never been any
himself. His reputation is quietly growing reconstruction or remodeling project. In
inside the city, but he does nothing to 1936 it looked almost normal. Now it looks
promote it. Running the network and like it was jointly designed by Frank Lloyd
counseling his young charges takes up all Wright and H.P. Lovecraft.
his time, from the moment he rises to the
moment he goes to sleep. He has no social Industrial Drive
or private life left over. There are light industrial districts in Greely
Point and out near the airport, but nearly all
The Smirlock Building of Bedlam’s large factories are located on
Bedlam experienced two big waves of Industrial Drive, a grim, six-lane
downtown construction—one at the turn of thoroughfare that marks the western
the 20th Century and one in the 1980s. boundary of Wolverton.
This means that it almost completely missed Bedlam’s factories nearly all stand
the Art Deco movement. Bedlam’s only real derelict and deserted. Giant trucks no
example of an Art Deco Skyscraper is the longer roar down Industrial Drive at all
Smirlock Building, constructed in the early hours of the night and the smokestacks no
1930s. It was commissioned by the longer belch filth into the air, but this is still
celebrated banker Norton M. Smirlock, who a dangerous place. Many of the dead
was so stolid and unimaginative in his other factories have become drug dens or meeting
affairs that no one could understand then or places for the underworld. Others turn into

22
illegal nightclubs once the sun goes down. poorest citizens of Bedlam into low-rise
One of Wolverton’s most prominent tenement slums that aren’t much different
gangsters, a gentleman known as “The from the public housing projects elsewhere.
Rock” (see Page 231) makes a good part of These six blocks of misery act as a kind of
his income from these illicit clubs and he is buffer zone between the African-American
said to live full time in one of them—no one gangs of Wolverton and the Hispanic gangs
knows quite where. in Hardwick Park.
Even now that most of the trucks
are gone, it is still incredibly dangerous to Shady Meadows
cross Industrial Drive. It doesn’t have
nearly enough stoplights and people drive
very fast down its six pockmarked lanes.

Corporation Yard
Bedlam’s Department of Transportation has
long since been sold off to subcontractors
with dubious connections to the city
government. Corporation Yard, the
Department’s old headquarters, out near the They also take Section 8 Housing vouchers
end of Industrial Drive, is vacant and silent. in Shady Meadows, a giant mobile home
This was a grand old building—it looks as park outside Bedlam’s city limits. However,
though it has come straight off of some most people from the city prefer not to
1930s poster for the WPA. The police still move there. It’s a dangerous place, full of
use it to store and maintain their bikers and meth labs. More violent and
helicopters, but otherwise it’s completely prone to mayhem than Bedlam’s inner city,
deserted. The Department’s tractors, this is where the county and state dump the
snowplows and dump trucks sit abandoned worst of their hard-luck cases.
under tarps. The offices are locked, with It’s hard to get to Shady Meadows
chains across the door. from the city—you have to follow Shady
What perfect place for a superhero Lane out from the Country Club into the
battle! If only some villain would come and wooded areas to the south of town. If you
take up residence here… follow Shady Lane into town, you’ll find
yourself in the Country Club or Ash Street,
Ellmore Place and neither neighborhood has much to
Officially there aren’t any public housing tempt visitors. They don’t have any
projects in Bedlam. Instead of building businesses that folks from the trailer camps
cheap housing for the city’s poor, they issue would like to patronize, and they’re both
“Section 8” housing vouchers which the dismal, run-down neighborhoods that are no
destitute can use to buy decent housing for fun to visit. As a result, people from Shady
themselves anywhere in the city. The Meadows don’t go into the city much at all,
problem is that the only buildings that and do most of their shopping and
accept Section 8 Housing vouchers are all hellraising in small towns and bars out in the
run-down apartments on Ellmore Place, on countryside.
the boundary between Hardwick Park and
Wolverton. This effectively crams the

23
1780 widely separate parts of town. The city’s
Bedlam is founded by the semi-literate first master villain arguably turns up this
explorer, evangelist and opium fiend year. He is a masked copperhead (a
Zebediah Scarlett. He hopes to lead a group supporter of the Southern cause in the Civil
of like-minded religious maniacs into the War) who calls himself the Phantom
woods to found a perfect Christian republic Emperor and claims to lead a “Phantom
where he can fondle as many underage girls Empire” that stretches nationwide. He
as possible, far from the world’s unforgiving certainly seems to control an army of armed
gaze. He calls the town “Bedlam” because anti-abolitionist fanatics in Bedlam.
he’s confused the name with “Bethlehem.”
Within three years, Scarlett is murdered by 1863
his friend and confidante Rule Hardwick, The Phantom Emperor is killed by a mob of
who subsequently hogs both the opium and enraged citizens. Oddly, Lucius Hardwick,
the girls for himself. Scarlett’s vengeful the town’s richest man and most prominent
ghost plagues the community for a while, banker, vanishes forever on the very day
until offered up a sacrifice of girls and the Phantom Emperor meets his doom.
opium. It is rumored that he still demands
this tithe today, once every few years. 1900-1910
The prospering city undergoes a massive
Note: If Bedlam is anywhere but the East period of construction, embracing the new
Coast, move this date up to 1830. “skyscrapers” before almost any American
town of its size. Bedlam soon has an
1810 impressive skyline.
Bedlam is now a thriving center of trade,
thanks to its position at the mouth of an 1905
estuary. Rule Hardwick has long since been G. Morgan Stark, one of Bedlam’s wealthiest
murdered by his son, Measure, who has landowners, brings in large numbers of
subsequently steered the community away Italian and Polish immigrants to work in his
from religious lunacy and toward making toy factory. He does this in direct
lots of money (though the girls and opium competition with his arch-rival Langhorne
continue to be a major benefit of Greely, who has already started bringing in
leadership.) The presence of large numbers Italians to slave away in his
of pliable, opium-dependant girls has proved slaughterhouses. In his efforts to outpace
a boon to Measure’s money-making efforts. Greely, Stark expands his factories too fast
and many gruesome accidents happen in
Note: If Bedlam is anywhere but the East the toy-works.
Coast, move this date up to 1850. Stark settles most of the new
arrivals near the city’s old Irish community,
1860 a safe distance away from decent folk. The
A large metropolis (whichever one is the neighborhood comes to be known as “Stark
dominant setting for your campaign) is Hill.”
growing rapidly near Bedlam, which shares As soon as large numbers of
in its expanding wealth. The Hardwick, immigrants start arriving, the Phantom
Greely and Stark families remain Bedlam’s Empire suddenly undergoes a resurgence
most prosperous citizens. They hate one and a new Phantom Emperor is crowned. In
another viciously and build mansions in response to their bloody incursions, the folks

24
on Stark Hill organize armed resistance 1921
groups, and the first stirrings of the Bedlam Dr. Harwood Crawley founds the Crawley
Mafia begin. Lunatic Asylum on the deserted grounds of
the Bedlam Girls’ Academy. Over the next
1910 eighty years it will be home to many of
Lucius Hardwick Jr. is stabbed to death by a Bedlam’s most famous maniacs and crazed
Sicilian immigrant named Joe Igglioni. A supermen.
large wave of anti-Italian sentiment To this day, some mystics wonder
follows—yet the Phantom Empire fails to about the wisdom of founding an asylum on
capitalize on it. They seem to be a spot so thoroughly tainted by dark and
undergoing some kind of crisis in their sinister forces from beyond. But of course
leadership. no one listens to them.
Dr. Crawley himself commits suicide
1917 within just a few years, but his legacy
Large numbers of African-Americans from carries on to this day.
the South arrive in Bedlam to fill the factory
jobs left open by the First World War. The 1930-1939
Phantom Empire grows in strength as local Bedlam is weathering the Great Depression
residents respond to the newcomers with better than many small cities, but crime and
fear and resentment. poverty remain a problem. The dominant
mafia families in town are now the
1919 Gorganzuas and the Igglionis, although the
Some people whisper that this is the year dynamic young Scarpia Family is rising fast.
Zebediah Scarlett came back angry and in But the field is wide open and lots
force. No one is quite sure how the city of colorful gangsters rise and fall during the
fathers manage to drive him off (or appease thirties. Hook-Hand O’Grady, No-Nose
him.) However, conspiracy theorists will Muldoon, “The Queer Fellow” and many
later note that Bedlam’s most exclusive girl’s others vie for a chunk of the action.
school closes that year in the wake of some Bedlam’s number one police detective,
terrible nameless tragedy. Some of the Sammy “Snap-Brim” Hammer and his Flying
surviving girls found a weird mystical order Squad manage to put a handful in jail and a
called “The Sisterhood of the Screaming dozen or so in the morgue, but never
Stars.” Their goal is revenge and they intend manage to take down the Bedlam Mob
to have it by one day gaining the means to itself.
destroy Bedlam and the men who rule it.
1940
1920-1933 Lucius Hardwick III dies, leaves the
Prohibition leads to the growth of huge beautifully landscaped Lucius Hardwick
organized crime networks throughout the Memorial Park to the city, with a covenant
country, including in Bedlam. The Phantom stating that no colored people are ever to be
Empire reaches its zenith in 1922, effectively allowed inside.
controlling local politics until 1925, when the
newly strengthened Mafia wrests control of 1942
the underworld away from the Irish gangs Bedlam is menaced by a crazed cabal of
and the Phantom Emperor suddenly has to Bundist Nazi sympathizers called “Der
deal with them as equals. Now that no one Bluttbanner.” “Snap-Brim” Hammer breaks
leads armed raids into Stark Hill anymore, them up with the help of a mysterious
the Phantom Empire loses its appeal for its masked vigilante called the Scorpion. While
rank-and-file members and over the next Snap-Brim claims that the Bluttbanner
ten years the organization slowly melts contained many old members of the
away. Phantom Empire, he is never able to prove
it.

25
1943 Bedlam’s downward spiral accelerates.
Sammy “Snap-Brim” Hammer forced into
retirement. 1970
Since the cops can’t be trusted to protect
1943-1950 Wolverton, a champion middleweight boxer
The Scorpion is seen more and more in named Clayton Stone decides to become the
Bedlam and crime really does seem to be neighborhood’s defender. He never wears a
abating. By 1950 the city is at its economic costume or adopts an alias, but people start
zenith. calling him “Black Anvil” all the same.
Stone’s older brother Lincoln Stone becomes
1951 a rising force in Wolverton’s organized
The Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars rackets at around this same time. Over the
finally discovers the mystical power that it next few years, the brothers will have
has been seeking. They begin a plan that numerous confrontations, ending in tragedy
will take fifty years to complete. in the 1980s.

1960 1972
Bedlam’s economic heyday draws to a close. A major parahuman scandal comes out—the
A period of stagnation begins. youthful counterculture superhero team
called “The Now” are sent to prison on
1963 charges of corruption, drug abuse,
The Scorpion suddenly disappears. inappropriate relations with minors and most
shockingly, human sacrifice. Despite the
1966-1973 fact that the whole thing was a frame-up,
Bedlam police and city leaders grow this puts the final nail in the counter-
paranoid about “hippies” and do everything culture’s coffin.
in their power to keep them out of town.
Four different student activists and black 1973
community leaders die in police custody Clayton Stone kills Leo Gorganzua Jr. After
under suspicious circumstances during this a brief internal struggle, Don Leo’s son
period. “Young Junior” emerges as the new head of
the family. Clayton Stone leaves town and
1967 his older brother agrees to give half his
After an unnamed incident, long term operation over to the Scarpia family in
enmity begins between the Bedlam Mafia exchange for protection from the
and the Chicago Outfit. Fortunately for Gorganzuas. The Scarpias are now the
Bedlam’s three major crime families, they biggest of the city’s crime families.
are under the aegis of the New York
Commission, which forbids Chicago from 1975
wiping them out. Yet relations with Chicago Mob war bloodies the streets of Wolverton.
never really improve and Bedlam’s mobsters A rising young hooligan named Rock
are never welcome there again. Johnson tries to take over the rackets with
the backing of the Igglioni family. After a
1968 brief but bloody period of warfare, the Rock
Race riots erupt in nearly every major city and the Stone decide to share Wolverton
around the US. The National Guard is called between them. They still do, to this very
into Bedlam and for three weeks there are day.
tanks on the city’s streets. The Bedlam
police and the guard behave quite badly in December 1977-January 1978
the African-American neighborhood of A masked fiend who calls himself
Wolverton and local people remember their “Capricorn” begins stalking and slaughtering
brutality to this day. Big sections of people in Bedlam. The city is on the edge
downtown are damaged in the riots and of a hysterical panic. Everyone is talking

26
about Capricorn. They say he has killer—he performs all the same mutilations
superhuman powers. on the bodies, including the ones the police
Capricorn taunts the police and the never made public. He kills ten people this
press with numerous messages, some in time, to make up for the one he missed in
code, inviting them to figure out the pattern 1981.
to his killings, and stop him. No one does.
He kills nine people in hideous ways and 1986-1989
then vanishes. Nobody ever cracks the The crack boom hits Bedlam, hard. Chaos
code. and violence erupt on the city streets and
downtown businesses start relocating
1980 elsewhere.
A vigilante called the Blue Shield appears in Mystics claim that there is a
the Stark Hill neighborhood. He will later barefoot man who walks the streets of
change his name to the Shield of Justice, Bedlam, helping people. He somehow
and then to the Hammer of Justice (despite embodies the city’s soul. He can hear his
having never carried either a hammer or a town’s misery and listens to the things she
shield.) Over the next thirty years, he whispers on her reeking asphalt breath.
wages a brutal, zero-tolerance, one-man They call him the Ratcatcher. He has been
war on crime. He never strays very far out an alcoholic ever since some time in the late
of Stark Hill, and he spends nearly as much sixties, but now he’s grown addicted to
time keeping black people out of the crack.
neighborhood as he does fighting actual Somewhere the remaining members
street crime. Despite being a two-fisted of the Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars are
crusader of justice, he never does anything cackling.
about the Bedlam Mafia, even though he
lives and works in their biggest stronghold, December 1986-January, 1987
Stark Hill. Capricorn returns. He delivers more
messages, and a reporter notices that he
December, 1980-January, 1981 seems to be drawing some kind of weird
Capricorn is back. He claims that he’s going occult diagram on the city, marking its
to kill another nine people, and that he’s corners with mutilated bodies. Following
going to go on doing it every three years this pattern, the police figure out where he
“until my work is done.” is likely to strike next, and they catch him
But then they catch him. Capricorn red-handed, in the midst of a murder.
has claimed eight victims, when the police Controversy rages for years over whether
apprehend Wilbur Coote, an unemployed they let him kill an innocent person so as to
man from Hardwick Park, and the murders be able to catch him in the act.
stop. Coote maintains his innocence, but a Capricorn fights the officers who
huge amount of circumstantial evidence apprehend him so vigorously that afterwards
links him to the crimes. they speculate that he really may have
Three years later the killings start superhuman powers. In fact they are only
again, right on schedule. able to subdue him with the help of the
vigilante known as the Blue Shield.
1983 Once he is captured, Capricorn
Donny Scarpia is now the de-facto leader of never says another word. He has no ID and
the Scarpia family, running all their his fingerprints aren’t in any national
operations on the ground in Stark Hill and database. To this day he sits in the Crawley
controlling access to his ailing father. Asylum, staring blankly at the walls, his
identity unknown.
December 1983-January, 1984 Three years later there is a brief
Capricorn returns. His voice sounds the panic as the end of December draws nigh.
same as it always has and his messages are But the murders have stopped for good.
in the same handwriting. It’s not a copycat

27
1988-1999 which will end years later with the opening
The Bedlam Redevelopment Commission of the much-hated Endler Library downtown
brings new hope to the ailing city. Over the (see Page 35 for more information on this
next eleven years, they will attract a lot of infamous local landmark.)
new business and build a lot of weird, ugly
postmodern skyscrapers downtown, before 1993-1995
their efforts finally fail. The Igglioni crime family has long controlled
the neighborhood around Hardwick Park.
1989 They rule the streets largely because they’ve
Clayton Stone is back in town. He insists always managed to keep black people from
that he is retired, but people in Wolverton moving into the neighborhood and local
give Black Anvil a hero’s welcome anyway. residents see them as the lesser of two
Then someone shoots him in the head. evils. However, over this period of time
Lincoln Stone is prosecuted for the Hardwick Park rapidly turns Hispanic, and
crime. He insists that he is innocent, but is the Igglionis are so focused on terrorizing
sent away to prison for life. He continues to African-Americans that they fail to spot this
run his half of Wolverton from behind bars. trend until it’s too late to stop. By 1995
their power base is rapidly eroding.
1990
Zelma Goltz takes over as the head of the 1995
Redevelopment Commission. Her intentions The Scarpia Family decides not to wait for
are good, but her judgment is poor and over the Igglionis to fall. In a single night they
the next ten years she commits Bedlam to kill all their leaders. No fool, “Dapper
some very dubious projects, wasting the Donny” Scarpia offers full membership to
city’s dwindling resources on silly, grandiose the Igglioni soldiers, most of whom accept
schemes. Among them are the gigantic and the deal. The Scarpias are now vastly more
defective Endler Library, a disastrous powerful than their sole remaining rival, the
attempt to bring the world’s largest mall to Gorganzuas. At a sit-down meeting, the
town and perhaps worst of all, Bedlam’s one two families re-divide their turf based on the
and only superhero group, “Justice Xtreme,” new balance of power. “Young Junior”
which collapses on its very first mission. doesn’t like this, but he has no choice.

1991 1996
Jamaican Posses start moving into the Lucius Hardwick IV retreats into his mansion
southern part of Wolverton. Incredibly near the park that bears his father’s name
violent and audacious, it looks at first as and never leaves it again. Is he still alive in
though they will disrupt the whole order of there today? No one knows.
the Bedlam underworld. But this doesn’t
happen. The posses are way too 1997
flamboyant and draw far too much attention In desperation, the Redevelopment
to themselves. The Shield of Justice gives Commission entices a Canadian firm to build
them his special attention, as do the Bedlam one of the largest malls in North America
Police and the Mafia. Within ten years there under downtown Bedlam. The city itself
are just a few scattered remnants left. By pays for almost everything, gambling on the
2008 there is only one small posse in hope that the ultra-mall (called the “Liberty
Bedlam, the “Invincible Ya-Ya,” and it’s a Shoppes”) will bring new jobs and tourists
shadow of its former might. to their ailing city. This does not work.
Within three years the mall is a dangerous
1992 crime-ridden hell-pit and most of its stores
Rogue architect Anton Endler wins the have closed.
competition to design Bedlam’s new public
library. So begins a torturous, nigh endless
process of cost overruns and catastrophes,

28
1998 Ten Years Ago
A huge and unsavory scandal erupts at The fumes and noise from the Rook Island
Bedlam’s office of Child Protective Services. Shipping Terminal have killed the Country
It seems that two of the Deputy heads of Club and turned Scarlett Hill into a
the agency have been operating a black- wasteland. Most of the former residents
market baby ring, selling children off to the have crammed themselves into the gated
highest bidder. Arrests are made, careers community of Stone Ridge outside of town,
are ruined and the agency lapses into a despite its high prices, ugly homes and
state of disarray from which it never fully restrictive rules. Others have left town.
recovers.
Five Years Ago
1999 The Rook Island Shipping Terminal is falling
Zelma Goltz manages to get a second-string into decline—the Scarpias have taken too
superhero team called “Justice Xtreme” to big a bite of the trade coming through the
relocate to Bedlam. The city spends most of terminal and freighter captains are starting
its remaining reserves on building them a to avoid it. The Bedlam airport and the
headquarters, the “Citadel Xtreme” docks at Greely Point are doing a little
downtown. better. Both are Gorganzua turf and the
The team has lost most of its Scarpias start to show signs of resentment.
original members and its new leader, “Mister
Extreme” has some personality problems Two Years Ago
that make it hard for him to be effective. The Honduran cult called the Mara pushes
Despite signs that the group is in disarray, all the other Hispanic gangs out of Hardwick
Justice Xtreme recruits some new members Park and begins to move in on the rackets in
and sets out to clean up Bedlam. The Wolverton. A coalition of most of
results are an utter and absolute debacle. Wolverton’s gangs manages to hold them at
For a complete account of what went bay, under the leadership of “Tiny Z.”
wrong, see Page 284. The Citadel Xtreme
has been deserted ever since. Mister Last Year
Extreme, his former teammates and the city Tiny Z dies in a spectacular, public and
are all still suing one another well into the blatantly unnatural incident—devoured by
next century. rats from the inside out. Or maybe it was
But not Zelma Goltz. While the bugs. Some guys who were there say it was
team was getting established, she was bugs. His hair-trigger little brother, “Eentsy
already preparing to go pursue her lifelong Z” assumes leadership of the coalition at the
dream of working on a kibbutz. She never tender age of thirteen. Young in years, he’s
returns to the United States. Close friends old in blood and may have already killed as
say that she had been losing interest in the many as six people.
Redevelopment Commission for some time.
Right Now
Fifteen Years Ago The Scarpias and the Gorganzuas stare
A group of Bedlam’s wealthiest families puts menacingly at each other across the river.
the finishing touches on their new country Which family will try to seize the Meadows
club, in the heart of the town’s oldest, first? The specter of an impending gang war
richest neighborhood, previously known as looms over Wolverton and Hardwick Park.
Scarlett Hill. Everyone fears the Jigsaw Man, the Mara’s
At the same time, the Rook Island mysterious leader. They say he has magic
Naval Station is decommissioned and a powers. Eentsy Z laughs and says he’s got
group of investors promises to turn it into a powers of his own. Strange rumors drift
brand-new shipping terminal, ready to bring down out of the ruined Country Club. They
prosperity back to Bedlam. say someone has taken up residence there.
Someone big and bad.

29
Space doesn’t allow us to be totally Courthouse or in whatever other meeting
comprehensive here—and in any case your space is handy.
PCs are unlikely to be spending much time Unable to pay for city services with
down at the Department of Public Works. Bedlam’s declining tax base, they have had
This is meant as a brief and simple guide in to sell more and more of its departments off
case your PCs ask you any questions about, to contractors, some of them dubious.
for example, the Mayor’s Office, the City There are often savage debates over which
Council, the Police Department, etc. We contractor gets awarded a particular city
have a much more thorough description of service, since some of the councilmen have
Bedlam’s police and criminal justice system different mob connections from the others.
in the next chapter. At the moment, the reigning powers
on the Council are Big Andy Czernik and the
The Mayor’s Office Reverend Willie Boggs. Both men hate each
Bedlam has not had a mayor for some time. other furiously, and they have managed to
The post is in any case largely ceremonial divide the council between them.
and carries no actual authority. Bedlam is Big Andy is a florid, red-haired giant
run by a hired City Manager. who still wears a pompadour, decades after
A large aerospace firm that prefers it has gone out of fashion. Hugely corrupt,
not to be named provides city management he is deeply involved with the Scarpia crime
for a fee and Bedlam is one of the largest in family, and is said to play golf with “Dapper
the country to use their services. They do Donny” Scarpia every weekend (this is not
not publicize the manager’s name or the true—Dapper Donny has nothing but
location of his office, nor does he make contempt for a rich, whitebread game like
public appearances. However, he is widely golf—in fact they play pinball.) A
known to be Wilfred Krebbs, a gray, balding consummate machine politician, Big Andy
little man with thick glasses who speaks in a gets things done for his constituents, within
droning monotone and cares little for Bedlam’s limited resources, and they love
Bedlam’s future. His job, as he sees it, is to him for it. There’s a lot of vote fraud in his
get the city’s administrative work done, not ward, but it’s not necessary.
to clean up its corruption or fix its other Reverend Boggs speaks up for the
problems. Eventually, if all the paperwork city’s African-American community. He’s
gets filled out on time, his bosses will assign personally quite corrupt, easy to bribe and
him to some other, better job. too tightly entangled with some shady
For what it’s worth, the City Council boxing promoters, but he’s not a tool of the
is presently trying to hire a new high-profile Mob and he seems sincere in his efforts to
celebrity mayor—preferably a professional improve life for his constituents.
wrestler or an actor with a reputation for Other notables on the Council
being tough. Perhaps a superhero might fit include Righteous Townsend, an ambitious
the bill? Perhaps a Player Character? young politician who is trying to unseat
Willie Boggs’ hold on the city’s African-
Municipal Council American neighborhoods, Ron Cordell, a
The Bedlam Municipal Council has 8 violent-tempered, white-haired ranter who
members—one from each of the city’s 6 sticks up for the Gorganzua crime family’s
wards, and 2 “At Large” members elected by interests, and Mollie Schwartz, a rich
the city as a whole. The Council is housewife from Stone Ridge who has held
supposed to meet at City Hall, but the an At-Large seat for many years, and carries
building has been under renovation for five on a tireless crusade against corruption and
years, so they either convene at the County mismanagement. So far, Mrs. Schwartz’

30
efforts have gone exactly nowhere. Big a seat on this commission, but so far neither
Andy lovingly refers to her as “the one has managed to break through.
Conscience of the Council” and seems to like
her. As well he should. There is nothing The Parade Commission
better for a man in his position than a This large commission handles planning and
completely ineffectual crusader. It sets the logistics for al of Bedlam’s big public
right example. festivals, parades, etc. They also fund local
block parties and neighborhood events, and
City Commissions a lot of this money tends to disappear in
In addition to the Municipal Council, there sneaky ways.
are numerous commissions that oversee Righteous Townsend got his start
various elements of Bedlam’s governance. on the Parade Commission. He never
Some have the authority to make policy cleaned up its corruption, but he did
decisions, others are mere advisory bodies. manage to politicize it, and to use its
Most are comprised of a combination of meetings to talk about social inequity in
Council members and prominent local Bedlam. After Righteous became an at-
citizens (business leaders, community large Municipal Councilman, the Reverend
activists and so forth.) A spot on one of the Willie Boggs managed to get him forced off.
Commissions is often the first step on the He left with barely a struggle, already
path to becoming a Municipal Councilman— focused on bigger things.
in fact that’s how Righteous Townsend got
his start. Here are some of the most The Redevelopment Commission
prominent commissions. One of the most famous, high-profile
Commissions in the city’s history, these days
The Commission on Water, Sewage they have been reduced to a skeleton,
and Safety without any staff, a budget or a regular
Big Andy Czernik sits on this Commission, meeting place. Their mission is to bring
along with Councilman Ron Cordell, Bedlam up out of poverty and obscurity,
representatives from Bedlam’s water board restoring it to its former greatness. Through
and the major utility contractors. Officially the late 1980s and all of the 1990s, they
their mission is to ensure the safety and were led by a hired consultant named Zelma
quality of Bedlam’s utilities and sanitation Goltz, who spent the city’s remaining funds
services. And they do in fact keep them on a series of disastrous, grandiose and
safe—fro outside scrutiny. They also do a ridiculous schemes. By 1998 she had
very thorough job of making sure that only dragged the Commission to its knees and
contractors with connections to Big Andy or nearly taken the city with it. But in her
Ron Cordell’s political machines are assigned defense, the other Commissioners did no
any work. Councilman Cordell constantly better. Bedlam’s problems called for genius,
complains that his guys always get the short not well-intentioned mediocrity.
end of the stick in these negotiations. Among the Redevelopment
Commission’s projects over the years:
The Commission on Economic Growth Spending a gigantic amount of money
This powerful commission includes the creating a new slogan, logo and mascot for
heads of most of Bedlam’s remaining Bedlam (“The Steel City”) only to discover
industries. Big Andy sits on this commission that another city already had the rights to
as well, along with Mollie Schwartz. It’s the the name. (they hastily renamed Bedlam
main forum through which Bedlam’s rich “The City of Now” and came up with a much
people make their wishes known. Big Andy more cheaply designed logo—see Page 8 for
usually gives them what they want, and in the details)
exchange they don’t mess with his grip on Attracting maverick billionaire Dick
Stark Hill. But sometimes the balance of Gorman to construct his corporate
power is uneasy. Ron Cordell and the headquarters in Bedlam, a project that failed
Reverend Willie Boggs keep campaigning for halfway through and left Bedlam with the

31
gigantic, half-constructed stump of the to be in terms of resources and influence.
Gorman Tower defacing its skyline, (see She has put a lot of her own money into
Page 19.) keeping them going, hiring staff, providing
Getting a Canadian firm to build the her house as a meeting space, etc.
world’s third-largest mall under Bedlam’s
streets (within a few years most of its stores Bedlam Police Force
closed and the place became a crime-ridden
danger zone—see Page 155.)
Getting a world-renowned (if
insane) architect to build their new public
library, without having upgraded any of its
services (see Page 35.)
And perhaps most disastrous of all,
getting the troubled superhero group
“Justice Xtreme” to relocate to Bedlam, with
results that were so awful no one even
wants to talk about it.
These days Zelma Goltz lives on a
kibbutz and is unavailable for comment, but
people who knew her well, including
Municipal Councilor Mollie Schwartz, say that
her heart wasn’t really in it for the last few
years.

The Commission on Human Rights

This is one of Bedlam’s newest city
Commissions, charged with stamping out
discrimination and preventing human rights We’re going to describe the Bedlam Police in
abuses. Bedlam’s leaders love to point to much greater detail in the next chapter.
the Commission whenever anyone accuses The following is really just an overview.
the city government of racism, it gets a lot No one has gotten around to
of play on local news and everyone seems privatizing the Bedlam City Police yet and
happy that Bedlam is making such important they’re very proud of the fact. To help keep
progress toward equality and social justice. their treasured independence, they ran off
What they don’t publicize is the fact every police chief the city tried to hire for
that the Commission is a purely advisory them. They haven’t had a chief in years and
body, with no actual power. Nor do they the six Precinct Captains run their sectors
point out that its tiny budget and limited like their own individual little kingdoms.
staff make it impossible for the Commission They pretty much answer to no one and you
to keep up with all the work it gets can imagine the level of professionalism that
assigned, let alone investigate complaints this encourages. Some of the Precinct
about abuse. Captains are crooked. Some are brutal.
Mollie Schwartz and Willie Boggs Some are crooked and brutal. Some are
both sit on the Commission, as do numerous crooked, brutal and incompetent.
neighborhood leaders and local activists. The same could be said of Bedlam’s
Councilman Righteous Townsend is eager to Patrol Officers and detectives. Not all of
get on, but Willie Boggs keeps blocking him. them are prone to taking bribes, extorting
Reverend Boggs senses that Townsend money from local businesses or using
would use the position as a platform to excessive force. But the ones who aren’t
defame him. He’s right. are almost all willing to ignore vicious and
Mollie Schwartz is strongly corrupt behavior on the part of their fellow
dedicated to the Commission, even though officers. Guys who feel differently about it
she knows they aren’t yet where they need don’t last long.

32
 Their gear is outdated and their parking meters and fines goes straight into
uniforms look old. Their cars are battered- their coffers. The city barely gets any.
up old hulks. Too many of their Patrol While none of this is secret, it isn’t
Officers have to drive their beats alone, exactly public knowledge either. Both the
without partners, thanks to staffing city government and the Parking Authority
shortages. This not only puts their lives in are aware that the public might find the
danger, but also encourages corruption and arrangement objectionable, so they’ve done
brutality, since there is no one around to their best to keep it out of the papers. Only
watch them. tiny left-wing rags like the Bedlam City
The pride of Bedlam’s police force Paper have reported on the Parking
(if it has any pride) is their anti-parahuman Authority, and while their readers are
unit, the Special Assault Squad. Short on indignant, no one listens to them.
equipment but long on expertise and While the city government tries to
determination, they have managed to take keep the Parking Authority out of the news,
down quite a few supervillains without any recent events have been drawing too much
help from the capes. They also have a attention. When they took over the city’s
reputation for shooting first and asking old parking records, the Authority began
questions later, and they don’t show much computerizing them. They have finally
concern for innocent bystanders. You can finished entering them into a master
find out more about the Special Assault database, and have begun to make use of
Squad on pages 63-67. it, issuing citations and fines for unpaid
Because Bedlam only pays its Patrol parking tickets that the city had long since
Officers $25,000 a year, many of them take stopped chasing. Some of them are as
second jobs as security guards and many as thirty years old.
bouncers, further complicating their The citizens of Bedlam are not
relationship with the community. There was pleased about getting harassed for decades-
a serious incident last year when a couple of old parking tickets and they are complaining
bouncers at an illegal nightclub beat a to the City Council in record numbers. The
patron to death, and then produced their Council has in turn approached the
badges and arrested all the witnesses. Authority, asking them to ease up before
the whole thing becomes a major
Bedlam Parking Authority embarrassment, but the authority’s parent
In a city where so much is dirty and run- company doesn’t care if it embarrasses the
down, Bedlam’s parking meters are city or not—they have a signed contract and
surprisingly new and clean. Graffiti- that’s that. It hasn’t occurred to them that
resistant, amazingly hard to vandalize, they in a place like Bedlam, frustrated people
are served by a fleet of fast, efficient meter might start smashing parking meters,
maids in crisp new uniforms who ride beating up meter maids and vandalizing the
soundless electric carts. They are ruthless Authority’s corporate offices. This hasn’t
in their pursuit of parking scofflaws. A happened—yet.
parking ticket is one of the few things that Costumed crusaders who would like
neither Councilman Big Andy Czernik nor the to bring the Parking Authority’s dubious
Bedlam Mafia can fix for you. practices to light might find an unlikely ally.
Few people realize that the meter The Scarpia crime family would dearly love
maids don’t actually work for the Bedlam to get a taste of the money that parking
Police Department. In fact they don’t work tickets generate. As of yet they haven’t
for the city at all—the Parking Authority is a figured out how, but anything that hurts the
for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of the Authority or weakens its position is a good
giant aerospace company which runs the thing, in the Mob’s eyes.
City Manager’s office. As you might
imagine, they have a very favorable contract The Coroner’s Office
with the city. Almost all of the money from The office of the Coroner is a county, rather
than a municipal position. They do not work

33
well with Bedlam’s police, largely because farmed out to a call center in Bombay) is
administrative issues make it hard for them notoriously poor. Complaints are
to cooperate—there are too many particularly hard for them to address, since
ambiguous, gray areas in the regulations most of the city’s contractors have long-
about how County and City officials are term contracts that indemnify them.
supposed to coordinate their efforts. City government is quick to point
The coroner’s office runs the out that most of the problems people have
morgue, which is why it’s the County encountered with DPW aren’t with the main
Morgue instead of the City Morgue. contractors, but with subcontractors who
Sanitary Conditions at the underfunded they have had to hire in a rush when they
morgue got really bad two years ago, and are overworked. Since a lot of these
they developed such a chronic problem with subcontractors have ties to the Mafia, it’s
losing or misidentifying corpses, that the relatively easy to get problems resolved if
State authorities intervened and prosecuted you talk to a city councilman with the right
them. The state won, and when the mob connections—Big Andy Czernik, for
Coroner’s Office could not pay the fine, they example. One result of this is that
assigned them a probation officer. neighborhoods like Wolverton and Hardwick
Fortunately, he was an old friend of Park experience much worse service than,
Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik and he for example, Stark Hill, since their
reports to the state that everything is fine at councilmen aren’t as well connected.
the County Coroner’s Office, when in fact
nothing has changed. Department of Public Health
The County Coroner is presently Like the Department of Public Works, the
Wallace Hoople, an ancient, doddering Department of Public Health has been
political appointee without much medical farmed out completely to a private
skill, who many in the press accuse of being contractor. This was partly a union-busting
senile. The Coroner’s Office has a small and partly a cost-saving measure. The
Crime Lab of its own, with a reputation for contractor is a small consulting firm based in
losing and mishandling evidence. To be fair, Northern Virginia called CH2M Services, but
they’re severely understaffed and have a lot their employees don’t identify themselves as
of inexperienced personnel. If you acquire a contractors—they just call themselves
good reputation here, you usually move on Health Inspectors. Most people aren’t
to a better city before too long, so they aware that the Department has been sold.
have way too much turn-over. This is one It’s not a secret but the city certainly doesn’t
of the few institutions in the city that go out of its way to publicize the fact.
doesn’t have a problem with corruption— It used to be that the city’s Health
just incompetence. Inspectors were prone to taking payoffs and
to shaking restaurants down for protection
Department of Public Works money—planting rats and filth in their
The Bedlam Department of Public Works is kitchens and demanding bribes not to shut
chiefly in the business of producing t-shirts. them down. They still do things like this all
Under the guidance of the City Manager, the time but now CH2M Services
they have farmed out virtually all their aggressively sues anyone who tries to make
services to private contractors, some of a public fuss about it. This has greatly
them responsible professionals and some of improved the Department’s image, for you
them very dubious indeed. The city don’t hear about any scandals or abuses in
produces green t-shirts that say “Bedlam the press anymore.
Department of Public Works” for the various
contractors to wear. Municipal Office of Sanitation
The Department has offices in one In many cities Sanitation is a subdivision of
of the skyscrapers on Davis Avenue, and a the Department of Public Works. In Bedlam
toll-free line that people can call for service, it’s a division of the Department of Public
but their customer service (which has been Health. It was moved under Public Health in

34
the early 1990s, in an effort to free the paychecks. Nor does anyone know how
Office of mob influence. This worked for a many of their employees are real and how
little while. Then the Municipal Council many are on the books in order to funnel
privatized Sanitation and the Mafia put its money to crooked politicians or organized
claws right back in. crime.
It used to be that in order to get a It’s not quite fair to say that the
job with the Office of Sanitation you had to Department of Education is one of the few
go see the Scarpia or the Gorganzua crime branches of the city government that hasn’t
families (or the now-defunct Igglioni been privatized. Troubled by under-
Family.) Now you need to see them in performance for many years, plagued with a
order to get a job with the contractor— central office that siphoned off far too much
Waste Resources Inc. Waste Resources has money to shadowy unknown parties,
its own fleet of garbage trucks, many of Bedlam’s schools underwent a major round
which are getting old and breaking down. of reforms ten years ago. At Councilman
The city has put a lot of money into buying “Big Andy” Czernik’s urging, the entire
them new trucks, but quite a bit of it seems system was scheduled to be sold off to
to have disappeared. private contractors. His arch-rival, the
Waste Resources’ trucks and Reverend Willie Boggs (also a city
uniforms are a distinctive yellow and black Councilman), objected vociferously. The
color that has given them the nickname Department of Education was part of his turf
“garbage wasps.” They officially offer and one of the major sources of kickbacks
recycling service to anyone who requests it, for his supporters.
but they don’t yet have a recycling plant to After endless debate, the two men
take it to. Astute observers have noticed reached a compromise. The schools
the garbage wasps dumping materials from themselves would largely be privatized, but
recycling bins straight into the back of their the central administrative office is still a part
garbage trucks. When questioned about the of the city government, and has not
issue, Waste Resources says that they hope changed its ways.
to have a functional recycling plant soon, Big Andy is a man of his word. Now
that the Municipal Council has already that he has cut a deal with Willie Boggs he
allocated the money to build them one, and will not break it. Nothing is going to change
that in the meantime they want to get at the Department of Education any time
people used to the idea of separating out soon—Big Andy will see to that. Everyone is
their recyclables. This has been their official happy with this deal, except perhaps for the
answer for years. No one seems to know teachers, parents and students (Big Andy’s
what happened to the money that the city own kids go to Catholic school.)
gave them to build the new recycling center. For a more in-depth account of how
You might expect this state of Bedlam’s schools function under the new
affairs to cause public outrage, but in fact system, along with a list of individual
few people are even aware of it. The last schools and some NPCs to go with them,
time a reporter did a story on the city’s see Pages 126-139.
recycling situation, the Scarpia family had a
talk with her about it, and she soon moved Bedlam Public Library
to another city. People who see the Endler Library for the
first time immediately assume it’s Bedlam’s
Department of Education City Jail. Then they wonder why it’s up on
No one is sure precisely how many people stilts.
work for the Bedlam City School District. In the late 1980s, the
They have never computerized their payroll Redevelopment Commission decided that
records and they aggressively resist all Bedlam needed a new public library. The
attempts to do so. It’s unclear how many of Main Branch had for years been housed in a
their workers actually show up for work on rented warehouse space, awaiting the funds
daily basis and how many just collect to refurbish the old Greely Library on

35
Grunwald St. The Commission had the old neighborhood at the top of the hill. The
library torn down and launched a nationwide Wolverton Branch occupies a converted fast
architecture contest to find a design for the food restaurant and the Liberty Shoppes
new building. The contest was won by a Mall has a small branch of its own.
brilliant and slightly mad neo-modernist The Library system has recently
named Anton Endler. His design wasn’t the been reorganized and reformed, under the
prettiest or the most practical, but he was watchful gaze of Bertha Stumpf, a burly,
the most prestigious architect to respond one-eyed, battle-scarred old veteran of the
(despite some critics accusing him of senility Wolverton Branch. She has decided to raise
and growing megalomania), so he won the funds by turning overdue library fines over
prize. to collection agencies—some of them prone
He produced a crazed masterpiece to very heavy tactics indeed. This has
of the Neo-Brutalist school. It’s a fanciful, caused some friction with the public.
gruesome battleship of a building, perched
on stilts. The roof leaks and is so strangely Department of Transportation
shaped that it’s impossible to clean, the This used to be the department in charge of
administrative areas are cramped, maintaining roads, street-cleaning and
uncomfortable and plagued with walls that snow-plowing. The city manager sold all
don’t meet at right angles. But Anton these functions off to various
Endler was more than satisfied. subcontractors, and Corporation Yard,
The project did however cost vastly where the department’s motor pool was
more money than Endler had estimated. based, sits dark and silent. The Bedlam
The huge cost overruns and years of delays Police Department still uses its facilities to
may have been the thing that finally crippled service their helicopters, but no one ever
the Redevelopment Commission. Some goes inside the main building anymore.
people would say that this was a good Nobody is quite sure what happened to all
thing. the equipment that was stored at the Yard.
The interior of the Endler Library
has beautiful reading rooms, grand meeting Office of Tax Assessment
spaces, and not very many books. The Located in a temporary office space on the
Redevelopment Commission didn’t allocate 13th floor of a downtown skyscraper (until
any money toward buying more printed City Hall eventually gets repaired), the Tax
materials. During the day it is largely Assessment Office is one of the last sections
populated by derelicts and crack fiends. of the Bedlam City Government to avoid
Drugs are sold in its bathrooms, which is being privatized. This is odd. It’s exactly
also where the winos go for a little quick the sort of purely administrative office that
romance. could be easily farmed out. There would be
The stacks contain a sad collection no public outcry if property tax assessments
of dusty paperbacks and tattered old were carried out by someone else. Yet the
textbooks. People sometimes get mugged Czernik machine, which normally pushes
back among the shelves. The security hard for outsourcing city services, always
guards are mostly off-duty Bedlam cops. fights to keep the office from being
They have a tough time keeping order in the privatized. In fact the city pays an
restrooms, and don’t have enough time left exorbitant rent on their office space—and
over to patrol the stacks. the building doesn’t even belong to one of
The one really valuable resource in Big Andy’s cronies! What is going on here?
the Library (if crack and anonymous loving Some observers wonder if something
don’t interest you) is the Lucius Hardwick important to Big Andy and his political
Collection, where books and rare documents organization is happening behind the closed
concerning Bedlam’s history are kept. doors of the Tax Assessor’s Office.
There are three branch libraries. The office itself is relatively small,
The Greely Point Branch is located in a with a staff of thirty or so employees
converted row-house in the old Italian working out of a single office suite. It’s a

36
very nice suite and they have better fact that they simply didn't have the kids.
creature comforts than most city office Where had the children gone? At her trial,
workers. Their official job is to determine Darlene Wicker claimed that she only
the value of buildings and other property in participated in the scam to save the children
Bedlam, and determine how much property from Bedlam's foster care system, and that
tax the owners owe. The actual on-site only good and deserving parents who
property-tax assessments are performed by couldn't go through the state's torturous
a contractor (JX Services) and the office adoption process ever actually received
seems a little top-heavy with managers and babies. But in fact the Russian Mob bought
other political appointees, most of them some, a cult called the Hand of the Bloody
connected to Big Andy’s political machine. Moon bought some, others were sold to
They are neither swift nor efficient, Mafia associates whose criminal records
but not especially corrupt. If you want to prevented them from adopting children.
use a bribe to reduce your property taxes, It's impossible to ask Hedda Scharff
you should pay it to the assessor JX Services why she did it or where the kids went. She
sends around to look at your property, not checked into Our Lady of Sorrow Hospital
to the office staff downtown. (see Page 114) for a biopsy and died on the
The current head of the office is operating table before she could be indicted.
Operations Supervisor Gladys Tork, a However much contempt we might
ferocious, inarticulate lady from Stark Hill feel for Darlene Wicker, it is true that
who is rumored to have Attention Deficit Bedlam's foster care system was a mess.
Disorder. Her sister is married to Big Andy There weren't enough case workers or
Czernik’s little brother. foster parents, so kids were always getting
shuttled around between homes, never
Child Protective Services getting a chance to stay anywhere for long.
This agency never really recovered from a A lot of foster parents were taking on ten or
bad scandal that came to light ten years twelve kids at once, keeping the stipend
ago. A judge named Hedda Scharff used to they got for each one, feeding them the
sell babies on the open market with the help minimum required to survive and working
of some high-ranking officials in the Bedlam them like slaves until they turned eighteen.
Department of Child Protective Services. Between the scandal and the
For two decades, her chief confederates, department’s other problems, no one raised
Darlene Wicker and Maisy Landrum (both much objection when the whole thing got
Deputy Chiefs of BCPS) would alert Judge privatized five years ago. A Human Assets
Wicker to any young mothers with Management company called ThetaCare
questionable backgrounds. Judge Scharff now oversees the operation. They farm the
would then declare the mother unfit, and social work out to various small firms and
have the baby turned over to Wicker and contractors, but the actual Asset
Landrum. They would place the child in Management (by which they mean feeding
care of the Happy Hands Company, an and sheltering orphans) is handled by the
orphanage/day-care provider that all three Happy Hands Company.
conspirators had heavily invested in. Happy They may be under new
Hands would then turn the infant over to management, but there are a lot of familiar
whoever Wicker and Landrum suggested faces at Happy Hands. Most of the foster
(anyone who wanted a baby and could pay parents they enlist are the very same people
the going rate to their Mafia contacts) but who served under the old Bedlam
continue drawing state funds to support the Department of Child Protective Services.
child. And that's not all. Darlene Wicker got
After twenty years of this scam, stabbed to death her first week in prison,
there were a lot of phantom children on but Maisy Landrum cut a deal with the DA's
Happy Hands' books. So many that by the office and served just two years probation.
time the state police started taking an These days, she's a Senior Executive Vice
interest, it was impossible to conceal the President at Happy Hands.

37
Adventure Seed burned down. Perhaps as many as twenty-
One winter morning a naked child comes five percent of the fire hydrants don’t work.
running down the street. Sobbing, filth- They have seven working ambulances for a
caked, stumbling over piles of dirty snow. city that needs at least thirty. Chronically
He runs right into a PC, looks in their face short on personnel, they have undermanned
and says “please!” Just before the cops shifts, obsolete equipment and a history of
come around the corner. trying to hide their inadequacies with
“Hey!” they yell. Stop that bureaucratic tricks. They also have a bad
goddamn kid!” reputation for refusing to promote black and
How much the PCs are going to Hispanic firefighters and for taking much too
learn about this situation depends on what long to respond to emergencies in inner city
they do. These are officers from the juvie neighborhoods.
squad. The boy is trying to run away from The current fire chief is Lucy
his foster home—a hell-pit run by Myron and Szmuda, who the City Council brought in
Elvira Cain. They keep their charges locked from York, Pennsylvania, where she made a
in cages, feed them the absolute minimum name for herself getting their troubled fire
and make them spend all day assembling department in order. A skinny, scowling
ugly stuffed dolls, which proudly bear the little woman of about fifty, she has a gravely
“Made in the USA” label. voice and a harsh demeanor.
It’s going to be difficult to prove any Not that her toughness has done
of these allegations against the Cains. her much good on this job. The department
They’re very well connected to the Czernik resents her for being a woman and for being
machine and no one wants to investigate an outsider. They have begun a steady
them. PCs who mess with them may soon campaign of harassment to force her out.
find the local authorities turning hostile, and Not a day goes by without Chief Szmuda
if they lean on them hard, they may beg the getting another death threat or being the
Mafia to hire a supervillain to get the PCs off victim of some ugly prank. This weighs on
their case. her. She is starting to lose sleep, to get
Perhaps the ideal solution to this irrational and paranoid, to scream at her
problem would be to secretly break the kids staff over trivial matters. She’s thinking
out and turn them over to Father Dennis of about leaving soon.
the Celestial Spirit Fellowship. He has
quietly dealt with matters like this before
(see Page 360.) Of course, PCs who have a
problem with breaking the law may have
some scruples to wrestle with.

Bedlam Fire Department

More and more neighborhoods in Bedlam
are coming to rely on volunteer fire
brigades, since the city’s fire department is
in such bad shape. Unfortunately, the
volunteers aren’t adequate to the job either.
The gated community of Stone Ridge has
actually gone so far as to hire its own
private contractor to provide fire and
emergency services.
The Bedlam Fire department is
supposed to have eight fire houses manned
around the clock. In fact they have five—
they had six, but one of them recently

38
 Wilfred Krebbs, and he’s the city’s Account
Manager. He plays something like the role
Here we have stats and background of a mayor, overseeing Bedlam’s daily
information for some of Bedlam’s movers functions, making sure the trash gets picked
and shakers, including the City Manager and up and the streets get policed. For the most
the most powerful members Municipal part that means seeing that the sub-
Council. District Attorney Cord Killingsworth contractors who oversee these functions get
is also pretty powerful, but we have him paid on time.
listed separately, under the DA’s Office. Krebbs doesn’t work for the City of
Bedlam, he works for a giant aerospace
City Manager Wilfred Krebbs company which it might be better not to
name (but see Page 142.) They provide city
management services for a fee, and send
someone like Krebbs in to do the actual
management. They run somewhere
between three and eight small cities around
the country, and they are looking to expand
into bigger markets. They don’t like
drawing attention to this program, since it
makes people uneasy to know that their city
government has been privatized.
It’s not fair to say that Krebbs’ first
loyalty is to his company. In fact it’s to
himself. He sees Bedlam as a difficult
assignment that he might be able to
leverage into a position as one of his firm’s
Vice Presidents if he does it well.
Unfortunately, his definition of doing it well
doesn’t involve making any kind of changes
or improvements to the city. In fact his
bosses would hate it if any major scandals
or corruption came to light on his watch—
this rocks the boat and draws attention to
their involvement in city governance.
Instead he wants to master the nigh-
impossible task of making sure that the city
gets through the day with all its paperwork
filled out.
Krebbs works in a small unmarked
PL: 2 office on the 30th floor of the Grunewald
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) building downtown. A gray, joyless, tightly-
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 8 (-1) wound little man, he speaks in a robotic
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 monotone and never raises his voice. He is
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0 unmarried and has an enormous collection
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 2 of early radio memorabilia at his condo in a
Skills: Bluff 3 (+2), Diplomacy 3 (+2), larger city near Bedlam. He is one of the
Gather Information 5 (+4), Knowledge few people who commutes into town each
(Business) 6 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 7 day.
(+9), Knowledge (Current Events) 6 (+8), More or less totally devoid of
Profession (city manager) 3 (+5) feeling, apart from ambition and a desire to
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Wealth show off how much he knows about early
Background: The most powerful man in radio, he’s not the right kind of guy to beg
Bedlam wasn’t elected by anyone. He’s for sympathy. Messy emotions like that

39
make him uncomfortable. You can tell what Bluff), Leadership, Master Plan, Startle,
kind of person Krebbs is by looking at the Taunt, Wealth
walls of his office. They have no Background: One of the two most
decorations at all. powerful elected leaders in the city, Big
No one has the heart to tell him that Andy Czernik shares Bedlam with the
he has devoted his life to a doomed cause. Reverend Willie Boggs, but he has the
Unmarried guys never make VP. bigger share. About half the Municipal
Council owes fealty to him, but it’s the
Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik stronger half.
A red-faced, red-cheeked, red-
headed giant of a man, Big Andy has a deep
loud booming voice and a kind of aggressive
friendliness that scares his allies and his
enemies alike. He’s a natural born bully and
has been one all his life. He’s also really
smart and tries to keep his bullying under
control, tries not to intimidate people unless
there’s something to gain by it—but
sometimes he just can’t resist.
A lifelong resident of Stark Hill, he
draws his support from the old
neighborhood and he looks out for its
interests above all else. Except possibly for
the Mafia’s interests. In his youth, Big Andy
ran with the mob-affiliated street gang
called the Coronets, and some people say
he became close pals with Bedlam’s leading
mobster, Donny Scarpia, back when they
were both juvenile delinquents.
Whether or not Big Andy is in fact
the pawn of the Mafia, he certainly spends a
lot of time hanging out with Donny and the
old crowd. In a way Andy, like Donny, is
still a teenaged hood, and he still wears his
hair in a big, sweeping pompadour to show
PL: 5
his respect for his origins. It looks like the
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) crest of a rooster, people say.
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3) Always grinning and jolly, unless
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 4 he’s bellowing threats and insults at the top
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3 of his lungs, Andy is never any less than
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 3 three times bigger than life—so they say.
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Diplomacy 5 (+8), He’s also more crooked than Lucifer himself.
Gather Information 5 (+8), Intimidate 8 Great at playing machine politics, Big Andy
(+11), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+7), gets things done for his constituents. A lot
Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+7), Knowledge of them are bad things.
(Current Events) 6 (+8), Knowledge Despite being both a product of and
(Popular Culture) 3 (+5), Knowledge a central player in the politics of Stark Hill,
(Streetwise) 5 (+7), Notice 3 (+5), Perform he is not himself a racist. He certainly does
(Oratory) 5 (+8), Profession (politician) 6 his part to keep non-whites out of Stark Hill
(+9) and to steal as much as possible of the city’s
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, resources away from them, but he does not
Connected, Contacts, Distract (Linked to adhere to any stupid ideas about racial
superiority. He would never underestimate

40
the intelligence of an enemy like Willie by whatever methods are required. If that
Boggs and he would be willing to work with means playing machine politics and
anyone to get his goals accomplished. funneling graft back into the community to
Most of Big Andy’s considerable give people the jobs and money they need,
wealth is in his wife’s name or the names of then so be it. Bedlam is hopelessly crooked
his brothers and sisters (he’s the oldest child anyway, so why not steal a piece of the
of ten.) action for the folks who need it most, before
He lives in a Stark Hill bungalow somebody else steals it first?
with so many extensions and additions that He knows better than to confront
the extra add-ons are bigger than the the Rock or the Stone, Wolverton’s two
original house. He is, he likes to say, lord leading crime lords, but he absolutely
and master in his home, and all nine of his refuses to take money from either one of
own kids are deathly afraid of him. They them, much to their disgust. Neither one
are an amazing collection of neurotics and has ever taken any corrective action against
failures (mostly due to their dad’s constant him, because he’s popular and does well by
bullying) and a source of endless Wolverton.
disappointment to him. Andy reportedly Oddly, while he won’t directly
gets a little crazy when any young man tries accept money from the mob, and rails in
to date one of his three shy, fat, nervous every sermon against the “thug life” and the
daughters. gangs, he does take money and gifts from
some shady boxing promoters who are
Councilman Willie Boggs almost certainly associated with the Scarpia
PL: 4 crime family.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) In person, Willie is a charmer. He’s
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 18 (+4) also a great public speaker, although he
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 4 uses an odd kind of rhyming slang that he
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3 seems to have made up himself. Cheerfully
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 3 cynical and obscene in private, he’s also
Skills: Bluff 8 (+12), Diplomacy 8 (+12), amazingly generous and spends a lot of time
Gather Information 5 (+9), Intimidate 2 trying to help people.
(+6), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+7), He lives in one of Wolverton’s
Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+7), Knowledge biggest houses, asprawl with recent
(Current Events) 6 (+7), Knowledge additions. His property is surrounded by a
(Popular Culture) 3 (+4), Knowledge spiked wrought iron fence and he has armed
(Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice 3 (+4), Perform bodyguards on the premises 24 hours a day.
(Oratory) 6 (+10), Profession (politician) 5 His wife Dot plays a major role in
(+6) administering his church. She is as grim
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Distract and humorless as he is pleasant and cordial.
(Linked to Perform), Fascinate (Linked to
Bluff), Leadership, Wealth Councilman Ron Cordell
Complications: Sentimental, cares about PL: 2
people Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 8 (-1)
Background: The Reverend Willie Boggs Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
has been the leading voice of Bedlam’s Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2
African-American community for decades. Toughness Save: -1 Fortitude Save: -1
He’s the minister of the Good News Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 3
Thunderous Hammer Church of God in Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Diplomacy 2 (+3),
Christ—the largest church in Wolverton. But Gather Information 5 (+6), Intimidate 7
he ministers to his community’s political (+8), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+6),
needs as much as to its spiritual needs. Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+4), Knowledge
A charming old scoundrel with an (Streetwise) 2 (+3), Perform (Oratory) 2
eye for the ladies, Willie Townsend is (+3), Profession (politician) 7 (+8)
devoted to getting Wolverton its fair share

41
Feats: All-Out Attack, Connected, Contacts, Councilman Righteous Townsend
Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Rage 2
Complications: Explosive temper.
Sometimes blows up for no reason. Pawn of
the Gorganzua crime family.
Background: The councilman from Greely
Point, Mr. Cordell brings excitement and
unpredictability to any meeting. Constantly
bitter, surly and sullen, he always looks as
though he has just been crying. Sometimes
he explodes over trivial things and he has
twice physically assaulted witnesses giving
testimony before the council. He even tried
to rough up Big Andy once, but thought
better of it and scampered back to his chair
before Mr. Czernik could lay hands on him.
Big Andy still chuckles about it.
A whiner, a grumbler and a fatalist,
Ron’s attitude might be best summed up by
his favorite phrase “it’s always us that gets
it.” PL: 5
He’s a little confused and sometimes Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
gets angry with people who are actually Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3)
agreeing with him, because he has Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 4
misunderstood what they have said. Who Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 5
does he mean by “us” when he say that it’s Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5
“always us that gets it”? Surely not Greely
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
Point, which is doing better than most parts
Gather Information 5 (+8), Intimidate 5
of Bedlam. The general feeling is that he
(+8), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+8),
means the Gorganzua Crime family, which
Knowledge (Civics) 6 (+9), Knowledge
doesn’t get nearly as much graft as its
(Current Events) 4 (+7), Knowledge
bigger, fiercer neighbors the Scarpias do.
(Popular Culture) 3 (+6), Knowledge
It’s kind of an open secret that Ron is the
(Streetwise) 2 (+5), Notice 4 (+6), Perform
Gorganzuas’ boy.
(Oratory) 5 (+8), Profession (politician) 6
He spends so much of his time on
(+9)
the council wrangling over the arcane details
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Defensive
of one or another construction contract
Attack, Distract (Linked to Perform),
(hunting for the Gorganzuas’ share) that
Improved Defense, Fascinate (Linked to
he’s nearly blind to the real crises facing
Perform), Leadership, Master Plan
Bedlam.
Complications: Cold and stern, totally
Ron lives in the small Italian
focused on cleaning up Bedlam
neighborhood on Lurman Avenue with his
Background: Righteous Townsend is the
ailing wife, Mona. Their kids are in college
absolute opposite of the Reverend Willie
and none of them are likely to come back to
Boggs. A tall and handsome man, with
Bedlam any time soon. He’s alienated them
premature gray at his temples, he is utterly
all pretty thoroughly.
incorruptible and all but totally humorless.
A short, plump old guy with thinning
At his core he’s ambitious and cold. Always
white hair, he has big bushy eyebrows and a
polite, he’s always formal and a little stiff,
permanent miserable scowl.
too. But he’s an amazing public orator, with
tremendous energy and a deep, booming
voice.

42
 He is desperate to clean up even in the face of total disaster, sweet and
Wolverton and Bedlam itself, because he optimistic no matter what. About three
thinks it will help advance his own political years ago she got mugged, and gently told
career. If he thought he could get away the mugger he ought to wear a scarf on
with being a crook, he would, but other such a cold night. He later got caught for a
crooks already have that angle sewed up more serious crime and she still visits him in
tight, so he has opted to be a crusader prison.
instead. He’s focusing his efforts on Constantly active in community
undercutting the Boggs machine, right now, service and the Stone Ridge Garden Club,
for not only is Willie Boggs his most no one knows where she finds the energy to
immediate rival, but he’s a lot safer to do it all (in fact she has a prescription for
tangle with than, for example, Big Andy amphetamines.) An old, dear friend of
Czernik. Zelma Goltz, she claims that the former
Righteous never seems to sleep. head of Bedlam’s Redevelopment
He’s constantly in motion, making deals with Commission isn’t a bad person or a flake.
preachers who view Willie Boggs as a rival, She just had a difficult job to do. Then
listening to constituents who have been again, Mollie was also a dear friend of Dr.
shafted by the Boggs machine. He’s not the Melvin “The Mad Dentist” Flickinger before
best guy to talk to if you want to get a his crimes were discovered. In fact he was
pothole fixed, but he’s the right guy to tell if her dentist, though he never once harmed
you’ve heard that a particular city contractor her. This is all typical of Mollie. She truly,
is giving kickbacks to Willie Boggs. genuinely cares about people, but she’s not
Unmarried, Righteous Townsend is very good at understanding them.
considered one of the city’s most eligible Although she’s a crusading reformer
bachelors, because no one has realized that and impossible to corrupt, “Big Andy”
he’s gay (his long-term boyfriend is Buddy Czernik claims to like and respect her. “The
Dean, the managing editor of the Bedlam conscience of the Council” he calls her. It’s
Informer.) really valuable to have a token reformer in
He lives in Wolverton, in a the City Government, and even better to
converted bungalow with a huge finished have one who has no hope of ever getting
basement that he uses for a meeting space anything accomplished.
with community leaders. He absolutely will Mollie lives in Stone Ridge with her
not take a bribe and he absolutely will not husband, a semi-retired partner at the law
bend the rules for you. His mom raised him firm of Spengler, Gibbons and Pugh (see
to be hard, he says. Because life is hard. Page 157.) Their kids have all grown up
and moved to better places. Now Bedlam is
Councilor Mollie Schwartz Molly’s child.
PL: 3
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) District Attorney Cord Killingsworth
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3) Bedlam’s DA is a tall, stern, handsome man
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 with a hook for a hand. Grim and sober, he
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0 seldom smiles. He’s on a personal crusade
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 3 against superhumans who break the law.
Skills: Bluff 1 (+4), Diplomacy 3 (+6), And also superhumans who don’t. While he
Gather Information 2 (+5), Knowledge isn’t corrupt himself, he has little interest in
(Civics) 5 (+7), Knowledge (Current Events) rooting out the corruption all around him.
6 (+8), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 2 (+4), He’s much more focused on putting capes
Notice 1 (+2), Perform (Oratory) 3 (+6), behind bars and on getting enough major
Profession (politician) 3 (+5), Profession cases prosecuted that he can move on to
(society hostess) 7 (+9) higher office and get the Hell away from
Background: Mollie Schwartz is the nicest Bedlam. We have his stat block and
person in Bedlam politics, and perhaps the complete background information for him on
least effective. She’s relentlessly cheerful, Page 92.

43
Bishop Sloat the Vatican City. In his absence Bedlam’s
faithful are overseen by Bishop Lemuel
Sloat.
Bishop Sloat is what they call a no-
nonsense priest. During his tenure as the
headmaster of Our Lady of the Five Wounds
School for Boys, he implemented a program
of corporal punishment more rigorous than
anything seen since the 1950s. Two of the
boys he personally attended to died while
receiving discipline, and this might have
caused the Holy Mother Church some
difficulties if their parents had been less
devout, so Monsignor Sloat was hastily
promoted to Bishop and placed in an
administrative position. He finds it deeply
frustrating not to be able to have direct
contact with the faithful any more, and now
that he’s become Bedlam’s chief
administrator he feels more remote from the
flock than ever. It weighs heavily upon him.
All he ever wanted to do was minister to the
faithful and crush wickedness from the
hearts of boys. Why must he busy himself
with endless piles of paperwork and dismal
Planning Committee meetings?
He was always grim, terse and
short-tempered. These days his gruffness
PL: 5 has grown far worse. His weekly radio
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3) sermons sound as if he is delivering them
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3) from the grave—and his deep, scratchy
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 4 voice doesn’t help.
Toughness Save: 4 (3 without his Recently Sloat has become aware of
bulletproof vest) Fortitude Save: 5 the actual, literal existence of the
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5 supernatural and this knowledge obsesses
Skills: Bluff 4 (+7), Diplomacy 3 (+6), him. He’s determined to do everything in
Gather Information 5 (+8), Intimidate 8 his considerable power to stamp out every
(+11), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+7), hint of this blasphemous taint from Bedlam.
Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+7), Knowledge He has been in touch with a gang of
(Current Events) 6 (+8), Knowledge ruthless fanatics called the Opus Ombra
(Popular Culture) 3 (+5), Knowledge (see Page 205) and if the GM wants, he may
(Streetwise) 5 (+7), Notice 3 (+5), Perform be helping them to establish a chapter
(Oratory) 5 (+8), Profession (priest) 6 (+8), house in Bedlam. Sloat will annihilate this
Profession (headmaster) 6 (+8) city’s wickedness if it kills him—or anyone
Feats: All-Out Attack, Benefit (head of the else.
Catholic Church in Bedlam), Chokehold, He’s also deeply entangled with the
Connected, Contacts, Distract (Linked to Mafia. He knows they do questionable
Bluff), Endurance, Fascinate (Linked to things, but they donate a lot of money and
Bluff), Inspire (more importantly) they keep the blacks out
Background: Cardinal Scarpetti is the of Stark Hill. A staunch ally of the Czernik
nominal head of the Church in Bedlam. machine, at least in theory, these days he’s
However, until his current legal difficulties often too distracted or depressed to give
are resolved he can’t leave the precincts of them his full support.

44
 Bishop Sloat is aware that Profession (librarian) 6 (+9) Profession
sometimes bad children tempt priests into (politician) 2 (+5)
touching them in inappropriate ways Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold,
(although he has never felt tempted in this Connected, Contacts, Fascinate (Linked to
way himself—hurting children appeals to Intimidate), Startle
him far more than caressing them.) He has Background: A battle-scarred veteran of
worked hard to root out this problem. Now the Wolverton Branch Library, she lost an
whenever a family comes forward with that eye in an encounter with a patron, and she
kind of accusation, the Church immediately still managed to subdue him and perform a
sues them and threatens to have their Citizens’ Arrest. Bertha does not bother to
children taken away by the courts. Then cover her missing eye with a patch. If it
they have the family socially ostracized by bothers people, that’s their problem, not
their neighbors. If they persist in their hers.
wickedness, the Bishop may have his Mafia She has always felt that people
contacts start calling them up and making should pay more for overdue books and with
threats in the middle of the night. This new the library’s new computer system in place
program of getting tough with Holy Mother she at last has the means to track down the
Church’s enemies has been so successful scoundrels and make them all pay. She has
that other dioceses around the country are implemented a policy of turning overdue
starting to take note, and may soon try to fines over to collection agencies, some of
imitate Sloat’s success. them Mafia-affiliated firms that are prone to
using heavy-handed tactics. And with her
Chief Librarian Bertha Stumpf records computerized at last, she can track
down violators who may have committed
their offenses ten or even twenty years ago.
As the loudest and most aggressive
department head in the city, she has a
surprising amount of pull with the Municipal
Council, although she never seems to use
her influence to actually buy any new books.
She has grown far more concerned with
spending her money on punishing bad
readers than on rewarding good ones. After
all, for a good reader, reading is its own
reward.
Bertha lives by herself in a bad part
of town, just off Ash Street. The love of her
life, a teacher named Netta Torkleson, has
recently left her. Bertha is heartbroken and
now pours her whole life into her work. So
PL: 5 let library scofflaws beware.
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 4
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 5
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 5
Skills: Computers 3 (+6), Gather
Information 5 (+6), Intimidate 8 (+9),
Knowledge (Civics) 2 (+4), Knowledge
(Current Events) 4 (+7), Knowledge
(Streetwise) 5 (+8), Knowledge (Theology
and Philosophy) 5 (+8), Notice 7 (+9),

45
As in every city, criminal justice in Bedlam is heavy leather topcoats. They use handheld
divided into three parts. The police, who radios rather than shoulder-mounted units.
investigate crimes, the courts, who Bedlam’s cops are known for their
prosecute them and the correctional uncompromising attitude toward crime—
authorities who attempt to punish them. they will not rest until they have had a taste
We’ll start here with an in-depth look at of the action. Notoriously corrupt and quick
Bedlam’s police force, then move on to the to resort to force, they have low morale and
courts and prisons. tend not to feel as though anyone in power
is looking after them. This promotes both
The Bedlam City Police Force bribery and brutality, as well as a kind of
The Bedlam Police are one of the few insular “code of silence” that makes them
divisions of the city government that hasn’t more willing to cover up one another’s
been privatized. They are fiercely proud of transgressions.
this status, and wary of outsiders being
brought in to manage them—fearful that How to Bribe a Bedlam Cop
this is the first sign that the City is planning As with everything, there are procedures
to sell the Department off. The City Council and etiquette to follow in successfully
recently brought in a famous police chief bribing a Bedlam police officer. You don’t
from Inglewood, California, named Duke want to get it wrong and offend them—that
Manning. The department made his job hell may result in their demanding a higher
until he left and the position remains open. bribe.
In the absence of a chief, the force The first step is to see if this
technically answers to its Acting Executive policeman seems likely to accept a bribe.
Officer, an overworked bureaucrat named Some Bedlam cops will make this easy—
Lester Dunwoody, but in fact the Precinct they’ll shake you down for one whether you
Captains pretty much run things like their have committed a crime or not. For the
own personal fiefdoms. others, you should tentatively ask them if
Officially Bedlam has a force of there is a fine for the offense you’re being
thirteen hundred officers, organized into six charged with, and if you could “take care of
precincts. The sad truth is that many of it right here.”
these positions are “currently unfilled” for Of course some Bedlam cops are
lack of funds, and two of the precinct clean. By certain estimates it might be as
houses are officially under construction (one high as 15% of the force. But even if a
of them still has a fast food restaurant particular cop doesn’t take bribes, he or she
operating on the site where it is supposed to is unlikely to be offended by the offer and
be.) very unlikely to report it. They know that
In fact Bedlam can muster a force this is how things are done and that it’s not
of about nine hundred officers. Their a good idea to be seen making trouble
equipment is old—none of the cars have about it. If they don’t want to accept a
computer terminals, so officers are forever bribe, they usually just won’t respond to the
having to call the dispatcher to look up suggestion. If you don’t seem to get it,
license plates and so forth, jamming their they’ll say “no, thanks.” Only a few crazy
crowded radio bandwidth. crusading zealots will try to arrest you for
Because their uniforms haven’t been attempting to bribe them, and they tend not
updated in a while, they have a distinctly to last long on the force.
retro look, with hexagonal black hats and Once a cop has indicated that it
would be acceptable to “take care of it right

46
here” you should ask how much the fine following divisions and subdivisions (we’ll
might be. They’ll probably quote you a describe each one in detail later on.)
vague figure (“might be as much as…”.)
You are entitled to haggle unless the crime Patrol Services
is serious. If the cop indicates that they First Precinct (Downtown)
don’t want to haggle “no, I already told you Second Precinct (Stark Hill)
how much it could be”) then stop trying to Third Precinct (Hardwick Park)
haggle before they raise the price on you. Fourth Precinct (Wolverton)
Once they have agreed to a price, Fifth Precinct (Ash St. and the Country Club)
hand them your identification with the Sub-Station One (aka “Precinct 5½”)
money folded underneath. Dispatch Center
If you aren’t “connected” to the Highway Patrol
Bedlam Mob or city government, a cop Traffic Control
probably won’t accept a bribe to let you off Special Operations
the hook for a violent felony, but most other Aviation Detail
crimes are negotiable. K-9 Detail
Thirty dollars usually fixes a moving Mounted Detail
violation, twenty lets you off the hook for Harbor Patrol Unit
vagrancy. Fifty will get you out of a DUI Tactical Operations (SWAT)
where no one was hurt. Downgrading a Special Assault Squad
domestic dispute to a warning is about $200 Community Relations Bureau
unless the cop really hates wifebeaters. Neighborhood Police Program
While crimes like murder and bank
robbery aren’t negotiable (unless arranged Detectives Bureau
in advance with the powers that be) a Investigative Resources
fleeing suspect might be able to get a cop to Crime Statistics Unit
look the other way for $500 or so. Police Laboratory
Photographic Unit
Bedlam City Police Radio Channels Hostage Negotiation Unit
1: Precinct One Bomb Squad
2: Precinct Two Homicide Squad
3: Precinct Three Robbery Squad
4: Precinct Four and Five (they share a Auto Crime Unit
channel between them) Burglary Squad
5: Records Division (used to call in license- Organized Crime Squad
plate and identity lookups, this channel sees Vice Squad
a lot of traffic and is often hard to get Narcotics Squad
through on) Computer Crime Squad
6: Tactical Operations (SWAT) Channel Juvenile Crime Squad
7: Tactical Operations Two (used mostly, Special Victims Liaison Unit
but not exclusively, by the Special Assault Gang Task Force
Squad) Anti-Graffiti Vandalism Unit
8: Car-to-Car (this channel is much too close Administrative Services
to some of the CB stations truckers use, and Office of the Chief of Police
if you are anywhere near the freeway, it can Fiscal Affairs and Human Resources
pick up a lot of interference) Records Division
9-10: Unassigned as of yet Public Affairs
Internal Affairs
Structure of the Bedlam PD
The Bedlam Police are organized into the Training Bureau

47
Ranks of the Bedlam Police likely to encounter, so we’re going to go
Police Chief over it in a lot of detail.
Executive Officer The Patrol Officers are organized
Captain into five precincts, plus one smaller
Lieutenant “Substation.” Highway Patrol, Traffic
Sergeant Control, Dispatch and the Special Operations
Patrol Officer Division (including SWAT, the Special
Note: “Detective” is not a rank—see the Assault Group and a few oddball units like
section on the Detectives Bureau below. the mounted police and K-9 officers) are
also part of Patrol Services, but are separate
Explanation of Ranks from the precincts and are based in Police
Technically, the head of the entire force is Headquarters downtown.
the Chief of Police. Alas, there is no such As mentioned above, they don’t
person. As mentioned above, the force have shoulder-mounted radios and their
drove off the last Chief the Council tried to squad cars don’t have computers. They rely
impose on them and they don’t yet have a on belt-mounted walkie-talkies and their car
new one. radios to communicate with one another
The Executive Officer is the head of and the Dispatch Center. If they want to
Administrative Services, and is widely run a car’s plates or check a suspect for
considered to be the Chief’s second-in- outstanding warrants, they have to call it in.
command, charged with making sure that all As a result, their radio channels are often
police operations run smoothly. jammed with traffic.
Each of the five precincts is headed Each precinct house is led by a
up by a Captain, as is each Detective Squad, Captain, and is supposed to have three
and most of the other individual units (the Lieutenants (two of the five precincts have
Bomb Squad, the Special Assault Squad, the only one Lieutenant each.) Patrolmen are
Harbor Patrol, etc.) divided up into three eight-hour shifts, each
A Lieutenant acts as Watch led by a Watch Commander (normally a
Commander for each of the three shifts at Lieutenant, but some watches are
each precinct. Lieutenants also head up commanded by Sergeants if no Lieutenant is
some of the smaller units—the head of K9 is available.) Every shift is supposed to
a Lieutenant, for example, as is the head of comprise 20 officers, although they tend to
the Anti-Graffiti Vandalism Unit. be a little shorthanded. A Sergeant acts as
Sergeants directly supervise the the immediate supervisor of between ten
individual Patrol Units. Typically a Patrol and twelve patrol officers, reporting to the
Unit consists of two officers in a squad car Watch Commander on their performance.
(all too often there is only one patrol officer During the day, officers can patrol
available.) Each sergeant will usually alone, but at night they always ride in pairs.
oversee five or six units. Sergeants do At least in theory. In practice they often
sometimes go on patrol themselves, but have to drive alone, due to personnel
their main responsibilities are to manage the shortages.
Patrol Officers and oversee booking (hence We’ll start our detailed breakdown
the term “Desk Sergeant”.) of Patrol Services with a description of each
of the five precincts, as well as police
Patrol Services headquarters, then move on to stats and
These are the uniformed officers who patrol background information for a generic
Bedlam’s streets. Low on equipment, Bedlam Patrol Officer, a police car, and a
manpower and morale, they struggle to “paddy wagon” used to transport criminals.
carry on in the face of the near certainty Then we’ll have stats and background
that they’ll be privatized in a few years. material for individual patrol officers and
This is the biggest division of the Bedlam then for some of the ranking command
Police Force, and the one the PCs are most personnel who oversee them.

48
We’ll follow this by describing each of the The First Precinct is in the same building as
smaller branches of Patrol Services (Special a lot of the police administration services,
Operations, Dispatch, Traffic Control, etc) and its officers hassle the administrative
with stats for generic officers and write-ups staff into giving them the biggest share of
for some individual ones. We’ll include stat the Department’s limited resources. Their
blocks for special vehicles and equipment equipment gets replaced quicker, their
(police helicopters, for example) where paperwork gets processed faster and so
necessary. forth.
This is a fairly corrupt precinct. The
The Five Precincts same people have been running it for more
Without a Chief, the individual Captains run than ten years and they have had time to
their precincts the way they please. This get deeply entrenched, to build big networks
varies a lot with the individual Captain. of graft and forge lasting relationships with
Some are lazy, some run a tight ship. Some crooked politicians. It’s also the most
are decent, some are outrageously bad. efficient and probably the most competent
Here is a brief guide to Police Headquarters precinct, since officers compete with one
and to each of Bedlam’s five precincts. another to get a chance to work here.
Captain Norris “Sharkey” Muldoon
Police Headquarters runs the First Precinct with an iron hand.
This scarred-up old behemoth of a building Sharkey’s a stern disciplinarian with a
has served as Police Headquarters since the reputation for doing his job well. He’s also
late 19th Century. Made of smog-stained amazingly crooked—they say that he can
brick, it looks grim and imposing. hear a five-dollar bill hit the ground a block
Administrative Services, the Police away.
Laboratory, Special Operations, the A fearsome-looking guy with a black
Detective Bureau, Dispatch and the First beard and a constant scowl, he wears
Precinct are based in this building. The sunglasses indoors and always seems to be
department’s motor pool is located here as chewing something.
well, in a lot out back, surrounded by rusty
concertina wire. The Second Precinct
Headquarters has more holding cells Based in Stark Hill, this precinct has the
than any of the other precinct houses, but least turnover and the best morale in the
they’re still overcrowded. The Department Department. Most of the officers who work
doesn’t make this public, but a couple of here are actually locals and know the
trailers parked in the motor pool lot are neighborhood well. They treat its Mafia
being used as extra holding cells. They’re overlords with deference and respect, never
not exactly escape-proof. asking for more than their own traditional
It’s an open secret that the piece of the action. Cliquish and clubby,
department’s anti-parahuman unit, the they resist being transferred out of the
Special Assault Squad, is based in this precinct and make outsiders feel
building. Their temporary containment unwelcome.
facility for parahuman prisoners is not here, As you might imagine, this is the
however. Its location is a much more most crooked precinct in the city. It may or
closely guarded secret. may not be the most brutal, depending on
There is always a police helicopter how you look at it. The officers who work
stationed on the top of the building, ready here are certainly rough on any Hispanics or
to respond to emergencies. It’s usually kept African-Americans who wind up in their
half-fueled-up, for budgetary reasons. clutches. In fact more than one non-white
suspect has died in their custody. But if a
The First Precinct suspect is from the neighborhood, they are
Based in Police Headquarters downtown, lax and congenial—sometimes a little too
this is the largest precinct. It covers the lax.
downtown area and part of Hardwick Park.

49
 Captain Willy Grogan is a friendly, The Fourth Precinct
easygoing boss, and very popular with his Captain Titus Bloch runs the Fourth Precinct.
men. A beefy old Irish guy with a white He’s an older guy with a grey brushcut and
moustache, he doesn’t like to work hard and a very square looking head. A few years
doesn’t really bother to keep his boys in line. back, Captain Bloch got taken hostage by a
He’s not a crook, but has no interest in Supervillain called Damocles Faust, and he
cleaning up his Precinct—or in running it. was never quite the same afterwards. Blank
The real power behind Captain and stiff, he sometimes tries to talk to
Grogan is his First Watch Commander, furniture, says “lunch” instead of “Squad
Sergeant “Big Chuck” O’Ryan. The force’s Car” or discharges his sidearm at invisible
most decorated veteran and its biggest, enemies. His lieutenants are trying to cover
strongest officer, Big Chuck is a legend for him.
among his fellow officers. You can find out Bloch is completely clean these days
more about him under his individual listing and cannot be bribed. If you bring him
on Page 55. evidence of a crime that’s been committed
in his department then he will try to ferret
The Third Precinct out the culprits. But he is so hopelessly odd
The Third Precinct squats on Wolverton like that he’s fairly ineffective as an ally. Worse,
an invading army. Few of the officers who he still has a mind-control implant in his
work here are Hispanic or African-American head and anything you tell him will
and almost none are from the neighborhood immediately get back to the supervillain
itself. Despite the efforts of the Community underground. The control unit for the
Police Program, they have done little in the implant in his head has been sold many
past sixty years to gain the residents’ times and could turn up in the hands of any
confidence. This drastically increases the villain the GM likes.
hold that gangs and organized crime have In the meantime, Bloch’s precinct
on the neighborhood, since local people runs itself. It’s fairly crooked, but its major
don’t trust the cops and turn elsewhere for problem is its lax discipline. With the
help. Captain too addled to really notice whether
Part of Hardwick Park is in the Third his men are doing their job, slothfulness and
Precinct and part of it is in the First. This under-performance run rampant here. They
has created turf conflicts and confusion. aren’t especially brutal, by and large, having
The Third Precinct also covers Bedlam mostly given up the war on crime.
Harbor, as best it can. Perhaps that’s for the best. Their
While there are patrolmen in the turf covers the Country Club, the skid row
Third Precinct who shake down criminals down around Ash Street and Gravesend
and small business owners for money, they Beach. Not exactly fertile ground for the
aren’t entangled with the local crime scene seed of law and order to flourish in.
the way the Second Precinct is. No one
here likes or trusts them enough. The Fifth Precinct
But things may be about to change. As noted above, we leave the Fifth Precinct
The new Captain, Moses Runyon, is eager to entirely in the GM’s hands, to staff with
update the way the Third Precinct operates. whatever NPCs he or she would like. It
He grew up in Wolverton and he’s an old covers Greely Point.
friend of Rock Johnson, one of the
neighborhood’s reigning crime lords. With a The Sub-Station
little work, Runyon hopes to soon have a Sometimes called “Precinct 5.5”, the small
relationship like the one the Second Precinct police substation at the Liberty Shoppes Mall
has with the community in Stark Hill. is effectively its own independent entity.
The Detective Bureau’s Gang Task They patrol the giant mall on foot and drive
Force is based in the Third Precinct and this around it in their squad cars, but they don’t
might complicate the new Captain’s plans. claim to have it completely secure. They

50
venture into the Food Court only in groups How Does Graft Work?
of three or more. In precincts that have organized networks of
Captain Ed Dunker was assigned to dirty cops, the individual patrol officers (or
lead this unit after a bad nervous detectives, if it’s a crooked Detective Squad)
breakdown. He’s pretty much recovered, all pool the money they collect in bribes and
although he’s still awfully paranoid and “protection” each week. They call this fund
always carries his sidearm around the “Pad” and it gets divided back up among
unholstered. all the officers who participate, according to
His men like working the mall. Not their rank.
only are there plenty of gang members to A rookie gets one share. A Patrol
shake down, but plenty of small shops to Officer gets two. A Sergeant gets three, a
extort protection money from, too—all in Lieutenant gets four, a Watch Commander
one convenient location. Morale is high. (usually a Lieutenant) gets five and a
They like their crazy Captain, like the way Captain gets six.
he screams at civilians and sticks his gun in Some precincts have pads that go
kids’ faces over nothing, his endless angry all the way up to the Captain and involve
rants about freemasons and the CIA. Few nearly every officer who works there. Some
of them would want to be transferred don’t.
anywhere else. They frown on guys who keep bribe
money for themselves instead of
A Crime Scene: Who’s in Charge? contributing it to the pad, though they
Technically a Sergeant is required to secure tolerate if it doesn’t get out of hand. But
the scene of a major incident. In practice, holding back protection money can get you
there aren’t enough Sergeants to go around reported to Internal Affairs for taking bribes.
and this often doesn’t happen. Until the
Sergeant or the detectives arrive, the first Bedlam Patrol Officer
officer at the scene is responsible for PL: 3
securing it and for directing other Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
emergency response personnel. Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
If federal law enforcement Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus:3 Defense: 3
personnel present themselves at a crime Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
scene, the local cops are instructed to armor) Fortitude Save: 3
cooperate with them. If they state that they Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
are investigating this incident as a federal Skills: Climb 2 (+4), Drive 2 (+3),
crime, then they take charge. Usually this Intimidate 5 (+6), Investigate 4 (+4),
means that the patrol officer, Sergeant or Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3),
detective in charge of the scene remains Notice 4 (+5), Profession (policeman) 4
responsible for securing the site, but takes (+4), Search 3 (+4), Stealth 2 (+3)
direction from the feds. Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw
Rarely, the feds will take over the Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3
entire scene, order the local cops away and Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
bring in their own forensics people. This Damage)
only happens if something really major is Background: Bedlam’s police are
going on. sometimes called “the finest”, but people
mean it in an ironic kind of way. Two recent
corruption scandals have left them with an
unsavory reputation.
The city claims to have thirteen-
hundred patrol officers on the force, but in
fact there are only nine-hundred or so. A
typical beat cop patrols in a battered up old
Crown Victoria squad car, either with or
without a partner as the precinct’s budget

51
allows. Officially everyone has a partner see Officer Blick out of uniform, they
and the Department would never send an immediately assume he must work in tech
officer out unprotected and alone. But this support. His huge girth and ratty, unkempt
is blatantly untrue. beard give it away. But in fact he’s a cop,
Quite a few of Bedlam’s finest can known throughout his precinct as the laziest
be bribed, but contrary to popular belief not officer in his shift, and the fattest.
all of them shake people down for Blick is famous for never getting out
protection money or run errands for of his squad car. If you do make him get
organized crime. Their cruisers are old and out of the car, he’ll be pretty mad about it.
worn-down looking, with no computers and He will not chase a suspect under any
dented fenders. They have to call circumstances.
suspicious license plate numbers in to the For the most part he limits his police
dispatcher to have them looked up—they work to yelling angrily out the squad car
can’t do it themselves from the car. window at people to “stop that!” or “get
Patrolmen carry Glock 9 millimeter outta there!” Sullen and surly, constantly
handguns and sometimes non-standard stuffing his face, Blick is pretty depressed
weapons that they’ve bought themselves. and the 300 plus pounds he’s lugging
Too often they have notches carved in their around with him doesn’t do much to
nightsticks. What this means, you don’t improve his energy level.
want to know. Blick is willing to take a bribe but
They don’t all hold the same views doesn’t have it in him to shake down
about superheroes and costumed vigilantes, businesses or extort money out of anyone.
which means that a Bedlam police officer No one has ever asked him to carry out any
may help, hinder, or attempt to arrest a errands for the Mob, nor are they likely to
Player Character at the GM’s whim. ask.
While he’s always in a bad mood,
Individual Patrol Officers he’d never beat up a suspect in his charge—
You can place any of these patrolmen in any that would be too much work. Not a very
of the five precincts. You can even partner strict cop, he’s always letting people off with
some of them together if you like (although warnings, even for surprisingly serious
Les Savage and Randall Blick would make a crimes, because he doesn’t want to go to all
very odd couple indeed.) the trouble of apprehending them. His
squad car is such a mess that he has
Patrol Officer Randall Blick difficulty finding partners and often patrols
PL: 3 alone at night. This suits him fine.
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) Sometimes he pulls over into a parking lot
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1) and sleeps through his shift.
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
Toughness Save: 4 (+0 without body Patrol Officer Theresa Ferrante
armor) Fortitude Save: 0 PL: 3
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 2 Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
Skills: Drive 4 (+4), Intimidate 5 (+6), Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2 )
Investigate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 3 Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
(+3), Medicine 2 (+2), Notice 6 (+6), Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
Profession (policeman) 3 (+3), Search 3 armor) Fortitude Save: 3
(+3) Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 3
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Climb 2 (+2), Drive 2
Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3 (+4), Intimidate 5 (+7), Investigate 4 (+4),
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Knowledge
Damage) (Streetwise) 3 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3), Notice
Complications: Unbelievably lazy. 4 (+5), Profession (policeman) 4 (+4),
Compulsive eater. Search 3 (+4), Sense Motive 4 (+5), Stealth
Background: The moment most people 2 (+4)

52
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw man she married. Her husband, Artie, is a
Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3 big, friendly guy from Stark Hill who has
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 been in love with her since high school. He
Damage) works in the Greely Olde Tymme Toy
Complications: Intensely loyal to the Factory and spends a lot of time taking care
Department, willing to make any sacrifice of their five kids (two of his own and three
for her fellow officers from previous relationships.)
Background: Officer Ferrante has worked Unfortunately for Artie, Theresa still
every detail available to a policewoman, likes to party with her fellow cops and is
from dispatcher to plainclothes decoy. She constantly unfaithful to him, right under his
likes being a patrol officer the best. A nose. He doesn’t know how to cope with
former gang girl from Stark Hill, she still has it—her cop friends scare him half to death
“Property of the Dukes” tattooed on her and they bully him terribly. This is really
forearm. She proudly displays her gang starting to wear on him, but what can he
tattoos and still feels a lot of loyalty to the do?
Dukes—many of whom became cops.
She is intensely devoted to the force Patrol Officer Lance Stroessner
and will do anything, including planting PL: 3
evidence and lying under oath, to protect Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
her fellow officers. She would probably be Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
willing to go to jail for them. She likes Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
roughing suspects up (although she’s never Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
killed one)—it reminds her of the days when armor) Fortitude Save: 3
the Dukes would rumble with the Viscounts. Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 2
In fact she’s always looking for a chance to Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 2 (+5), Drive 4
cause someone a little harm. (+4), Intimidate 6 (+7), Investigate 2 (+2),
A short, curvy woman in her late Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3),
thirties, she used to have big hair but now Notice 4 (+5), Profession (policeman) 4
police regulations force her to pull it back in (+4), Search 3 (+3), Stealth 3 (+4)
a ponytail. It’s getting gray, so she dyes it Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw
black. She usually has an unpleasant smile. Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3
Officer Ferrante is more than willing to take Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
a bribe and enjoys coercing them out of Damage)
shopkeepers. She is very insensitive to rape Complications: Looking for a man with a
victims, perhaps because of what she had to leash
go through during her own gang initiation, Background: A big, silly, fun-loving kid at
and has been disciplined for this. heart, Officer Stroessner never completely
If there is one thing Officer Ferrante outgrew being a juvenile delinquent, even
really hates, it’s people who think they are now that he’s in his thirties. He still likes to
smarter or better than she is. She is always make homemade bombs and blow them up
on the lookout for someone who might fit in vacant lots. He rousts teenagers having
this description and is ready to cause them parties and drinks their alcohol once he’s
extra grief. confiscated it. He chews gum with his
While Ferrante drinks a bit, she’s mouth open, grinning like a big sleazy dog.
not a lush. She likes to use cocaine while Speaking of dogs, when he gets
she’s partying, but she’s no addict. really bored, he likes to shoot strays. He
Ferrante is aware that some of the nearly got in serious trouble doing that a
stuff she has done is pretty bad, but feels couple of years ago. He was driving by
that her regular trips to the confessional himself, at night, and he felt really bored, so
booth have shriven her of any sin, so what he spotted a stray dog, rolled down his
does she have to worry about? window and shot it. Then a guy holding a
She has only ever dated other cops leash walked out from behind a tree. Lance
or gang members, with the exception of the took off as fast as he could, but he’s not

53
completely sure the guy didn’t get his He grew up in Wolverton and saw
number. He tells this story often and it all kinds of bad things happen to his
never fails to get a laugh from his fellow neighborhood. His dad was a cop, who
cops. But he worries about it, too. could never stand the level of corruption in
Lance has devoted considerable the Bedlam PD and refused to participate in
effort to tracking down the guy with the it. The other cops hated his dad and made
leash, to make sure he doesn’t make some life tough for him any way they could. This
kind of a thing about this. Once he finds in turn made him drink. He was not a good
that little creep, he’ll give him the kind of guy when drunk, and Les still has the scars
scare a guy never forgets. Last year he to prove it.
thought he found the guy and he truly put These days Les follows in his
the fear of God and Lance in him. But later father’s footsteps. He knows he can’t do
he found out it couldn’t have been the right anything about the crooked stuff going on in
guy. The jerk he leaned on had only just the Department, so he tries to ignore it. He
moved to Bedlam—he didn’t live here when takes his anger out on suspects, and
Lance shot the dog. Some of the guys rib potential suspects and guys whose faces he
him about that one, but he bears it with just doesn’t like. He hands out beatings like
good humor. Christmas fruitcake, and the guys at the
Lance looks like a cop. Not a fat precinct house are starting to think he’s a
moustache-wearing cop, but a crew-cut bit of a fruitcake himself.
wearing, bodybuilding cop. He wears thick Nothing makes Les feel as great as
horn-rimmed glasses that look really odd on nabbing a couple of teenagers who are
his heavy-boned brutal features. Except for probably up to no good and watching them
his glasses, he resembles an action figure. get more and more scared as he screams at
Lance is between girlfriends, He them in the back seat of his patrol car.
lives by himself in a shabby apartment on Except for the moment when he starts
the outskirts of the Meadows. hitting them with his nightstick. Not that
either one of these things actually makes
Patrol Officer Lester “Les” Savage him feel all that great. Nothing seems to
PL: 3 satisfy his anger. He has begun to drink
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) more and more when he’s off-duty.
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3) Divorced, his ex-wife took both his
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 kids away and he’s only allowed to see them
Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body with a social worker supervising the contact.
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 He doesn’t remember hitting them (although
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 they sure seem to remember it themselves),
Skills: Climb 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+3), and this frightens him.
Intimidate 5 (+8), Investigate 4 (+4), He’s a skinny, wiry African-American
Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Knowledge guy with deep scowl lines in his forehead.
(Streetwise) 5 (+5), Medicine 2 (+5), Notice His hair and his moustache have gone
4 (+7), Profession (policemen) 4 (+4), prematurely white.
Search 3 (+6), Stealth 1 (+2)
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw Ranking Officers
Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3 On the following pages we have stats and
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 background information on a few Sergeants,
Damage) Lieutenants, etc. for you to use as needed.
Complications: Hates crime, hates “Big Chuck” O’Ryan works at the Second
criminals, hates this town Precinct, but you can place the others
Background: The corruption Les sees all anywhere.
around him disgusts him deeply. So does
the city itself. But nothing disgusts him as
much as crime.

54
Sergeant Roscoe Cleetus Jackson became a cop to help people. Everyone has
PL: 3 a good laugh over this joke, but then they
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) walk away wondering what his real angle is.
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 12 (+1) In fact he doesn’t know himself.
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 Every day he wonders why he stays in
Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body Bedlam and tries to help a city that doesn’t
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 seem to want to be helped. But he
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 supposes somebody has to.
Skills: Climb 2 (+3), Diplomacy 4 (+5), Roscoe is divorced, his kids live in
Drive 3 (+4), Gather Information 6 (+7), another state and he never gets to see
Investigate 6 (+9), Knowledge (Civics) 5 them. He lives in an apartment on the edge
(+8), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+8), of the Country Club. It’s pretty depressing,
Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 3 so he spends most of his spare time
(+6), Medicine 3 (+6), Notice 6 (+9), unofficially looking up leads on cases and
Profession (policeman) 6 (+9), Search 3 trying to help people out as best he can.
(+6), Sense Motive 5 (+8), Stealth 2 (+3) Honest, good-natured and smart, he
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw seems like a natural ally for costumed
Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3 vigilantes looking to clean up Bedlam But in
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 fact he mistrusts superheroes. He’s from
Damage) South Carolina, originally, and masked
Complications: Constantly trying to help vigilantes remind him far too much of the
people Klan. It will take a lot of effort for a Player
Background: A mild-mannered African- Character to win him over. In fact, he’s
American guy in his fifties, Roscoe has held more likely to become the PCs’ nemesis than
a lot of positions in the Bedlam Police Force. their ally. If he discovers that they have
Since joining up as a patrolman fifteen years done something illegal (and most of a
ago he has at times risen all the way to the vigilante’s activities are illegal) he will
rank of Lieutenant and he’s worked as a doggedly pursue them, tirelessly working to
detective in Homicide and Theft. But bring them to justice.
despite being a quiet, respectful, hard-
working man he never won the trust of the Sergeant Charles “Big Chuck” O’Ryan
higher-ups and has always been busted PL: 9
back to the ranks. He’s recently been Str: 20 (+5) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3)
promoted back to Sergeant after spending Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
two years as a lowly patrolman. Initiative: 8 Attack Bonus: 9 (+11
It’s not that people think Roscoe is a Melee) Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 6
snitch. He has never, to anyone’s (+2 if caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 9
knowledge, reported on any of the crooked Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 9
stuff he sees going on around him. But he Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Climb 8 (+13),
quietly refuses to take part in any of it. He Concentration 5 (+8), Escape Artist 5 (+8),
won’t take a bribe, he’s gentle with Gather Information 8 (+11), Intimidate 11
suspects, won’t plant evidence or perjure (+14), Investigate 4 (+6), Knowledge
himself in court—who could ever trust a guy (Streetwise) 8 (+10), Notice 8 (+11),
like that? Profession (policeman) 5 (+7), Search 7
One of his old bosses tried (+10), Sense Motive 6 (+9), Stealth 5 (+8)
transferring him to Internal Affairs, just to Feats: Accurate Attack, Assessment,
see if he was the kind of rat who would take Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll
an assignment like that, but he quietly 4, Elusive Target, Equipment 2 (10 pts. of
refused. They kicked him out of the equipment), Evasion 2, Improved Critical
Homicide Squad anyway, just to be safe. (with pistol), Improved Defense, Improved
Other cops sometimes ask Roscoe Grapple, Improved Initiative, Improved Trip,
why he won’t take graft or rough-up Power Attack, Quick-Draw, Redirect, Sneak
suspects. He smiles and says that he Attack, Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge

55
Equipment: Brass Knuckles (Melee same brownstone where they all grew up.
Weapon, 5 Damage), Huge Pistol (Ranged His brothers, Mack and Pat, are both cops,
Weapon, 5 Damage) as was their father, their grandfather and all
Background: Bedlam’s number one hero their uncles.
cop, Big Chuck is something of a legend. Presently single, Big Chuck’s ex-wife
Unquestionably the largest, strongest man was murdered during a break-in while she
on the Bedlam Police Force, he has made was in the process of divorcing him. Guys
more arrests than anyone else and has around the station house whisper that two
risked his life countless times in the line of of his girlfriends died the same way. They
fire. This is the guy Crazy Sherry Stavros don’t whisper it very loud, though.
(see Page 79) fears and respects. He has A great-big red-cheeked Irishman,
worked as a detective before, but he’s Chuck has a square face, a thick neck, a
always gone back to being a patrolman. It’s graying moustache and a lot of scars. There
more satisfying, he says. That’s where the are deep laugh lines around his eyes, and
real contact with the public happens. he smiles a lot.
Immensely popular within the Friendly, charismatic and violent,
department, he’s a Stark Hill cop of the old Big Chuck likes superheroes, particularly if
school. He may be a hero, but he’s not too they beat up a lot of black people or talk
big to take a little graft now and again or about being “tough on crime” (which he
shake down a shopkeeper for a little folding thinks means the same thing.) He openly
money, just like the regular guys do. He admires the vigilante called the “Hammer of
knows the Mafia keeps Stark Hill white and Justice” and he would be more than willing
he figures that’s a good thing, so he’s to work with the PCs, provided they don’t
prepared to tolerate them and he knows to say anything that offends him. Saying bad
stay out of their way. He also knows that things about cops offends him, as does
mistakes sometimes get made in the line of saying good things about minorities. And
fire, so sometimes you have to plant a little you don’t have to annoy Big Chuck very
evidence just to make sure the story comes much to wind up dead in an alley.
out straight. He always carries a clean gun He would make a powerful ally
on his person in case he accidentally shoots within the department, but he will expect
an unarmed civilian. Once he plants it on favors from the PCs in return. Some of
their corpse, he’s off the hook. He has his these favors are sure to be illegal and some
ethics, as he says, and would never do that of them are likely to be serious felonies. If
to a white person. Unless someone they ever refuse, or ever cross him in any
important asked him to. other way, he will at once attempt to have
Big Chuck realizes that cops don’t them killed.
make a lot of money and he understands
that sometimes a guy has to boost a little
dope from the evidence room or help the
mob kill a stoolie to help make ends meet.
He wouldn’t hold it against any of his
brother cops—God knows he’s done enough
stuff like that himself.
There are rumors within the Bedlam
Police that Big Chuck is the Scarpia Crime
family’s liaison to a crew of crooked cops
within the Second Precinct—guys who sell
dope, burglarize suspects’ homes and carry
out contract killings for the mob. No one
says this very loud, however, since people
who cross Big Chuck usually wind up dead.
A lifelong resident of Stark Hill, Big
Chuck lives with his two brothers in the

56
Lieutenant Morton Dilley Captain Norris “Sharkey” Muldoon
PL: 3
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
armor) Fortitude Save: 3
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
Skills: Climb 2 (+2), Drive 2 (+3), Gather
Information 3 (+4), Investigate 4 (+6),
Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3),
Notice 4 (+5), Profession (policeman) 4
(+6), Search 3 (+4), Stealth 5 (+6)
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw
Equipment: Nightstick (Melee Weapon, 3
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
Damage)
Background: Constantly terrified, Mort
Dilley is always sure he’s about to get killed.
He’s seen the things that happen in Bedlam
and they give him nightmares every time he
goes to bed.
Lieutenant Dilley has wide, watery
eyes and disheveled gray hair. He is
constantly fidgeting. Dilley was hired from
rural Wisconsin and isn’t used to big-city
police work. It has been an eye-opening PL: 6
experience. He has no idea that most cities Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3)
aren’t this corrupt and violent. Mort isn’t Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
interested in getting a piece of the action for Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 6
himself, but he would never dream of Defense: 6 Toughness Save: 6 (+2 if
reporting any of the crooked cops around caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 9
him to Internal Affairs. Nor is he likely to Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 9
cooperate with the PCs. Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Climb 3 (+6),
He has begun to drink a lot, but it Diplomacy 5 (+8), Escape Artist 2 (+5),
hasn’t affected his work yet. He’s a sad, Gather Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 8
maudlin drunk, not a belligerent one. (+11), Investigate 2 (+4), Knowledge
If he is cornered, he may lose his (Civics) 5 (+7), Knowledge (Streetwise) 8
cool and do something unethical, but he’d (+10), Knowledge (Tactics) 4 (+6), Notice 7
never break the rules otherwise—that might (+10), Profession (policeman) 8 (+10),
cause trouble, and trouble is one thing that Search 4 (+7), Sense Motive 6 (+9), Stealth
he doesn’t need any more of. 5 (+8)
Dilley was supposed to bring his Feats: Assessment, Chokehold, Connected,
wife and kids out to Bedlam a year ago, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll
when he first took the job, but he can’t 4, Equipment 2 (10 pts. of equipment),
bring himself to do it. They still live with his Evasion, Improved Grapple, Leadership,
mother-in-law and his wife is on the verge Quick-Draw, Sneak Attack, Weapon Bind
of divorcing him. He wishes he could Equipment: Brass Knuckles (Melee
explain his reluctance to relocate the family, Weapon, 5 Damage), Huge Pistol (Ranged
but he doesn’t want to burden his wife with Weapon, 5 Damage)
the knowledge of the terrible things he has Background: Sharkey Muldoon is
seen. completely crooked, but it’s an honest kind

57
of crooked. He’s the Captain of the First Features: Police Radio, rear doors that
Precinct, Bedlam’s largest, and one of its don’t open from the inside.
most corrupt (the Second Precinct and the Description: About half of Bedlam’s Patrol
Substation inside the Liberty Shoppes Mall Officers drive 2001 Crown Victorias. The
are arguably worse.) Sharkey’s a stern rest make do with 1995 Chevrolet Caprices
disciplinarian who wants his men to look as (that was the last year Chevy offered the
professional as possible. He takes his police package.) The Caprices often have
responsibilities seriously. The “pad” of small mechanical problems, like broken air
illegal graft is always fairly divided on his conditioning or a window that won’t roll
watch, stoolies are always given a warning down. As of yet, Bedlam’s squad cars still
the first time they snitch and a beating the don’t have computer terminals, so cops
second time. He only has chronic snitches have to call dispatch every time they need a
killed. Sharkey regularly negotiates license plate or driver’s license checked.
squabbles between his officers over this or
that piece of the action and he always does Paddy Wagon
so fairly, without stealing it all for himself. Strength: 40
If someone buys him, he stays bought. If Speed: 5
someone makes a deal with him, he keeps Defense: 8
it. Toughness: 11
There are plenty of brutal racists in Size: Huge
his precinct but he himself has no objection Features: Police Radio
to working with non-whites. Nor does he
Description: The SWAT teams ride around
have a problem with the capes. PCs will
in big old vans of various makes and
find him completely open to becoming their
models, with metal sheeting riveted to the
ally. They’ll have to pay him, or do
inside for armor plating and bars across the
questionable favors for him, but once they
windshield. Cops also use these vehicles to
fulfill their end of the bargain he’ll uphold
transport prisoners, especially if they have
his. If someone else offers him more
to apprehend a lot of them at once. There
money to betray them, he’ll do it without a
is a funny story about how the Third
flicker of hesitation, but it’s nothing
Precinct bought a van from a church in
personal. Just business.
Hardwick Park, fixed it up and armor-plated
A scary guy, Sharkey looks like the
it, only to discover a few months later that
very picture of a bad cop with his beard and
there was a bag of heroin hidden inside one
his muscles and his sunglasses. Constantly
of the seats.
chewing gum with his mouth open, he never
takes his shades off, even indoors. He
Dispatch Center
speaks in a low, threatening monotone
Based in Police Headquarters, the Dispatch
when he isn’t shouting at people. When he
Center handles all radio and telephone
smiles, it’s a cruel smile.
communications between officers in the
Sharkey lives in Stone Ridge with
field, the precinct houses, headquarters and
his third wife, four of their five kids, and
the public. They answer 911 calls and
seven of his grandchildren. A lot of his pay
coordinate police response. As mentioned
goes out the door as alimony and child
above, the radio channels that the Bedlam
support, but he collects enough graft to
Police use are constantly overloaded with
make up for it.
traffic—mostly because officers don’t have
computers in their cars and have to call
Squad Car
Dispatch every time they need information
Strength: 35 on a suspect or a license plate.
Speed: 5 The dispatchers get accused of
Defense: 8 favoring the First Precinct over all the
Toughness: 10 others, responding to them faster and
Size: Huge allocating more time to assist them. This is
perfectly true and the dispatchers don’t

58
bother to deny it. They work in the same scorching hot asphalt or in three feet of
building as the First Precinct and they have dirty snow, risking your life to admonish
to live with these guys. If they started drivers about broken tail-lights.
treating the other precincts better, they’d As a result, the very worst and the
get hassled about it all the time. very best Bedlam patrol officers tend to pull
this detail. Stubbornly honest cops who
Highway Patrol annoy their crooked superiors and vicious,
The Bedlam City Police have a small trigger-happy drunks both wind up working
Highway Patrol Unit. They are charged with Highway Patrol as a punishment. It's hard
enforcing the rules of the road on Bedlam's to tell which one has pulled you over until
freeways. Normally this is a function of the it's too late, so look out!
State Police, but they are presently at
loggerheads with the city and refuse to Traffic Control
patrol in Bedlam, so the local Police One of the least glamorous branches of
Department has filled the gap. Apparently police work, these officers direct traffic and
the state got tired of the fact that they occasionally hand out tickets. Other cops
encounter more crime and lose more often mock Traffic Control officers as not
officers on the freeways that surround being real cops. And in fact quite a few of
Bedlam than they do anywhere else. They them are actually “Auxiliary Police”, hired
also don’t care for the lack of cooperation through one or another big temp agency,
they get from the local authorities. “Lack of with no real arrest powers. For this reason,
cooperation” may be putting it mildly. if a traffic control officer encounters a
There have actually been armed dangerous situation, they are supposed to
confrontations between State Troopers and call for backup rather than intervene
Bedlam cops. themselves. This is not a high-status
Some of Bedlam’s Highway Patrol assignment.
cops operate in two-man motorcycle teams The official reason why the
while others are assigned to squad cars. Department uses so many Auxiliary Police
Motorcycles are more maneuverable in tight for Traffic Control is that they don’t have
traffic than automobiles and ideal for enough officers. That’s partly true, but the
running down vehicular offenders. Yet most real reason is that a lot of traffic cops get hit
of the officers assigned to the unit would by cars and it was starting to raise their
rather work in cars, which offer them a little insurance rates. Temps, of course, aren’t
more protection. insured by the Department.
For this is actually one of the most
dangerous assignments in all of police work. Special Operations
A huge number of arrests are made a result A division of Patrol Services, overseen by
of routine traffic stops. A perp with a felony Captain Rafe Blarski, Special Operations
warrant will break some traffic law or get includes all kinds of non-traditional police
caught with expired license plates, the units. Tactical Operations, the Special
highway patrol officer who stops them will Assault Squad, the Airborne Detail, Mounted
run their ID through the system and Police, K-9 Units and the Harbor Patrol all
discover that they're wanted for a serious fall under Captain Blarsky’s authority.
crime. In fact, because Bedlam's Detective Blarsky himself has ambitions of running for
Division is less-than-stellar, the majority of DA (although he’s pretty untelegenic,
felony busts in the city get made this way. resembling a bad-tempered walrus), and he
Criminals know this, and they know is reportedly very anxious about the
that the easiest (if not the safest) method to reputation of the units under his command.
evade getting caught is to shoot the Does this make him quick to cover things up
Highway Patrol officer who has pulled you when they go wrong? We wouldn’t care to
over, so Highway Patrol has the highest rate guess.
of injuries and fatalities in the Department.
It's a thankless job, writing tickets on the

59
Airborne Detail There have been some irregularities
The Bedlam Police have five Bell UH-1 Huey in the unit—cases where dogs behaved
Helicopters at their disposal. At least more aggressively toward suspects than
officially. In fact they have the fuel and they should have. It looks as though the
motor oil required to keep about three of Department should check the volunteers’
them in active service at any one time. backgrounds and credentials a little more
They store them at the Dept. of carefully. But they claim not to have the
Transportation’s old Corporation Yard out on funds to do this. Anyway they don’t have
Industrial Drive, but that’s an inconvenient enough K-9 Units as it is.
place to patrol the whole city from, so they Strangely, while there are eight K-9
always keep one on the helipad at Police units listed in the city budget, there only
Headquarters downtown. For budgetary seem to be four volunteers presently. So
reasons, it’s fuel tank is kept half full. where are the extra reimbursement checks
They use the helicopters for search- going?
and-rescue, and also to give officers on the
ground support when they are pursuing Police Dog
suspects. Each helicopter is equipped with a PL: 2
PA system, a giant spotlight and a blade on Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
the nose to cut through telephone wires. Int: 2 (-4) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 6 (-2)
The choppers are durable, but old (built in Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 3
the early 1960s) and each one has some Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 2
peculiar quirks. Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes Save: 5
Helicopter pilots are all sworn Willpower Save: 1
personnel with arrest powers. Technically Skills: Intimidate 6 (+4), Notice 4 (+5),
they are a part of Patrol Services, although Sense Motive 3 (+4), Survival 3 (+4), Swim
their hiring track is separate. Most of them 2 (+4)
are former military pilots. Unlike some Feats: Startle, Track
branches of Special Operations, they don’t Powers: Super-Senses 3 (Scent, Track,
have a reputation for being reckless. On the Ultra-Hearing)
contrary, they don’t want to risk their Complications: Subject to orders from
irreplaceable machines, so they are perhaps handler
a little too cautious with them. This causes Drawbacks: Disabled (No hands), color-
some resentment from the rest of the force. blind

Bedlam Police Helicopter Harbor Patrol Unit

Strength: 40 Bedlam’s small fleet of patrol boats is
Speed: 6 charged with keeping order on the waters of
Defense: 6 the estuary, the river and the harbor. For
Toughness: 10 the most part they serve as traffic cops,
Size: Huge helping to guide smaller vessels around the
giant container ships as they come in to the
K-9 Rook Island Shipping Terminal, and
The Bedlam Police have eight K-9 units, enforcing laws against reckless boating.
each one staffed by a single officer and their They do also patrol for crime along the
dog. Officers are all volunteers and they shore and across the water, but it’s hard to
own the dogs themselves. The city catch anyone with their slow and clumsy
reimburses them for their expenses and boats, so it’s a relaxed, easy beat.
upkeep. K-9 Officers are not Sworn Harbor Patrol is beyond any doubt
Personnel, do not have arrest powers and the cleanest section of the Patrol Services
can use their dogs only under the Division. But this isn’t because it’s manned
supervision of actual police officers (unless by the best officers. There’s really no way
they’re doing search-and-rescue work.) for them to shake people down for bribes
and they have few opportunities to get

60
brutal with suspects. The lack of “action” Reorganized under Captain Duke
has left them a disgruntled bunch. Braddock, the new Tactical Operations
Squad is now one of the cleanest divisions
Harbor Patrol Boat of the Bedlam PD and never gets accused of
Strength: 60 anything worse than using excessive force.
Speed: 4 (on the water) They get accused of that a lot, however.
Defense: 7 Captain Braddock has an unofficial policy of
Toughness: 12 not bothering to take any suspects into
Size: Gargantuan custody unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Normally, they just shoot the perp and go
Mounted Police Unit home. His team is full of trigger-happy
If you look at the police web site, you will adrenaline junkies and they’ve caused a
see that the Department has a small staff of surprising number of civilian casualties over
mounted officers and police horses, which the past two years. They are known for
they mostly use for ceremonial occasions. going in with guns blazing and no proper
You will learn such interesting facts as that plan, shooting at anything that moves. But
the horses are all named after policemen at least they don’t steal anything they find
who have fallen in the line of duty, and that at the scene. And if one of their stray
the motorcycle police are also a part of this bullets winds up in a child or a pregnant
unit. mother three blocks away, they can always
The problem is, none of this is true. blame it on the bad guys.
The web site is actually describing the There are four separate rapid-
Mounted Police program that the response teams in Tactical Operations, each
Department intends to implement, once led by a Lieutenant. D-Squad has the
they have enough funds and can locate highest concentration of twitchy
some suitable stables. As of yet they have psychopaths, and they’re Captain Braddock’s
not found a good stable or been able to favorite. He often leads them on raids
acquire any horses, but they continue to himself.
spend money on searching for a facility. Or
something. The force strongly and SWAT Team Member
categorically denies that any of those funds
are being stolen or used as political graft—
let alone getting diverted to organized
crime. Perish the thought.

SWAT
Bedlam’s Special Weapons and Tactics Unit
(known simply as “Tactical” to anyone inside
the Department) has suffered a recent
scandal. Last year, a filing clerk’s accidental
discovery in the police archives set federal
prosecutors on the trail of a burglary ring
operating inside the tactical squad. Officers
were looting crime scenes for valuables.
There were indictments, firings.
Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik stood up for
the cops and made angry speeches. In the
end about fifteen officers lost their jobs. To
everyone’s relief, it never came out that
some of the guys on the squad had been
carrying out contract killings for the Scarpia PL: 6
crime family, as well. Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)

61
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6 care for people, but he does like the noises
Toughness Save: 5 (1 without body that they make when you hurt them. While
armor) Fortitude Save: 4 he is absolutely and totally brave, he would
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3 sacrifice any one of his men’s lives for his
Skills: Drive 3 (+5), Intimidate 4 (+5), own. If he dies, the fun stops.
Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (Tactics) 3 He’s not interested in taking bribes
(+3), Notice 5 (+6), Profession (policeman) or stealing money. He’d be delighted if he
3 (+3), Stealth 5 (+7) found any of his men doing it, because then
Feats: All-Out Attack, Quick-Draw he’d get to hurt them. Trying to pay him off
Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness), makes you look vulnerable and this is not a
Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage guy you want to look vulnerable in front of.
[Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2 He’s no racist, but he might use racist
Damage) epithets on someone if he thinks it would
hurt them.
Captain Duke Braddock Braddock has carefully stocked D
PL: 7 Squad with adrenaline freaks and
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) psychopaths like himself and greatly enjoys
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2) leading them into combat. He doesn’t much
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 7 Defense: 7 bother to take suspects alive unless he
Toughness Save: 5 (1 without body absolutely has to.
armor) Fortitude Save: 4 The Captain lives alone in an
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3 apartment in Stark Hill. His neighbors never
see him because he’s always out and his
Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Drive 3 (+5), Escape
place barely even has any furniture.
Artist 4 (+6), Intimidate 6 (+8), Medicine 2
(+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4),
Knowledge (Tactics) 4 (+5), Notice 5 (+6), Officer Erwin Moody
Profession (policeman) 4 (+5), Search 5
(+6), Stealth 5 (+7)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Equipment 3 (15 pts.
of equipment), Improved Aim, Improved
Initiative,
Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness),
Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage
[Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2
Damage)
Background: Captain Braddock always
seems to be amused by something. It
might be the way a perp thrashes and
screams with a .30 caliber bullet in his guts.
It might be the look in a rookie’s eyes when
he realizes that he’s bagged his first civilian.
It might be the way a junkie streetwalker’s
voice cracks when she realizes that Duke’s
going to pay her with a beating. Life is full
of things to amuse him. He loves his job,
loves the life he’s living and he’s sure it PL: 6
won’t last long, so he’s determined to get as Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
much fun in as he can. Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
Braddock likes violence, likes Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 4
suffering (his own included—it makes him Toughness Save: 5 (2 without body
feel alive) and has a habit of putting armor) Fortitude Save: 4
cigarettes out on his arms and chest when Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3
he needs to prove a point. He doesn’t much

62
Skills: Drive 3 (+5), Intimidate 4 (+5), found that she didn’t make him feel
Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (Tactics) 3 anything. He sends her checks, but no
(+3), Notice 5 (+6), Profession (policeman) letters.
3 (+3), Stealth 5 (+7) He’s willing to go out drinking with
Feats: Fearless, Quick-Draw the guys from the squad, but he’s quiet on
Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness), these occasions and haunts the edges of the
Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage room, unable to feel much but a desire to
[Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2 get back to work and die.
Damage)
Background: Erwin Moody wants to die. Police Sharpshooter
He’s felt this way more or less since his PL: 6
Junior year of high school. He was a point Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 18 (+4) Con: 12 (+1)
guard, on the varsity basketball team, they Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0)
were playing against their biggest rivals for Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
the quarter-finals, when he realized that Toughness Save: 6 (+1 Flatfooted)
nothing had ever felt like anything to him, Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Save: 6
so he lay down on the court and stared at Willpower Save: 6
the floor, as the crowd’s cheers turned to Skills: Climb 10 (+11), Intimidate 3 (+3),
cries of indignation, and then to curses and Knowledge (tactics) 4 (+5), Notice 8 (+11),
threats. He waited until he was eighteen to Profession (policeman) 4 (+5), Stealth 7
drop out and join the Army. (+11), Survival 7 (+10)
He thought he might find peace in Feats: Accurate Attack, Defensive Roll 5,
the blood and dust of Iraq, but in fact no Elusive Target, Improved Aim, Improved
matter what kind of horror and misery he Critical (With Sniper Rifle), Improved
saw there, it all just felt like nothing to him. Initaitive 2, Sneak Attack, Track
When he got home, he joined a small rural Equipment: Sniper Rifle (Ranged Weapon,
Sheriff’s department where they didn’t 5 Damage)
require a degree in criminal justice and then Background: The Bedlam Police don’t have
he transferred to the Bedlam Police. When enough snipers, and try their best to hang
they saw his impressive history of combat onto the ones they have by giving them the
experience, they quickly agreed to his best pay and benefits the city can afford to
request to be placed in a tactical unit. After offer. This has made some of their
watching Moody on the job, they decided sharpshooters get dangerously careless,
that D Squad was the right place for him. since it’s so hard to get fired, even if you
Erwin approaches his work with the accidentally hurt a civilian.
same absolute lack of fear that he Because the department regards
demonstrated as a soldier. He wants very sharpshooters as a precious asset, Tactical
badly for someone to kill him, so he always Operations is under instructions to keep
volunteers to be the first through the door their snipers as safe as they can.
and never retreats until he’s ordered to. His
sergeant has figured out that he’s suicidal, Special Assault Squad
but figures that’s a good thing. Somebody The pride of Bedlam’s police force, if it can
has to be the first through the door. And be said to have any pride, is the Special
Moody’s bravery sets a good example for Assault Squad—a tactical anti-parahuman
the other guys in D Squad. While he isn’t unit which, despite having little money and
exactly a straight-arrow, Moody isn’t aging equipment, has managed to rack up
particularly brutal, either. Hurting other some impressive victories against
people gives him no special thrill. He wants superhuman crime. They also have a high
them to hurt him. Or better yet, kill him. attrition rate, and this has given them itchy
Officer Moody got married while he trigger fingers. They may have a good
was on base in Germany, but it didn’t work. record of bringing in supervillains, but they
He says he’s separated, by which he means aren’t that great at bringing them in alive.
that he walked away from his wife when he

63
Nor do they always do such a good job of resources they need to fight superpowered
distinguishing between heroes and villains. crime, they nonetheless have some of the
Most people just call them “Assault highest morale among Bedlam’s police.
Squad.” The guys on the squad like it, so They also have relatively little corruption
they’ve adopted the name themselves. within their ranks—which does not mean
While the exact location of their that they are totally clean. It’s not
headquarters is supposed to be secret, most surprising that morale is so good. Despite
people guess that like Special Weapons and their lack of funding, they have an excellent
Tactics, Assault Squad is based in the First record of killing supervillains, and a fair-to-
Precinct downtown. However, no one is medium record of capturing them alive.
sure where they keep captured super-beings They are separate from the city’s SWAT
before they turn them over to the correc- teams, better trained, better equipped and
tions system. It isn’t Police Headquarters, less casual about the safety of innocent
that much is clear. bystanders (though there have still been
one or two unfortunate incidents.)
Bedlam Police Special Assault Squad The members of the Special Assault
Squad have fought enough superbeings and
taken enough casualties doing it that they
regard anyone in a costume with suspicion,
whether they’re a hero or a villain. While
the GM may decide to have them cooperate
with the PCs, they are more likely to
interfere with or even attack them.
While they may hinder or even
come into direct conflict with the heroes, the
GM should remember that the members of
the Bedlam Police Special Assault Squad are
innocent bystanders attempting to protect
the city and its denizens. If the PC’s start
endangering the lives of Bedlam’s Finest,
their reputation will suffer.

Captain Elvis Aaron Stokes

PL: 6 PL: 4
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6 Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
Toughness Save: 5 (1 without body Toughness Save: 5 (+1 without body
armor) armor)
Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 5 Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 5
Willpower Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
Skills: Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+5), Skills: Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+4),
Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (Tactics) 4 Medicine 2 (+5), Knowledge (Tactics) 4
(+4), Notice 6 (+7), Profession (policeman) (+4), Notice 6 (+9), Profession (policeman)
4 (+4), Stealth 5 (+6) 4 (+4), Stealth 5 (+6), Survival 3 (+6)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack, Feats: Connected, Track
Power Attack, Quick-Draw Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness),
Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness), Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage
Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage [Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2
[Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2 Damage)
Damage) Background: Captain Stokes is a member
Background: A badly underfunded unit, of a small strange sect called the Church of
constantly short on the equipment and the All-Devouring Redeemer. Based in rural

64
Alabama, they have all kinds of peculiar (+5), Knowledge (Tactics) 4 (+6), Notice 6
beliefs. They handle snakes and drink (+7), Profession (policeman) 4 (+6), Sense
strychnine and speak in tongues. Among Motive 4 (+7), Stealth 6 (+9)
their stranger ideas, they think superheroes Feats: Assessment, Defensive Attack,
are a sign of the end times—an abomination Elusive Target, Evasion, Improved Aim,
that must be cleansed from the Earth. Improved Defense, Improved Initiative,
Stokes knows better than to say this aloud, Leadership, Sneak Attack, Startle
but the belief informs every policy decision Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness),
he makes. Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage
His faith requires him to proselytize [Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2
and his men find this habit annoying. He Damage)
has made no converts and his constant Background: Vinnie the Weasel is a small,
hectoring about the need to cleanse your suspicious man, quick as a snake and sharp
life of pornography, cigarettes and television as a knife. He has an inadequate
has endeared him even less. There’s no moustache, wiry muscles and darting,
denying that he’s a skillful tactician or a ferrety eyes.
fearless combatant. But he’s so irritating Since Captain Stokes isn’t a very
that they can’t stand to be around him. effective leader, Vinnie has stepped into the
Stokes is aware that his men hate him, but gap. He’s one of the most skilled men on
he is convinced that Jesus will magically the Assault Squad and the other guys look
help him turn the situation around. When up to him. He’s chiefly skilled at avoiding
this fails to happen, he will start to get getting hurt himself—his combat feats are
crazier. almost all defensive and he’s strongly averse
Captain Stokes lives in the Stone to taking personal risks. But this actually
Ridge gated community with his wife, her makes himself look like superman to the
two sisters and their ten kids. Polygamy is other guys. He’s forever making it out of
also one of the church’s tenets, but they situations that look impossible to survive.
don’t share this fact with outsiders. All The guy clearly knows how to stay alive and
female members of his family are required that’s what the average Assault Squad
to wear kerchiefs over their heads when member wants most to do.
they go out in public, as the Law of God Vinnie the Weasel lives in Stark Hill
demands. with his weaselly little wife and his weaselly
A clean-living man, he is little furry-eyebrowed daughters. He’s
scrupulously honest and tithes a large part devoted to his girls and he’s teaching them
of his income to charity. But he doesn’t feel all his crafty, furtive wisdom.
overly concerned about minimizing civilian
casualties—if it’s God’s will that someone die Bud Garman
in the crossfire, who is he to question it? PL: 6
Anyway if they weren’t members of the Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3)
Church of the All-Devouring Redeemer then Int: 8 (-1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0)
they were probably wicked sinners. Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 7 Defense: 5
Toughness Save: 5 (3 without body
Sergeant Vinnie “the Weasel” Angiotti armor)
PL: 6 Fortitude Save: 7 Reflexes Save: 4
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2) Willpower Save: 3
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 12 (+1) Skills: Intimidate 6 (+6), Notice 6 (+6),
Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 6 Profession (policeman) 4 (+3), Stealth 4
Toughness Save: 5 (+1 without body (+4)
armor) Feats: All-Out Attack, Endurance, Fearless,
Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 6 Power Attack, Startle
Willpower Save: 5 Equipment: Body Armor (+5 Toughness),
Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Disable Device 4 (+6), Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage
Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+5), Medicine 2

65
[Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee Weapon, 2 Penetrator Bullets
Damage) If the Assault Squad knows it’s going up
Background: Bud the Blockhead has against a target with super-tough skin, they
fifteen notches in his riot stick—more than may issue a clip or two of these Teflon-
he has teeth in his mouth. He sleeps with jacketed bullets, with spent uranium cores.
his stick in his arms and sometimes late at They don’t have very many of them in the
night he fingers the notches and he smiles. arsenal and don’t give out more than two
He’s not very good at remembering stuff, clips per squad at a time. Penetrator bullets
but he remembers every one of the fifteen do the normal 5 Damage, and can used on
skulls he’s cracked. Each one was different, autofire, but they have 6 levels of the Extra
each one was special. “Penetrating” and can conceivably hurt
A gigantic man with a stubbly targets with up to 12 Impervious
shaved head, prognathus brows and Toughness. Some people claim that they
unbelievably chapped lips that he’s always also cause Gulf War Syndrome, and that
sucking, Bud is really too fat to be allowed they are prone to jam on full autofire, so
on the Assault Squad, but his monstrous use them judiciously.
strength makes up for it and anyway it’s
useless to ask him to lose weight. He won’t Remington Blockstopper
understand you. In fact you’re lucky if he
understands you when you tell him to run
that way and hit those people.
Bud is only really happy when he’s
beating on somebody. He doesn’t have a
girlfriend, so he beats on suspects, mostly,
and on prostitutes who haven’t learned to
avoid him yet. It’s hard to tell his age by
looking at him. His stubble is largely gray
and he’s probably past thirty-five, but he
could be as young as twenty-eight or as old
as fifty. He lives by himself in a reeking
studio apartment over a nail salon. Nobody Toughness: 7 Damage: 6 (Power Feat:
has yet figured out that he can’t read. Autofire, Extra: Penetrating 6)
Description: This ugly weapon was
Beefing up the Special Assault Squad designed specially for use super-tough
As written, the Special Assault Squad are targets. It’s a fully automatic shotgun that
fairly typical “Super-Agents” and might or fires armor-piercing sabot slugs. These
might not be up to giving a Player Character needle-sharp flechettes are tipped with
a serious challenge. Any PC with a lot of Teflon to ensure better penetration and are
Impervious Toughness, for example, may be built around a thin sliver of superheavy
able to just wade through their ranks as spent uranium. The ammunition is actually
though they barely existed. With this in more expensive than the gun.
mind, you can give the Special Assault A Blockstopper has two grips, one
Squad limited access to some heavier under the barrel and one where the stock
equipment. should be. Amazingly enough, it isn’t meant
Not every member of the team will to be fired from the shoulder. Which is, we
be equipped with an anti-tank weapon or a concede, just nuts. As you might imagine, it
grenade launcher. These weapons are requires a lot of strength to keep it from
carefully guarded and brought out on twisting out of your grasp when it’s on full
special occasions—the Squad doesn’t have auto, so most guys use it strictly in single-
enough of them and doesn’t want to risk shot mode.
losing them.

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LAW Rocket Toughness Save: 6 Impervious (+2
Toughness: 5 without armor) Fortitude Save: 4
Damage: 10 (Extra: Burst Effect) Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 1
Description: Light anti-tank weapons are Skills: Drive 2 (+3), Intimidate 5 (+6),
easy to carry and use. Some of the anti- Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Medicine 2
tank rockets in Assault Squad’s arsenal (+3), Notice 3 (+4), Profession (policeman)
explode on impact in a huge fireball and do 5 (+5), Stealth 4 (+5)
burst-radius damage. Others carry shaped Feats: Improved Grapple, Power Attack
charges made specifically to punch through Powers: Device (Battlesuit: Blast 8 [Extra:
heavily armored targets (Penetrating 8.) Penetrating 4], Communication 5 [Radio],
Protection 6 [Extra: Impervious 6],
SK-7 Grenade-Launcher Enhanced Strength 8, Super-Senses 3 [Dark
Toughness: 7 Vision, Radio Hearing], Super-Strength 4
Damage: Variable (see below) [Maximum Lift: 12 Tons])
Background: This multishot grenade Background: If you want the Assault
launcher works like a giant revolver, with Squad to be able to go hand-to hand with
grenades in separate rotating chambers. your PCs, you can give them a few of these
You can fire it almost as fast as a army surplus battlesuits. They won’t make
conventional handgun. The Assault Squad the pilots the equal of a PL 10 hero in
usually keeps their launchers loaded with combat, but at least it will give them a
the following rounds: chance.

2 Conventional Anti-Personnel Concussion The Scrambler

Grenades (8 Damage, 20 foot radius)
3 Anti-Tank Shaped-Charge Grenades (8
Damage; Extra: 8 Penetrating)
1 Vibronic Scrambler Grenade (Drain
Toughness 6)

SLAM Powersuit

Toughness: 0 (But its case is Toughness 8)

Damage: Neutralize all superpowers 8
(Doesn’t work on technologically-based
superpowers like battlesuits, guns, etc.;
Extra: 30 foot radius of effect)
Description: If and only if you really want
to give Assault Squad an edge, you can
claim that they recovered a few of these
weird wonder-science weapons from the
personal effects of a supervillain. They
don’t know how they work. A scrambler is a
bulky device that weighs nearly sixty
pounds. They normally carry it inside a
locked steel case (Toughness 8) about the
size and shape of a World War II field radio.
Str: 24 (+7)/ 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1)
A panel on the back of the case opens to let
Con: 14 (+2) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1)
the operator flip the toggle switch and turn
Cha: 12 (+1)
it on. This takes only a single action. No
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 3

67
one knows exactly how many of these proved themselves and gained some kind of
devices Assault Squad has, but there can’t higher rank. Most Detectives are Sergeants.
be a lot of them—they guard each one like Some are Lieutenants and the leader of
the Crown Jewels. each squad is a Captain.
Technically, the squads are
Community Relations Bureau supposed to yield to one another if an
Intended to put a human face on the investigation turn up some other class of
department and help the citizens of Bedlam crime (for example if a narcotics case turns
trust their police force, Community Relations up evidence of a homicide, the Homicide
officers work with local neighborhood watch Squad is supposed to take over the case.)
groups and community leaders to help make In practice, there aren’t enough detectives
neighborhoods safer. They send officers and they seldom want to have new cases
into the schools to talk in front of handed off to them, so the detective who
classrooms, work with youth groups, host first got assigned to a case is likely to be the
Midnight Basketball programs and give one who winds up closing it, regardless of
public safety lectures. what they discover along the way. An
They have met with an unexpected average Bedlam detective has about forty
level of success in Wolverton, where more cases at any one time. It can get worse
than one Community Services Officer has than that. Faced with this kind of workload,
gotten too tightly entangled with the gangs. they have to carefully pick and choose which
There was nearly a serious scandal last year cases to invest their time and energy into.
when it came out that Officer Jane Klebbins Most of the Squads operate out of
was hanging out with (and having sex with) Police Headquarters, but the Gang Task
underage members of Eentsy Z’s crew. Force is based in the Third Precinct and the
Fortunately the press never found out that Organized Crime Squad is based in the
she was hiding stolen cash and drugs for Second Precinct. You may notice that unlike
them, too. a lot of metropolitan police departments, the
Bedlam PD has no “Major Case Squad.”
Neighborhood Police Program Instead they assemble task forces to deal
A subdivision of Community Relations, these with high-profile cases on an ad-hoc basis.
officers act as liaisons to networks of civilian A detective makes about $35,000
“Neighborhood Police”, urging them to per year. That’s a lot better than a Patrol
report any suspicious activity on the part of Officer, which means that less of them have
their neighbors. Could your neighbor be to moonlight as security guards and
one of the Neighborhood Police? You’ll bouncers. This also seems to make them
never know until the cops show up at your less prone to corruption, to taking bribes
door. and shaking people down, although that
might also be because they have less daily
Detectives Bureau contact with the public.
These are the men and women assigned to Detectives have dress uniforms,
investigate crimes. They are divided into a which they are expected to wear on
number of “Squads,” by the type of crimes ceremonial occasions, but they normally
they are supposed to investigate. dress in “office casual” clothes on the job.
In Bedlam (as in most cities) Some wear suits and ties, but most prefer
“Detective” is an assignment rather than a polo shirts and chinos. Detectives who have
rank. The bulk of them have worked their been assigned to work undercover can dress
way up through Bedlam’s Patrol Services however the situation demands.
division. They can be reassigned to Patrol We’ll start this section by talking a
Services and find themselves driving a beat little about each of the individual squads.
or directing traffic if they don’t work out. Then we’ll move on to a generic set of stats
Detective work is a prestigious assignment, for a typical Bedlam Detective, and then
so most of the men and women who wind stats and descriptions for some individual
up working for the Bureau have already detectives, including the infamous,

68
controversial “hero cop” Sherry Stavros, aka Photographic Unit
Crazy Sherry. These folks are assigned to take crime-
scene photos, mug shots and to maintain
Investigative Resources the department’s photographic archives.
While they are officially a part of the The last job keeps them especially busy,
Detectives Bureau, the staff who work for since the archives are scattered between
the Investigative Services Division aren’t Police Headquarters and the precincts, and
actual sworn personnel and don’t make aren’t always very well organized.
arrests. The sole exception to this rule is Most smaller police departments use
the Hostage Negotiation Unit, which draws independent contractors to take crime scene
most of its personnel from other squads on photos, but in Bedlam the cops resist all
a part-time basis. efforts at privatizing the department, so
actual department employees get the job.
Crime Statistics Unit
Purely responsible for producing and Hostage Negotiation Unit
analyzing data on crime in the city, this unit There isn’t a lot of need for full-time
reports to the Detective Squads as needed, negotiators, so everyone in this unit is a
but it also makes reports directly to the part-time volunteer. Each negotiator works
Municipal Council, the Commission on for some other unit (usually a detective
Quality of Life and the City Manager’s office. squad, but sometimes they’re patrol
Their stated function is to help city officials officers) and remains on-call twenty-four
understand how best to allocate resources. hours a day in case they are needed.
In fact, they more see their job as covering Hostage negotiators are carefully trained in
up how bad crime is in Bedlam and how how to speak with hostage-takers, how to
ineffective the city government has been at talk them down and win their trust. They
suppressing it. have to take a lengthy series of courses and
then pass a certification test.
Police Laboratory There is presently a shortage of
These are the forensic technicians who negotiators, so the department has issued
collect and analyze evidence for the “temporary certifications” to a number of
department. In theory, anyway. In fact the officers who haven’t yet completed the
city doesn’t have a crime lab, so the program. In fact, some of them just need
technicians have to send all their samples the extra money that comes from being a
out to private labs, as the funds become hostage negotiator and have no training at
available. Because they are underfunded, all. Normally the Precinct Captains won’t
there is always a backlog, and they have call up a negotiator whose credentials they
found some fairly creative ways to store know are fraudulent, but they don’t always
evidence while waiting for the chance to know who’s for real and who isn’t
have it analyzed. They have a pair of small You can use the generic detective
refrigerators in their office suite to hold stat block for a “hostage negotiator” who
body fluid samples (and their lunches.) doesn’t really have the training. For a real,
Other stuff gets crammed into closets or left authentic negotiator, use the stats below.
to molder in basement storage rooms or We’ve also included stats and background
even in leaky old public storage units. material for a couple of individual members
Because they are understaffed, their of the squad in case you need them.
administrative procedures are also less-than
stellar and this fact, combined with the
bewildering number of labs they outsource
work to, has led to some embarrassing mix-
ups in test results.

69
Generic Hostage Negotiator mother kept asking when they were gonna
(authentic) move, she said. Now he’s got a mortgage
PL: 3 he can’t cover and a crappy, poorly made
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) house where things are always falling apart
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) and racking up the bills and he’s not sure
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 how the hell he’s supposed to pay for it all.
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body He’s never been good at shaking people
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 down and there’s not enough graft in the
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 world to plug the giant black hole that is his
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Climb 1 (+2), house.
Diplomacy 7 (+9), Drive 1 (+2), Gather Plus, his neighbors look down on
Information 3 (+5), Intimidate 3 (+5), him for being a working guy, so his wife
Investigate 4 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 3 needs lots of new stuff to win them over
(+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+3) and show then she’s got class.
Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 4 (+6), Profession Ray doesn’t know anything at all
(policeman) 4 (+5), Search 2 (+4), Sense about hostage negotiation—he just bought
Motive 6 (+8), Stealth 1 (+2) some temporary credentials because he
Feats: Distract (Linked to Diplomacy), needed the extra money. He’s too
Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw preoccupied by his financial troubles to feel
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 scared of getting found out. But if he ever
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) gets called up for an actual hostage
situation he will suddenly discover what a
Detective Sergeant Raymond Monchek huge mistake he’s made. He will try to
PL: 3 improvise, but he has no idea what to say to
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3) a hostage-taker, and anyway his mind may
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1) be mostly occupied by worrying about some
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 new problem with his house. His wife may
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body very well call him while he’s on the job to
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 complain about the new water heater
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 leaking or some other household disaster.
He’ll actually put the hostage-taker on hold
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 3 (+4),
while he talks to her.
Diplomacy 2 (+3), Drive 3 (+4), Gather
Information 2 (+3), Intimidate 5 (+6),
Detective Sergeant Gianni Igglioni
Investigate 3 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 3
PL: 3
(+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+3)
Medicine 2 (+2), Notice 4 (+4), Profession Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
(policeman) 3 (+4), Search 3 (+3), Sense Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
Motive 3 (+3), Stealth 2 (+3) Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 armor) Fortitude Save: 3
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
Complications: No good at being a Skills: Bluff 7 (+10), Climb 1 (+1),
hostage negotiator, terrified when he gets Diplomacy 7 (+10), Drive 1 (+2), Gather
called upon to negotiate Information 3 (+6), Intimidate 3 (+6),
Background: Ray Monchek just can’t seem Investigate 2 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 1
to make ends meet. He puts in lots of extra (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+4)
hours as a security guard for Garvin and Medicine 2 (+5), Notice 5 (+8), Profession
Torsberg (see page 163), he’s paid the bribe (policeman) 4 (+6), Search 2 (+5), Sense
to get Hostage Negotiator credentials and Motive 7 (+10), Stealth 3 (+4)
still the bills keep piling up. If only his wife Feats: Distract (Linked to Diplomacy),
had been content to live in Stark Hill—but Fascinate (Linked to Diplomacy), Inspire,
no, she had to have a place in Stone Ridge. Quick-Draw
It’s not safe in the city, she said. Her

70
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 wearing part of a bomb suit, a bulletproof
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) vest, or possibly some improvised armor
Background: Amazingly smooth, poised, they’ve thrown together themselves (phone
charming and manipulative, everyone in his books and duct tape can be made to serve,
squad thinks Igglioni talked his wife into sometimes.) In a real emergency they
killing herself, but they say it with respect might manage to talk some other
and awe. He may or may not have talked municipality into loaning them extra gear,
three different hostage-takers into doing the but they will be in serious trouble if it gets
same thing. damaged.
He’s easily the best negotiator on
the Bedlam force. A bit of a scoundrel, Homicide Squad
cheerfully crooked, Igglioni’s impossible not The Homicide Squad is responsible for
to like, and he is greatly beloved by his investigating suspicious deaths. This is a
brother officers, even though they all know prestigious unit, but it had suffered some
not to trust him. problems in recent years.
People sometimes wonder about his They have experienced a sudden
last name. Is he a surviving member of the improvement in the number of cases they
extinct Igglioni family that used to dominate successfully solve, thanks largely to the
organized crime in Hardwick Park? He’s not efforts of detective Parnell Slope and his
offended when people ask him about this. clique within the squad (for more
It’s got to be a coincidence, he explains. information about Detective Slope and his
And if you think about it for a second, he friends, see Page 76.)
says, you’ll see why. If he really were one Captain Stibbs commands the
of those Igglionis, he would have changed Homicide Squad, but he’s a newcomer, just
his name or gone into hiding, right? And hired from Florida, and he is still finding his
anyway those guys are all gone. A bigger way around his new assignment.
family wiped them out. And it’s not like
anybody could have just talked his way out Robbery Squad
of a situation like that, right? So it’s got a This is the largest squad and it’s where most
be a coincidence. detectives get their start. They investigate
Presently staying with friends, he hold-ups and muggings, for the most part.
hasn’t had a stable place to live since his They have a lot of turnover, since everyone
wife died. He always seems to be is eager to prove themselves and move up
somebody’s house-guest. to other positions. As a result, robbery
It’s easy to bribe Igglioni, but you detectives tend to be inexperienced rookies
might not want to. He drives a very good or burnt-out old failures. Captain Headly
bargain. Grimes falls firmly into the latter category.
An incoherent drunk, he probably should
Bomb Squad have been forcibly retired ten years ago, but
Although most of the ordnance technicians his men cover for his lapses and his odd
who actually dismantle bombs work for the behavior because he lets them get away
Fire Department, they are under the with all kinds of stuff.
auspices of the police. A Lieutenant
oversees and directs them at the scene— Auto Crime Unit
without, of course, having to come into This subdivision of the Robbery Squad has
direct contact with a bomb. just one Detective assigned to it at present.
The Fire Department is even more He’s neither a green rookie nor a drunken
underfunded than the Police and their gear old washout. His name is Monty Coulter
is in bad shape. The bomb squad has no (see his description on Page 78) and stolen
remote control robots and not enough bomb cars are his absolute passion. He’s been
suits. So all too often technicians must go such a success that Captain Grimes has
in and dismantle explosive devices with been looking hard for guys to partner with
inadequate protection. You might see one

71
him. So far, no one meets Coulter’s Vice Squad
standards.

Burglary Squad
While they are supposed to investigate
every burglary in the city, this is an
impossible task that they don’t even try to
keep up with. Unless a really large amount
of money got stolen or the victim has
excellent connections with the city
government, detectives don’t even respond
to break-ins. This Squad is kind of a career
dead-end. It’s where detectives who didn’t
make Homicide or Vice wind up. As a result,
morale is very low here.
Their leadership doesn’t help.
Captain Daisy Milk is determined to whip her
squad into shape and then use the victory to
get transferred out of here. It’s really tough
for women to get leadership roles in the
Bedlam Police and she hates being shunted
into Burglary. In order to show her bosses
that she doesn’t belong here, Captain Milk
has decided to make the squad into a crack Like the Organized Crime Squad, this is a
unit—the envy of the force. great place to make money. And it can
A cruel, petty disciplinarian, she have other fringe benefits as well. These
intrudes on her detectives’ personal lives, are the detectives assigned to stamp out
insults people and jerks them around over prostitution and illegal gambling. For some
tiny stuff. How she expects this to make reason they have failed to do this.
things get better is unclear. She does The network of crooked cops that
appear to get a real thrill out of it, though. everyone in the Department calls “the
O’Ryan Boys” has its claws sunk deep into
Organized Crime Squad Vice. But even the worst detectives on this
Based in the Second Precinct, in Stark Hill, squad are forced to do some actual police
this squad is assigned to prevent and work now and again. Lots of people try
investigate organized crime. And to their hand at prostitution and not all of them
infiltrate groups of peace activists, Quakers, are connected to the mob. Arresting them
Unitarians, etc. Not all of their detectives is the easiest way to eliminate the
are completely crooked or in the pay of the competition. And sometimes pimps commit
Scarpia Crime family. The ones who aren’t high-profile murders or steal money from
get assigned to disrupting peace marches their bosses or otherwise need to be
and provoking fights between marchers and removed from the scene.
the cops. Organized Crime is a coveted Some of the messiest, nastiest
assignment, because you can make a lot of crimes you are ever likely to see come to
money here. But they’re picky about who the attention of the Vice Squad. It’s no
they will accept. For the most part, they wonder that so many of the guys feel
only want guys they know to be…reliable. entitled to take a little extra.
Anyone else who gets assigned here will Not that Captain Grizzard has that
soon find themselves sitting in a church excuse. The head of Vice is one of those
basement trying to talk a bunch of old strange people who isn’t bothered by even
hippies and soccer moms into bombing the worst degradation, or the least flicker of
something. conscience. He also wears a cowboy hat
indoors, and muttonchop sideburns. As

72
crooked as he is arrogant, he loves flaunting to traditional police work, knocking on
his ill-gotten wealth and wears a lot of doors, interviewing potential witnesses and
diamonds and gold jewelry. He never so forth. None of the four detectives on the
smokes cigars that cost less than a meal at squad are crooked, but they are all savvy
a really good steakhouse, he boasts. All this enough to know better than to try to bust
looks even less appealing on such a short, any of the big credit-card fraud rings that
hairy man. organized crime runs. They’re more
concerned with arresting teenagers who
Narcotics Squad steal grandma’s Discover card and buy
This squad is assigned to prosecuting drug- online porno with it.
related crimes. Their superiors don’t want
them messing around with the people at the Fraud Squad
top of the organized crime ladder, so they Reorganized after a quiet but ugly scandal
mostly set up undercover stings, buying last year, the Fraud Squad doesn’t presently
drugs from minor dealers, or selling pot to have any detectives assigned to it. The
high-school kids and then dragging them off Department assures us that they will have it
to jail. They have proved to be a very staffed and running soon. In the meantime,
useful tool for some parties in organized their duties have been assigned to other
crime. If a dealer is misbehaving and you detectives—mostly in the Robbery Squad. A
don’t want to go to the trouble and expense little investigation will reveal that even
of having them killed, throw them to the though this phantom squad has no
narcotics squad. detectives, they are still requisitioning a lot
Large amounts of cash are of equipment and training hours. Where is
sometimes present in drug deals and this all that money going?
can be tempting for the underpaid
detectives who bust them. For this reason, Juvenile Crime Squad
corruption seems to be more deeply These detectives have been specially trained
ingrained in Narcotics than anywhere else in conducting juvenile line-ups, in speaking
but the Organized Crime Squad. with parents and guardians and in all the
difficult work involved in dealing with
Missing Persons Squad minors. They are Bedlam’s de facto truant
Charged with investigating disappearances officers. They also spend a lot of time
and unidentified corpses, this squad has the arresting the boyfriends of underaged girls
lowest morale in the department. (usually as a result of a complaint from the
Detectives assigned to this detail have little girl’s family.) The Juvie Squad frequently
opportunity to break major cases and less to works with Child Protective Services, the
collect graft. A punishment assignment, it is Special Victims Liaison Unit and sometimes
staffed by guys who couldn’t make it on the Vice.
Burglary Squad. They became entangled in an
The head of Missing Persons is unsavory scandal a few years ago, when it
Captain Terry Kaenner. He’s a bit of a came to light that some officers on the
missing person himself, and seldom bothers squad were helping crooked CPS officials
to show up for work any more, spending run a child-theft/slavery ring, taking kids
most of his time at home, drunk. away from their parents and then selling
them on the open market. People were
Computer Crime Squad fired and the squad was reorganized. They
This small unit mostly investigates credit still have a bad reputation for treating young
card fraud and identity theft. While they do suspects brutally.
spend a certain amount of time behind their
computers, their equipment isn’t really Special Victims Liaison Unit
sophisticated enough to track hackers, This new unit was once a subdivision of the
spammers and bot-herders across the Vice Squad. They investigate sexual abuse
depths of cyberspace, so they stick largely and domestic violence. In addition to the

73
detectives on the team, they have a group graffiti and arrest chronic taggers. They
of “Liaison Facilitators”—female officers who have made about as much progress on both
are specially trained in interviewing rape fronts as you might imagine. Because it’s
victims. A lot of the Facilitators come from hard to bust graffiti artists, and boring to
District Patrol and are here to make a few direct clean-up crews, members of the unit
extra bucks. Some of them are surprisingly spend a lot of time conducting stakeouts of
brusque and unsympathetic with the victims likely-looking walls. Frequently, they use
they are supposed to be helping. the time they are supposed to be spending
Lieutenant Harvey Gluk is the Squad on stakeout to go work second jobs as
leader, but he spends most of his time security guards.
working domestic violence cases and doesn’t
pay as much attention to running the squad Bedlam Police Detective
as he should. He’s the only detective on the
Bedlam force who really enjoys working on
domestic violence and other detectives are
constantly dumping these cases on his desk.
For more on Detective Gluk and his private
obsessions, see his individual description on
Page 76.

Gang Task Force

Technically, the Gang Task Force is
supposed to be a joint operation with the
State Police, the County Sheriff’s Office and
the Department of Justice. But the Sheriff
and the State Troopers refuse to work with
the Bedlam Police, who in turn won’t
cooperate with the Department of Justice.
This has left them with less resources than
they would like.
Right now, their major priority is
keeping the Honduran gang called the Mara
in check. The Mara are scary, get headlines
and are expanding their turf rapidly. Clearly
they need to be the Task Force’s major PL: 3
focus. If they can’t be stopped, they can at Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
least be contained, or taught to keep a Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
lower profile. It’s going to be tough to work Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
on the Mara without any information from Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body
the state authorities or the Department of armor) Fortitude Save: 3
Justice, since they’re a national gang. Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
There isn’t a lot of organized, Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Climb 2 (+3),
entrenched corruption in the Gang Task Diplomacy 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+3), Gather
Force, although some individual detectives Information 4 (+5), Intimidate 5 (+6),
are dirty—shaking down gang members for Investigate 4 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 3
money and drugs or getting involved in their (+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+3)
crimes. Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 4 (+6), Profession
(policeman) 3 (+4), Search 3 (+5), Sense
Anti-Graffiti Vandalism Unit Motive 3 (+5), Stealth 2 (+3)
A sub-unit of the Gang Task Force, these Feats: Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw
lucky detectives are assigned to clean up Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage)

74
Captain Norville Stibbs Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
PL: 3 Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 2 (+4), Drive 2
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) (+2), Gather Information 2 (+3), Intimidate
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) 5 (+6), Investigate 2 (+3), Knowledge
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 (Civics) 1 (+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body (+5), Medicine 3 (+3), Notice 4 (+4),
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 Profession (police detective) 2 (+3), Search
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 5 (+5), Sense Motive 1 (+1), Stealth 2 (+2)
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 2 (+5), Feats: Chokehold, Endurance, Improved
Diplomacy 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+4), Gather Grapple, Quick-Draw
Information 3 (+4), Intimidate 3 (+4), Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3
Investigate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 3 armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage)
(+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+2) Complications: Drunken degenerate with
Medicine 2 (+3), Notice 4 (+6), Profession horrible secret vices
(policeman) 5 (+5), Search 3 (+4), Sense Background: Bronfeld is a desperate loser
Motive 2 (+3), Stealth 2 (+4) and it’s clear to everyone that he’s on his
Feats: Accurate Attack, Improved Grapple, way down. But he could still manage to do
Improved Pin, Quick-Draw, Weapon Bind some damage along the way. He barely
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 even bothers to work cases any more,
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) spending most of his time drinking in places
Background: The new head of Bedlam’s like “Classy Live Nude Girls” (see the listing
Homicide Squad is still settling into the job. for this unsavory joint on Page 194) and
A big, tall guy with bulging muscles and an trying to score crack. He will gladly run any
Abraham Lincoln beard, he fancies himself a dirty, sordid errand the Mafia might ask of
swinger and spends a lot of time off-duty him, but he’s almost sure to do it badly and
trying to pick up women in bars. screw it up.
Not terribly bright or mature for his Addicted to gambling, he owes huge
age (thirty-eight) he feels unprepared to run debts to various bookies and loan sharks.
such a big, important department and he They’re talking about taking one of his
doesn’t know half of what’s going on around thumbs soon. Eager to win his money back
him. He’s used to seeing cops take graft on just one more bet, he may accept foolish
and he wouldn’t mind a taste of it himself, and dangerous wagers.
but he would be shocked if he discovered At one point he was a coward, but
the depth of the corruption he’s surrounded now he’s far too desperate to have much
by. For now, he’s so eager to be liked that fear of physical danger. He needs money
he’s willing to overlook all sorts of minor and needs dope and he’ll do whatever is
misbehavior from his men. Presently single, required to get them. A devout Catholic, he
he has been married four times and a lot of used to feel a lot of guilt over his behavior,
his paycheck goes to alimony and child but he’s past that. Nothing is beyond him
support. presently.
He likes to dress entirely in black, He has a secret vice, apart from his
and often wears a gold chain. He thinks his public ones. He likes to hang around behind
beard makes him hip, but in combination shopping centers and attack young men
with his long face and North Florida hick with long hair. He doesn’t know why he
accent it makes him look more like a farmer. gets such a thrill out of it—he’s always
hated guys with long hair, but the delight he
Detective Lieutenant Marsh Bronfeld gets from shoving them around is out of all
PL: 3 proportion to the hatred he feels.
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2) It’s possible for a PC to buy off
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1) Bromfeld—he’s very easy to bribe. But he’s
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 2 an incompetant hireling, he won’t stay
Toughness Save: 3 (+2 without body bought and once he’s in your circle of
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 acquaintances he’ll keep asking you for

75
bigger and bigger favors. Never let him At the moment, he’s a one-man
extort a bribe from you, or he’ll constantly team. Gluk does all the investigative work,
come back looking for more. assisted by a team of five policewomen who
Detective Bronfeld lives with his have been trained in counseling and talking
wife, mother-in-law and his two elementary to victims. Gluk himself is desperately
school aged kids in a bungalow in Stark Hill. overworked, and as a result he’s sometimes
He yells at his kids a lot, particularly when brusque with the women he helps. He
he’s on crack, and he got into a drunken wants results, and he’s very impatient with
brawl at a recent PTA meeting. women who won’t testify against their
He looks like a sack of old clothes, abusers, so he often applies verbal and
fat disheveled and covered in stubble. The sometimes physical intimidation to get them
very picture of a bad cop. It’s up to the GM to fill out complaints. He’s only subtly
as to whether he ever dances around naked threatening. He certainly doesn’t hit them.
and screams abuse at phantasmal visions of It’s more in his tone of voice and his body
Jesus. language. But a woman who has been
beaten is usually very sensitive to these
Lieutenant Harvey Gluk kinds of cues and knows that they imply
PL: 3 violence. It’s all a bluff. He’d never dream
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) of actually hurting them.
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 12 (+1) Does he care more about the
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 victims or more about closing cases? That’s
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body hard to say. He’s a guarded, quiet kind of
armor) Fortitude Save: 2 guy who doesn’t talk much about his
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 4 motives. Local battered womens’ shelters
Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Climb 2 (+3), regard him as a vital resource, but they
Diplomacy 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+3), Gather have some reservations about him, too.
Information 4 (+7), Intimidate 3 (+4), A sour, driven, grey-haired hound-
Investigate 4 (+6), Knowledge (Civics) 3 dog of a man, Gluk never seems to smile.
(+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+4) He has a wife and two kids up in Stone
Medicine 1 (+4), Notice 6 (+9), Profession Ridge, but he never talks about them and
(police detective) 3 (+5), Search 3 (+8), he must not go home to see them very
Sense Motive 5 (+8), Stealth 2 (+3) much—he’s always working.
Feats: Distract (Linked to Bluff), Improved
Grapple, Inspire, Quick-Draw Detective Lieutenant Parnell Slope
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 PL: 4
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
Complications: Completely focused on his Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
job Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 3
Background: Most detectives hate to work Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body
domestic violence cases. They’re ugly, hard armor) Fortitude Save: 3
to close, thankless and they make you Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 3
enemies. And frankly, some detectives think Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Climb 2 (+4),
Domestic Violence isn’t really such a serious Diplomacy 2 (+4), Drive 3 (+5), Gather
crime—who hasn’t wanted to belt the old Information 2 (+4), Intimidate 7 (+9),
lady when she gets out of line? Detective Investigate 1 (+2), Knowledge (Civics) 1
Gluk (he insists that it’s pronounced (+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+3),
“Glook”) has stepped into the niche this Knowledge (Tactics) 3 (+4), Medicine 1
leaves open and made it his specialty. (+3), Notice 3 (+5), Profession (police
Before the Squad was established, other detective) 2 (+3), Search 2 (+4), Sense
detectives gave him all their domestic Motive 1 (+3), Sleight of Hand 4 (+6),
violence cases anyway, so he was the logical Stealth 2 (+3)
choice to head the Squad.

76
Feats: Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Detective Sergeant Wilbur Gorch
Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw, Startle, PL: 4
Sneak Attack 2 Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
armor), Huge Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 3
Damage) Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 5
Complications: Determined to do Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
whatever it takes to make it to the DA’s Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 2 (+6), Drive 2
office (+3), Gather Information 1 (+2), Intimidate
Background: A cruel, corrupt and 8 (+9), Investigate 1 (+1), Knowledge
incompetent cop, Slope nonetheless gets (Civics) 1 (+1), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5
results. He intends to be an Assistant DA (+5), Notice 4 (+5), Profession (police
one of these days, and he knows that you detective) 2 (+2), Search 2 (+3), Sense
get there by solving lots of high-profile Motive 2 (+3), Stealth 3 (+4)
cases and sending lots of perps to death Feats: All-Out Attack, Endurance, Improved
row. It's all about the kills, he says. And Grapple, Improved Overrun, Improved Pin,
the fastest way to rack them up is by taking Quick-Draw, Weapon Break
on more cases than you can reasonably Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3
handle, then beating as many confessions armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage)
out of innocent people as you can. Not all Complications: Feels no loyalty to anyone
of them will be willing to sign confessions, or anything
even with a gun to their heads, but enough Background: A violent fireplug of a guy,
will be to ensure a steady stream of kills. Gorch is the shortest man ever to have
He's sent eight people to the death chamber received a football scholarship at the
so far and the folks downtown really are University of Pennsylvania. He's only five
starting to notice his good work. foot three, but he can bench-press four
For the most part Slope doesn't hundred pounds and he's built like a
investigate the deaths of single, unmarried Sherman tank.
folks if he can help it—he wants to have a Not an especially skilled
spouse he can terrorize into confessing. He investigator, he made detective after doing
also doesn’t much like investigating dead some dirty work for Parnell Slope, and he
white people, since it bothers his conscience remains Slope's bully-boy-in-chief, always
if he sends a fellow white man off to his ready to lend a hand in interrogations and
doom. terrorizing witnesses. Gorch does whatever
He used to write the confessions up Slope tells him without hesitation, no matter
himself, composing them aloud while the how illegal or immoral it might be. But he
perp blubbered and bled all over the isn't particularly loyal. He sees Detective
interrogation room table. Now he's found Slope as his ticket to the top, not as his
that this takes too long, so he has a bunch friend. If his own skin is on the line or
of them pre-written, and he’s always looking someone else makes him a better deal, he
for a perp who might fit them. will cheerfully betray Slope and think
Slope is not above collecting a little nothing of it. Gorch is African-American
protection money from local businesses or himself, but Slope's racism doesn't get on
turning over a suspect to the Mafia if they his nerves.
request it (and he certainly knows better A party animal, Gorch looks like he's
than to hassle any "made guys"), but he's in a good mood more or less all the time,
not willing to take a direct bribe—unless it's even when he's threatening or torturing
a really big one. someone. He approaches life with a

77
cheerful, laid-back outlook, taking each day task force, consisting of himself and a
as it comes and trying to have as much fun couple of well-connected timewasters who
as possible. He does like hitting people, but don’t do any work.
he gets enough of it on the job and doesn't There are huge numbers of stolen
beat up his girlfriend or get in bar fights. cars on the streets of Bedlam. The
While Gorch has no objection to underworld uses them as currency, criminals
lifting a few bucks from a murder victim's use them for transportation and too many
wallet or to collecting a little graft for ordinary people are willing to buy them
Detective Slope, he doesn't regularly take because they have no other way to afford a
payoffs himself. Offer him a big enough vehicle.
bribe and he might get interested, but he Coulter can spot the telltale marks
probably won't shake you down for one. of a jimmy on a car door from half a block
Single, Gorch has a regular girlfriend away. He knows which little mom-and-pop
and he lives at her place, but he's no more car lots illegally sell dealer tags and can
loyal to her than he is to Detective Slope recognize them instantly. He knows which
and he cheats on her every time a chance automotive shops sell stolen parts and
presents itself. which crime networks control them. He
knows seemingly everything there is to
Detective Sergeant Monty Coulter know about cars, how to fix them and how
PL: 3 to steal them.
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 12 (+1) He generates way too much work
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0) for the DA’s office to keep up with, so most
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 of the people he arrests go unpunished. But
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body that’s okay. He makes a whole lot of money
armor) Fortitude Save: 3 shaking down car thieves when he catches
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 them. This makes both his superiors and
Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Climb 2 (+4), Craft the other guys on the Squad very happy—
Electronics 3 (+5), Craft (Mechanical) 8 he’s the pad’s biggest earner and that’s why
(+10), Craft (Structural) 4 (+6), Drive 4 they gave him his own task force.
(+7), Gather Information 6 (+6), Intimidate Scrupulously honest about his crookedness,
4 (+4), Investigate 6 (+8), Knowledge he always turns his whole take over to the
(Civics) 1 (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 pad and never keeps anything back for
(+6), Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 7 (+9), himself.
Profession (police detective) 5 (+7), Search If the PCs would like to get his
5 (+7), Sense Motive 5 (+7), Stealth 2 (+5), expertise on stolen cars, they couldn’t ask
Survival 5 (+7) for anyone better. But they shouldn’t
Feats: Accurate Attack, Improved Grapple, expect him to give up his crooked ways.
Quick-Draw, Track He’s very proud of being the squad’s most
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 valuable player and he would never want to
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) fail his department by giving up
Complicaions: Obsessed with stolen cars. shakedowns.
Background: A short, plump, musclebound Coulter’s girlfriend currently has a
man with a mullet, a moustache and restraining order out against him. Normally
sideburns, most people know at once that quiet, he has trouble controlling his temper
he must be either a cop or an auto when drunk.
mechanic. In fact he’s both. He’s not a
very good speaker—words come to him with
difficulty, but he’s not dumb.
Detective Coulter is Bedlam’s
leading expert on stolen cars. He has made
it his hobby and his passion. Everyone else
on the Robbery Squad defers to his
expertise. In fact they’ve given him his own

78
Detective Lieutenant Sharon “Crazy Complications: Crazy, violent, unpredict-
Sherry” Stavros able drunk who hates superhumans
Background: Every police force seems to
have one detective who is more talented
than all the others. Bedlam’s best cop is,
unfortunately, Detective Lieutenant Sharon
Stavros. Controversial inside and out of the
department, she is a phenomenally skilled
combatant but has an unstable, hotheaded
personality. Sherry has a problem with
alcohol and a problem with crystal meth and
a problem with all the men in her life. She
takes insane risks in combat, and people
whisper behind her back that she was
indirectly responsible for the deaths of her
last four partners.
She gets into fistfights in bars, on
public transit and sometimes in the waiting
room of her psychiatrist’s office. If she
wins, she taunts her opponent and kicks
them while they are down. If she starts to
lose, she produces her badge and arrests
them.
Sherry’s second partner was killed
by a supervillain, and from that moment
PL: 9 forward she has hated all parahumans, good
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 18 (+4) Con: 14 (+2) and bad, with the same lunatic fury that she
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3) normally reserves for her five ex-husbands
Initiative: 8 Attack Bonus: 9 (+11 (there were six but one got shot in the back
Melee) Defense: 11 Toughness Save: 6 of the head while walking home with his
(+2 if caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 8 new wife—no perpetrator was ever found.)
Reflexes Save: 9 Willpower Save: 8 Any PC who works the streets of
Bedlam has heard of Crazy Sherry and her
Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+11), Bluff 5 (+8),
bad reputation on a Streetwise Check vs. DC
Climb 8 (+11), Concentration 5 (+6),
10.
Escape Artist 4 (+8), Gather Information 9
She was suspended after an ugly
(+12), Intimidate 9 (+12), Investigate 7
incident in which a young hooligan tried to
(+9), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 5 (+7),
mug her new boyfriend. Sherry was off-
Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10), Notice 8
duty, but had a gun on her person and
(+9), Profession (police detective) 7 (+9),
chased the assailant off with it. Then she
Search 7 (+8), Stealth 6 (+10)
shot the kid in the back as he ran away and
Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff,
demanded that he return her boyfriend’s
Assessment, Attack Focus (Melee),
wallet. The kid groaned that he had already
Attractive, Critical Strike (vs. Paranormals),
dropped it, so Sherry shot him in the back
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 4, Elusive
again and angrily told the bystanders not to
Target, Evasion 2, Favored Opponent
call 911. “Let him die!” she said (someone
(Paranormals), Improved Critical (with
called anyway and the kid didn’t die.) She
pistol), Improved Defense, Improved
then made some unfortunate remarks about
Initiative, Improved Trip, Power Attack,
African-Americans, which got into the
Quick-Draw, Redirect, Sneak Attack,
newspapers. Sherry was high on crystal
Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge
meth at the time the incident occurred,
Equipment: Brass Knuckles (Melee
which didn’t help matters.
Weapon, 5 Damage), Huge Pistol (Ranged
Weapon, 5 Damage)

79
 Although she is on suspension, about a given case. He has no beef with
Sherry still has a lot of friends in the superheroes, or seemingly with anyone. In
department who respect her skills and his undercover work he has spent time
admire her attitude. She is particularly well- around some very dangerous people, but
liked within the Bedlam Police Special doesn’t seem to bear them any malice, even
Assault Squad, since so many of them share when he’s testifying against them.
her attitude about superhumans. Although Because he spends so much of his
it’s illegal, Sherry has been informally riding time doing undercover work, Detective
with them on patrol, and may well Valentine is difficult to get in touch with. He
encounter the Player Characters if they run just shows up, smiling and helpful, as if out
afoul of the squad. Sherry will be very quick of nowhere. He has never been known to
to resort to violence. Frankly she’d sooner take a bribe, but he has been known to
take a cape’s life than not. bend the rules for people in trouble. It’s
unclear how much he’s gotten his feet dirty
Detective Lieutenant Johnny Valentine in the course of his undercover work, but he
PL: 5 does not seem to be in the pay of the Mob.
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) Despite being kind of a mysterious
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3) guy, his home life is extremely normal.
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 5 Johnny Valentine lives with his wife and
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 without body three daughters in a bungalow in Wolverton.
armor) Fortitude Save: 5 His oldest girl is in high school, the twins are
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2 in fifth grade. It may seem dangerous for
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Climb 2 (+4), someone who has arrested or given
Diplomacy 6 (+9), Drive 2 (+4), Gather testimony against so many local criminals to
Information 4 (+7), Intimidate 3 (+6), live in the same neighborhood, but he
Investigate 3 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 3 seems unconcerned.
(+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+5),
Medicine 1 (+3), Notice 5 (+7), Profession Administrative Services
(police detective) 4 (+6), Search 3 (+5), The folks who process payroll, keep records,
Sense Motive 6 (+8), Stealth 2 (+4) procure supplies and so forth are not for the
Feats: Attractive, Connected, Contacts, most part “Sworn Personnel.” They don’t
Distract (Linked to Bluff), Elusive Target, have badges, don’t have police powers,
Evasion, Fascinate (Linked to Bluff), aren’t trained in law-enforcement and don’t
Improved Grapple, Quick-Draw have the power to make arrests. The
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (Toughness 3 exception to this rule is the Internal Affairs
armor), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) division, which is staffed by police
Background: A tall, handsome, disting- detectives.
uished African-American guy in his mid- Apart from Internal Affairs and the
thirties, Detective Valentine is seldom seen Records division, cops can’t get transferred
around the precinct house, for he spends into Administrative Services or vice-versa.
most of his time undercover. Charming and They are two entirely separate entities.
funny, he has an impressive list of academic Administrative Services is based in
credentials and juries love him. The the grim-looking, battered-up old Police
Department knows this and they keep him Headquarters downtown. Most of the purely
very busy testifying in cases. He has a PhD administrative functions (payroll and human
in psychology and another one in criminal resources, for example) have actually been
justice and he displays a keen insight into moved to a small brick building across the
the workings of the human mind when he’s street.
on the witness stand. Administrative Services staff don’t
Friendly to nearly everyone, have police ranks (unless they work for
Valentine may or may not know the PCs, but Internal Affairs) and instead have position
if he does then he is more than willing to titles like “Filing Clerk” “Administrative
work with them or share what he knows Assistant,” etc.

80
 Lester Dunwoody is the current he’s so focused on the work in front of him
Executive Officer who heads up that he’s nearly blind to the force’s larger
Administrative Services. He’s the highest problems. And frankly, he’s afraid of
ranking authority in the Bedlam Police. standing up to guys like Big Chuck O’Ryan
However, he isn’t “sworn personnel,” and Sharkey Muldoon. Big Chuck already
doesn’t wear a uniform and doesn’t see mocks him and bullies him whenever he
himself as anything like a police chief. gets a chance—what’s he going to do if
Frankly he’s busy enough trying to keep his Dunwoody starts cutting into his action?
administrative offices functioning to spend Plus, Dunwoody’s own past isn’t
any time trying to run the rest of the police completely clean. When he was a district
force. Anyway it’s not his job. patrol officer he took money from the
station house’s pad of graft, just like all the
Generic Administrative Worker other guys. He did it because he wanted to
PL: 0 fit in and didn’t want any trouble. As soon
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) as he had enough seniority, he stopped
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0) taking the money. But he knows it would
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 be easy to blackmail him if he were ever to
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1 start rocking the boat.
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1 Dunwoody always looks like he’s on
Willpower Save: 0 the verge of bursting into tears. And his job
Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Drive 1 (+2), Intimidate is enough to make a grown man cry. He
2 (+2), Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+3), Notice 2 has to somehow make sure that a
(+2), Profession (administrative worker) 5 department as crooked and chaotic as
(+5), Sense Motive 1 (+1), Stealth 1 (+2) Bedlam’s gets supplied with everything from
Feats: Connected bullets to paperclips to health insurance. To
his credit, he mostly manages to get this
Executive Officer Lester Dunwoody done.
PL: 3 He deeply loves his ugly old wife
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Hattie, and regrets that he has so little time
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0) to spend with her. They were never able to
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 have kids and he’s all Hattie’s got, apart
Defense: 3 (+1 if caught Flatfooted) from her five Shi Tzu dogs. This is about to
Toughness Save: 1 get worse. Any moment now Hattie will
Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 3 discover that she has cancer and
Willpower Save: 3 Dunwoody’s life is going to get a lot more
miserable. Will he neglect his work, or
Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Diplomacy 3 (+3),
neglect his dying wife? Which path leads to
Drive 1 (+2), Intimidate 2 (+2), Knowledge
a deeper pit in Hell?
(Business) 4 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 8
(+9), Notice 5 (+5), Profession
Office of the Chief of Police
(administrative worker) 6 (+7), Sense
The position of Police Chief may be vacant,
Motive 2 (+2), Stealth 1 (+2)
but the office certainly is not. His five
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Dodge Focus
personal assistants and their own small
2, Well-Informed
administrative staff continue to draw
Background: Overworked, disheveled and
paychecks and continue to show up for
constantly anxious, Dunwoody is a capable
work—although there isn’t a lot for them to
administrator but he’s barely able to keep
do without a boss. All twelve of them are
up with the work in front of him, let alone
from Wolverton and have connections to the
change anything. He focuses on keeping his
Reverend Willie Boggs’ political machine, so
administrative offices going with the limited
Lester Dunwoody’s efforts to have them
resources available—which is often quite a
suspended have gone nowhere. He wishes
challenge. It leaves him absolutely no time
he were brave enough to really take a stand
or strength left over. He works hard and
about this.
sincerely cares about what he’s doing. But

81
Fiscal Affairs and Human Resources want to take an interest in which files they
This is the largest division within were working on.
Administrative Services and the one that
Executive Officer Dunwoody spends the Public Affairs
most time overseeing. They do everything The Chief Public Affairs Officer is responsible
from managing the department’s budget to for making statements to the press,
overseeing vehicle maintenance, to appearing on TV and attending public
processing payroll. events. There are two Assistant Public
Dunwoody manages to keep Affairs Officers who attend events when the
corruption out of the Payroll and Human Chief Officer can’t make it or doesn’t wish to
Resources areas. No one is actually stealing go (although one of these positions is
money or sending paychecks to nonexistent currently vacant.)
officers. But it’s impossible for him to keep The Chief Public Affairs Officer is
them entirely clean. If some crooked cop presently Brooke Pringle, a former weather
wants a favor from Human Resources (for girl and local TV personality from Dubuque,
example, access to someone’s personnel Iowa. She is known for her wide-eyed,
file) he’s probably going to get it. vacant, Stepford Wife grin. Although she is
not “Sworn Personnel” and has no powers of
Records Division arrest, she wears a custom designed
Records are kept in the basement of Police uniform for the cameras.
Headquarters. It’s a dark, dank place where
the lights are on timers and only illuminate Chief Public Affairs Officer Brooke
one little section of the room at a time. Pringle
Water drips from the ceiling in
places. Many of the records have been
damaged by moisture and the staff try all
kind of ingenious ways to keep the rest of
them dry.
Because the basement is
overflowing with records, a lot of the older
boxes have been shipped off to a rented
warehouse in the Meadows, where the very
lowliest clerks try to tend them.
Most of the staff who keep the
Department’s records are just administrative
workers, but some are actual police officers
who have been reassigned here. In neither
case do they have police powers while they
are on the job. Nor do they wear uniforms.
Being assigned to Records is a
dead-end career track, whether you are and
administrative worker or a cop. Because it’s
a punishment assignment, some of the best
and some of the worst cops wind up here.
Some of the filing clerks are willing
to steal or alter records at the behest of the
Mob or other crooked cops in the PL: 2
Department. But some are totally clean. In Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
fact one was responsible for the last major Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 16 (+3)
police scandal coming to light. So, if a filing Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0
clerk suddenly dies under suspicious Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 1
circumstances, a Player Character might Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
Willpower Save: 0

82
Skills: Bluff 2 (+5), Diplomacy 3 (+6), either, so at present complaint reports just
Intimidate 1 (+4), Knowledge (Popular pile up in Records, unreviewed by anyone.
Culture) 5 (+5), Perform (Oratory) 3 (+6), Internal Affairs sees its job as
Profession (public spokesperson) 5 (+5), protecting the Police Department from
Sense Motive 1 (+1) lawsuits, by making sure no one does
Feats: Attractive, Connected, Distract anything that could cause litigation. They
(Linked to Bluff) do investigate crimes committed by police
Background: Brooke is from Iowa and has personnel, but they spend more of their
held minor jobs in the entertainment time making sure that no one in the
industry all around the Midwest. Mostly Department leaks any of its dirty laundry to
she’s done human interest fluff for local the press. Contrary to popular belief, they
newscasts, but once she got to be the host are not presently running any undercover
of a cable feature on Bigfoot. She has even operations inside the rest of the force, nor
appeared in two direct-to-video movies that are they looking to take down any particular
you may have seen late at night on cop.
Cinemax. Now that Brooke is in her thirties Because they are an administrative
she’s no longer young enough to be a cute, section, they are not supposed to arrest
giggly weather girl, so she became Chief anyone. If they decide that a police officer
Public Affairs Officer for the Bedlam Police. needs to be arrested for a crime, they
While she’s a stiff, wooden actress, contact the officer’s superior or the
she has taken to the job with enthusiasm, appropriate detective squad. This has
and it shows. She looks horribly insincere, caused problems in the past, when crooked
but in fact she feels really strongly about her officers have been tipped-off by their friends
work and sometimes gets a little too carried and turned fugitive. In a couple of cases,
away with it. Off-duty, she talks a lot about officers with outstanding arrest warrants
how difficult it is to be a cop despite the fact have continued to serve, because no one
that she isn’t one and never has been. wanted to arrest them.
Divorced, she lives in the Stone One of the three Internal Affairs
Ridge gated community. Rumors link her detectives is crooked, and reports directly to
romantically to famed local newscaster Sergeant “Big Chuck” O’Ryan, who leads a
Obediah Brick. ring of dirty cops (see “the O’Ryan Boys” on
Page 248.) But which one is it? Whoever it
Internal Affairs is, you can expect any important information
This small unit is staffed by a mixture of that Internal Affairs receives to be in the
administrative personnel and detectives. It hands of the Scarpia crime family within 24
has just six investigators at present, three of hours.
them Detectives and three of them
Administrative Services staff. They are Training Bureau
charged with investigating wrongdoing Bedlam doesn’t have a full-time police
within the department. academy. Instead they offer courses on
Whenever a police car gets into a Criminal Justice in every fall session of
fender bender or an officer’s weapon gets Bedlam Community College, with
discharged, Internal Affairs reviews the supplementary courses at Police
incident. At least in theory. In fact they are Headquarters in the summer. Most
so swamped with incident reports that most instructors are real active-duty police
of them get by without more than a cursory officers who need the extra pay that comes
glance. with teaching courses. A few are retired
There is some question as to officers trying to supplement their pensions.
whether they should get to review
complaints against officers from the public. Federal Law Enforcement in Bedlam
Internal Affairs itself opposes having to do Not very many federal police agencies
this, since they are already drowning in maintain field offices in Bedlam, despite the
paperwork. But no one else wants the job high level of crime here. It’s too small, and

83
the bigger city nearby almost certainly has carry out debriefings and field interrogations
field offices for most of the major agencies there. No one knows if this is true.
(FBI, DEA, ATF, etc.) already. When a US The FBI’s main reason to keep a
attorney or an ATF tactical team show up in presence in Bedlam is to monitor organized
Bedlam, they have flown or driven in from crime. They have as yet been unable to
the outside. infiltrate the Scarpia family, but they have
two informants inside the Gorganzua family,
Federal Bureau of Investigation both of whom may need to enter the
The FBI has just under sixty field offices Witness Protection Program before long.
around the country. None of them are
located in Bedlam. Nonetheless, they do Generic FBI Agent
quietly rent office space here, since so many PL: 4
of their agents from the nearest field office Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
wind up spending time in town. Their office Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
suite is located just off downtown. It’s a Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
modest, unassuming set of rooms adjacent Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
to the US Attorney’s office. No plaque on armor)
the wall identifies them as FBI. The sign on Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 3
the door says “DOJ” (for Dept. of Justice.) Willpower Save: 3
But the presence of so many large men with Skills: Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 4 (+5),
brush-cut hairdos and the lack of any Gather Information 3 (+4), Investigate 4
paintings or other ornamentation on the (+5), Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (Civics)
walls may give it away (no FBI office is +4 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) +1 (+2),
permitted to put any art on its walls, nor are Knowledge (tactics) +4 (+5), Notice 6 (+7),
agents allowed to have any personal items Profession (policeman) 4 (+5), Search 5
on their desks.) (+6), Sense Motive 3 (+4), Stealth 5 (+6)
Sometimes the Bureau will establish Feats: Benefit (Federal Agent), Improved
smaller offices (called “Resident Agencies”) Grapple, Improved Pin, Quick-Draw
in locations that don’t need a full-fledged Equipment: Body Armor (4 Toughness),
Field Office, but that’s not really what the Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Damage) or
Bedlam Office is. Instead it’s just an Submachine Gun (Ranged Weapon, 4
extension of the Field Office in the bigger Damage [Extra: Autofire])
city next door. As such, it doesn’t have a Complications: Not allowed to harm
“Special Agent in Charge.” Instead they civilians, subject to orders from superiors
assign various “Acting SACs” as needed.
This is usually Special Agent Enzio Falcone Acting Special-Agent-in-Charge Enzio
(he prefers to be called Rick), a beefy giant “Rick” Falcone
with a gray brush-cut, a thick Chicago PL: 6
accent and a growing waistline. He has Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3)
more seniority than any of the other agents Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
and he knows Bedlam better than they do, Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
so he’s almost always ASAC. Rick is deeply Toughness Save: 4 (3 without body
familiar with the Mafia and its workings. armor) Fortitude Save: 6
Some people in the Bureau whisper that Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 4
he’s maybe a little too familiar.
Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Climb 2 (+6), Drive 3
If the FBI takes a suspect into
(+5), Intimidate 6 (+7), Investigate 6 (+8),
custody, they won’t hold them in the local
Gather Information 6 (+7), Knowledge
office and instead will transport them to the
(Civics) 4 (+6), Languages (Italian),
nearest field office for interrogation. They
Medicine 2 (+4), Notice 6 (+8), Profession
don’t have a proper interrogation room
(policeman) 6 (+8), Search 3 (+5), Sense
here. There are rumors that the Bureau
Motive 5 (+7), Stealth 3 (+5)
also maintains a safe house somewhere in
Feats: Accurate Attack, Assessment, Benefit
the Country Club, and that they occasionally
(Federal Agent), Contacts, Connected,

84
Evasion, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, have bought, sold and used drugs. They
Quick-Draw have undertaken criminal errands up to and
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 including murder in order to infiltrate gangs.
Damage), 2 extra clips, Bulletproof Vest (4 AiC Gurley is malignly obsessed with
Protection) bringing down the Mara from the inside, and
Background: Special Agent Falcone is the his loyal troops have actually been willing to
primary contact for both of the stooges help wipe out some of the Mara’s enemies in
inside the Gorganzua organization, so he exchange for being brought closer into their
works out of the Bedlam office most of the world.
time. He’s an expert on the Mafia and This is not the only operation they
knows them intimately. Sometimes people currently have in play. Whenever the PCs
wonder aloud if he is perhaps on terms with encounter a gang of drug-dealers, whether
the Mob that might be described as slightly it‘s in Wolverton, the Country Club, the
too intimate. Remarks like that don’t phase Shady Meadows mobile home park or even
him. If somebody says this to his face, he Stone Ridge, there is always a small chance
points out that if that were true, it would be that one or more members of the gang is
the Chicago Outfit he was too close to, and actually an infiltrator from the local office of
they’re the traditional enemies of the the DEA. The only criminal organization
Bedlam Mob. they aren’t presently investigating is the
Bedlam Mafia, since that’s the FBI’s turf and
Drug Enforcement Administration the two offices don’t get along. Gurley
The “A” doesn’t stand for “Agency” as many himself is getting increasingly paranoid and
people mistakenly believe, but instead for fanatical, and he’s been taking far too much
“Administration” (we know, it doesn’t make speed.
sense to us either—Nixon thought it up.)
The DEA has less agents but more Generic DEA Agent
Field Offices (nearly 240) than the FBI. PL: 4
They don’t advertise their presence, but Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
they have a field office in the Meadows, Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
right across from Bedlam proper. They are Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
located in a big, wide, ugly two-story Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body
building with an enclosed parking lot and no armor)
sign on the door. Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 3
The local office operates with a lot Willpower Save: 3
of autonomy—the Agent in Charge has gone Skills: Bluff 4 (+5), Diplomacy 3 (+4),
a little crazy and no longer trusts anyone, Disguise 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+3), Intimidate 4
including his superiors. He files reports and (+5), Gather Information 5 (+6),
claims to take orders, but half of what he Investigate 2 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3),
writes is fabricated and he operates Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+4), Knowledge
effectively free of oversight. (Streetwise) 5 (+6), Knowledge (Ttactics) 2
There are fifteen agents in the (+3), Notice 6 (+7), Profession (policeman)
office, all of them intensely loyal to AiC 4 (+5), Search 5 (+6), Sense Motive 5 (+6),
Willard Gurley. After some bitter Stealth 5 (+6)
experiences, they have learned not to trust Feats: Benefit (Federal Agent), Defensive
local law enforcement and seldom if ever Attack, Evasion, Quick-Draw
cooperate with them. Equipment: Body Armor (4 Toughness),
The Bedlam office runs deep Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Damage) or
undercover operations, for the most part. Submachine Gun (Ranged Weapon, 4
They’ve been playing extremely fast and Damage [Extra: Autofire])
loose with the rules, getting in much too Complications: Fanatically loyal to AiC
deep and breaking all sorts of laws. They Gurley

85
Willard Gurley and bloodshot eyes. He’s a sharp dresser,
PL: 6 favoring colorful silk shirts and expensive
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 12 (+1) sport jackets. He wears his shirt open,
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) revealing his thin gold chain—a gift from his
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6 wife. She lives in the Maryland suburbs of
(3 if caught Flatfooted) Washington, DC with his son and daughter.
Toughness Save: 4 (+1 without body He hasn’t spoken to them in months. He
armor) Fortitude Save: 6 keeps calling, but as soon as he hears their
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 2 voices on the phone he can’t bear to speak
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Climb 2 (+4), to them and he quickly hangs up.
Diplomacy 2 (+4), Drive 5 (+8), Intimidate
7 (+9), Investigate 6 (+7), Gather The UNICORN
Information 6 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 4
(+5), Languages (Spanish), Medicine 2
(+4), Notice 6 (+8), Profession (policeman)
5 (+6), Search 3 (+5), Sense Motive 5 (+7),
Stealth 5 (+8)
Feats: Accurate Attack, Assessment, Benefit
(Federal Agent), Contacts, Connected,
Dodge Focus 3, Evasion, Improved Grapple,
Improved Pin, Quick-Draw
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
Damage), 2 extra clips, Bulletproof Vest (4
Protection)
Background: Willard Gurley has always
been wound too tight. Angry, paranoid and
vengeful, he has a reputation as something
between a tireless crusader and a
dangerous fanatic. That’s why his superiors
sent him to Bedlam. They wanted to keep
him busy in a place where he couldn’t do
much harm to the DEA’s reputation (after
all, no one cares if Bedlam gets shot up a
little worse.) But the city has driven him
around the bend. After a few encounters
with crooked Bedlam cops he has decided
that no one but the men in his unit can be
trusted—even his superiors in DC are
suspect. He files false reports on his
activities and refuses to cooperate in any
way with the local authorities.
He’s also grown extremely trigger-
happy. He shot one of his own men for
disloyalty about six months ago, and is
convinced that he was manipulated into
doing it by the Mob. There are probably
other traitors in the group, he’s decided.
Who knows what they might get him to do
Conspiracy theorists talk about a secret
next? His speed addiction has been getting
government agency with an unknown
worse, too, and he seldom sleeps for more
budget, vast resources and virtually no
than a few hours at a time.
oversight from anyone. The feds swallow
Gurley is a small but athletic
African-American man with a furrowed brow

86
nervously when you ask them about these personality (this wasn’t true) and that it was
rumors, for they have all heard them too. critical for America to close the
It’s impossible to say whether such “brainwashing gap,” that desperate
a thing exists, somewhere outside the law, measures were called for (still part of our
in the shadowy world of secret budgets and own history, every bit of it—read the Church
classified locations. Both conspiracy Committee’s findings if you feel skeptical.)
theorists and actual government wonks have These hearings led to the CIA
taken to calling this mysterious, unseen publicly apologizing, turning many of its
shadow agency “the UNICORN,” for it is a records over to public scrutiny, firing a lot of
mythic beast, seldom glimpsed, whose very its personnel and reorganizing itself. But in
existence is in doubt. Out of a sense of the game world where Bedlam is set, we’re
pride, the men and women who actually going to assume that a lot of MK Ultra’s
work for the UNICORN have started calling it weirder projects escaped the Church
that, too. Committee’s notice and were hastily
UNICORN isn’t a single monolithic reassigned to the Pentagon. Most of their
entity. Since it’s an “off-the-books” agency, programs on creating and neutralizing
not even its own personnel know precisely superhumans, for example, never saw the
how large it is or how many government light of day and vanished into the
agencies it has its tendrils in. It has no Department of Defense, where they became
official name, but UNICORN will do for now. the nucleus of the UNICORN.
Not exactly an espionage If you like, there may have been a
organization, they are mostly concerned second scandal much more recently, within
with creating, monitoring and neutralizing the past ten years, where the existence of
parahumans. Part super-soldier crèche, part the UNICORN was publicly revealed after a
commando squad, part secret detention botched mission in the Middle East resulted
program, they build superhumans, use them in a lot of civilian casualties. A second set of
in covert operations overseas, and when Senate hearings questioned whether or not
necessary, they make them disappear. A the UNICORN really existed, whether
large part of their work is done under the anyone knew how big they had grown, how
auspices of the Department of Defense, but many secret bases they operated, how
they routinely ignore the Third Amendment many different super-soldier programs they
provisions about operating on American soil. might be running. Supposedly the
If the GM likes, there have been two Department of Defense came clean, cut the
public scandals involving the UNICORN. In program drastically and curtailed its growing
the 1970s, Senator Frank Church uncovered power—but nobody knows if that’s true.
the CIA’s secret mind-control and How can you say for sure how big an
parahuman research program, MK Ultra (this organization with a secret budget really is?
really happened in our world, too.) The Or how much power they still have? If this
Church Committee hearings revealed all second set of hearings took place in your
kinds of irresponsible, illegal and unethical game world, than the name “UNICORN” is
experiments that MK Ultra’s doctors were common knowledge, but everyone thinks it
performing on American and Canadian isn’t really the organization’s name, that the
citizens, with no legal authorization term “UNICORN” was thought up by
whatsoever. Repulsive Nazi doctor stuff, conspiracy theorists and encouraged by the
often with little scientific basis. They gave gullible media.
LSD and lobotomies to unsuspecting people, Researchers who study the
performed sick medical experiments on UNICORN say that it seems to be organized
prisoners and on graduate students and on into a number of separate “Projects” that all
random people snatched off the street. have bland, military sounding code names.
It appears that former CIA Director Project SHIRAZ, Project OUTLOOK
Allen Dulles thought the Chinese had UNLIMITED, Project DAMOCLES—who
developed a secret brainwashing technique knows what sinister things may be lurking
which could destroy and rebuild the human under these opaque titles? Their operatives

87
are officially assigned to one or another Agent of the UNICORN
secret military unit (PDI, the Pentagon
Defense Force, the National Reconnaissance
Office) and may not know they work for the
UNICORN. Sometimes the different Projects
may fight one another, unaware that they’re
working toward a single goal.
A lot of their agents have
superhuman powers. Perhaps as many as
one in four of them will have some minor
(PL 5 or so) abilities. They have access to
much tougher agents as well, but not very
many of them. At least a few of their
battlesuits, psychics and cyborgs are in the
PL 10 range. A few may be even tougher.
They sometimes hire superhuman agents
from military/security contractors like
Executive Solutions or Corporate
Consultations to supplement their
superhuman muscle.
They almost always recruit military
or intelligence personnel—the organization
seems to have little to no reach inside the
PL: 6
federal law-enforcement agencies (FBI,
DEA, the Federal Marshals, etc.) Yet they Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
are not officially a military outfit and seem Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
to be very careful about not allowing any of Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
their personnel to salute, call their superiors Toughness Save: 6 (3 without body
“sir” or refer to themselves by their military armor, 1 if caught Flatfooted without body
rank. armor)
Some observers will tell you that the Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Save: 6
most frightening thing about the UNICORN Willpower Save: 6
is actually how disorganized it appears to Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+5), Bluff 5 (+6),
be. It’s possible that it’s become so secret Disguise 5 (+7), Disable Device 3 (+5),
and so compartmentalized that not even its Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 5 (+6), Medicine 2
leaders are fully aware of its scope or of (+3), Knowledge (Tactics) 4 (+5), Notice 6
what all of its branches are doing. It’s (+7), Profession (secret agent) 4 (+6),
frightening enough to think of it as a Stealth 5 (+7)
shadow government, but worse to think of it Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff,
as a pilotless juggernaut, crashing endlessly Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, Elusive
forward with no one at the helm. Target, Improved Aim, Improved Disarm,
Newer operatives often ask what Precise Shot, Quick-Draw
the acronym UNICORN stands for. They are Equipment: Body Armor (6 Toughness),
told that this is strictly need-to-know Souped-Up Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 5
information which they aren’t cleared for. Damage), Stiletto (Melee Weapon, 2
But in fact it probably isn’t an acronym at all Damage)
and doesn’t stand for anything. Background: Typically, the UNICORN’s
Does the UNICORN have operatives best agents won’t know their own names.
in Bedlam? No one knows. They’ve mostly come out of secret
commando units, but some have followed
much stranger career paths. Many are on
loan from a variety of other secret agencies.
Quite a few are former agents for one or

88
another of America’s enemies. There is a Feats: Assessment, Attractive, Benefit
brainwashing firm in northern Virginia that (Law-Enforcement powers), Fascinate
selectively edits the memories of their (linked to Diplomacy), Inspire, Leadership,
operatives, so that they can’t betray Uncanny Dodge
compromising secrets under interrogation. Powers: Illusion 8 (all senses; Power Feats:
Some even carry on double lives, with jobs Selective; Flaw: Phantasms), Mental Blast 6,
and families outside the world of espionage, Mind Control 10 (Extras: Conscious, Sensory
only reverting to their agent personality Link), Super-Senses 2 (Danger Sense,
when activated by a code phrase. The Mental Awareness), Telepathy 10
mind-wipe program is strictly voluntary, but Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
most agents opt to use it. Once you’ve Damage)
worked for the UNICORN, you’d probably Background: The Pentagon Force
prefer not to remember some of the things Protection Agency is officially a civilian Dept.
you’ve done. of Defense group assigned to protecting the
grounds of the Pentagon itself. Their
PFPA Psychic Agent budget is completely “Black” for security
reasons. No one is allowed to know how
much money they are spending or what it’s
for. As a result, it’s a convenient cover for
the UNICORN to spend as much money as it
likes on whatever it likes. For the most part,
it uses PFPA to house its superhuman
agents. They don’t manufacture cyborgs
and psychics—that’s all handled by various
secret research projects, scattered through
the system. Instead, they pay them, and
organize them into strike teams.
Some of their psi agents are PL 5
weaklings, but if they think they’re going up
against actual superbeings (the PCs, for
example) they’ll send one of the really
strong ones.

PFPA Cyborg
PL: 8
Str: 24 (+7) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 20 (+5)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 5 Attack Bonus: 8
PL: 10 Defense: 8 (+8 Flatfooted)
Toughness Save: 8 (5 without body
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
armor) Fortitude Save: 8 Reflexes Save:
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 20 (+5)
5 Willpower Save: 5
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 8
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 5 Skills: Climb 5 (+12), Gather Information 5
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 14 (+7), Intimidate 8 (+10) Knowledge (Civics)
3 (+4), Notice 7 (+9), Profession (soldier) 6
Skills: Bluff 10 (+15), Concentration 8
(+7), Search 6 (+8), Sense Motive 5 (+7),
(+14), Diplomacy 10 (+15), Gather
Stealth 3 (+4)
Information 8 (+13), Intimidate 8 (+13),
Feats: Chokehold, Equipment 1 (5pts
Investigate 4 (+6), Knowledge (Behavioral
worth), Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Science) 8 (+10), Notice 4 (+10), Profession
Improved Initiative, Power Attack
(spy) 4 (+6), Search 4 (+10), Sense Motive
Powers: Device (Body Armor [+3
8 (+14)
Toughness]), Impervious Toughness 5,
Super-Movement 2 (Wall-Crawling), Super-

89
Senses 2 (Accurate Hearing, Low-Light forces, while they serve under PFPA they
Vision), Super-Strength 2 (Maximum Lift: are all just “Agents.”
5,600 pounds)
Equipment: Machine-Pistol (5 Ranged Powered-Armor Agent
Damage; Extra: Autofire)
Background: Not all of the Pentagon’s
efforts to create super-soldiers ended in
failure. These cybernetically enhanced
agents aren’t as tough as actual
superheroes, but they are far stronger and
more durable than men made out of mere
flesh and bone.
There are some drawbacks to the
process. The cybernetic implants cause
them tremendous discomfort and shorten
their lifespan unpredictably. Some guys go
psychotic from the pain, if they don’t take
enough medication to control it or their
nervous system just happens to be wired
the wrong way. Others suddenly go into
shock and drop dead for no apparent
reason. How long you stay in the program
and how long they keep the implants in you
is therefore something of a calculated risk.
With constant monitoring, most guys
PL: 8
manage to serve for six or seven years
without shaving more than twenty off their Str: 30 (+10)/14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1)
life expectancy. Con: 10 (+0) Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1)
As you might expect, the program Cha: 12 (+1)
attracts some very driven guys. Some of Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 4
them are willing to endure the pain of Toughness Save: 10 Impervious (+0
service out of patriotic fervor, some do it in without armor) Fortitude Save: 4
order to show that they are the best, some Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 6
are looking for adventure and a few really Skills: Drive 2 (+3), Intimidate 5 (+6),
dig pain. Knowledge (Tactics) 3 (+4), Notice 4 (+5),
Most of them are recruited from Profession (spy or soldier) 4 (+5), Stealth 4
military intelligence, but they find a few in (+5)
commando units as well. It’s hard to tell Feats: All-Out Attack, Improved Grapple,
what branch of the armed forces they come Power Attack
from since they don’t wear uniforms— Powers: Device (Battlesuit: Blast 10 [Extra:
instead they dress a lot like Secret Service Penetrating 4], Communication 5 [Radio],
bodyguards, with conservative suits and Protection 6 [Extra: Impervious 6],
sunglasses. Most of them are in their Enhanced Strength 8, Super-Senses 1
thirties, but some are a little older. They [Radio Hearing], Super-Strength 4
are almost always quiet and professional, [Maximum Lift: 24 Tons])
and seldom speak. Background: They don’t call them in very
Despite the fact that they wear often, but when they need the extra muscle
civilian clothes, they are all military service the UNICORN can produce a seemingly
personnel, with ranks. While they are unlimited number of goons in powered
attached to the Pentagon Force Protection armor. This is way too indiscreet for most
Agency their ranks are merely provisional— missions, so if you ever even see these
whether they are captains, lieutenants or guys, you know their bosses must be feeling
humble NCOs in the mainstream armed desperate. These agents aren’t as tough as

90
a typical armored superhero, but they can Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 4
throw them at a target in waves if they have Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5
to. Skills: Concentration 5 (+7), Computers 6
The suits themselves are prone to a (+10), Craft (chemical, electronic or
host of technical problems, including mechanical) 6 (+10), 2nd Craft Skill
inadequate radiation shielding that leaves (chemical, electronic or mechanical) 6
most operators sterile in a few months and (+10), Diplomacy 5 (+4), Disable Device 6
gives nearly all of them cancer within ten (+10), Knowledge (one science) 8 (+12),
years. Yet despite this and other draw- 2nd Knowledge Skill (one science) 8 (+12),
backs, there is never any shortage of 3rd Knowledge Skill (technology) 6 (+10),
volunteers. Medicine 6 (+10), Notice 5 (+7), Profession
It’s possible that the UNICORN (scientist or doctor) 8 (+12)
might have some actual PL 10-12 suits on Feats: Beginner's Luck, Benefit (has access
the shelf somewhere, waiting for a super- to classified research), Skill Mastery (both
being to piss them off badly enough to Craft Skills and two Knowledge Skills), Well-
activate them. Informed
Complications: Crazy, has no concience or
Researcher for the UNICORN feels tormented by the awful things they
have to do in the service of their country
Background: The UNICORN draws its
researchers from all quarters of the Mad
Science community. Some are former CIA
associates from Third World countries, who
used to perform medical experiments on the
behalf of America’s interests until Amnesty
International and the war crimes tribunals
got too close. Some are former super-
criminals who managed to cut a deal. Some
were recruited from Soviet death-labs after
Communism fell and the risk of prosecution
grew too great for them to stay in Russia. A
few may be actual Nazi researchers, still
alive and toiling away in the pursuit of
science after all these years. But the
majority of them are just brilliant kids,
recruited straight out of college with the
promise of exciting work in the service of
their country. Some of these bright young
things go mad after they see the kind of
stuff that they will have to do for the
UNICORN, some defect or have to be
executed, but most learn to cope, or even to
enjoy the work.

The Court System

There are basically three types of courts.
Municipal courts handle smaller matters like
PL: 4 traffic violations, small claims and
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) sometimes minor crimes like disorderly
Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 8 (-1) conduct. They are overseen by judges and
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 4 don’t require juries. Trial courts handle
serious crimes and serious lawsuits.
Criminal cases are heard by juries, civil

91
cases (lawsuits) are decided in trial courts, particular is always eager to give mob
by juries or by judges. Appellate courts defendants a good deal. It’s almost as if
review the decisions of lower courts. they had something on her…
Federal trial and appellate courts
are a separate system from local and state DA Cord Killingsworth
courts. The feds have their own prosecutors PL: 7
(called US Attorneys) who serve under the Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Attorney General and are appointed by the Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
President. Federal courts and prosecutors Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 5
only prosecute federal crimes. Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 5
There is no federal courthouse in Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 7
Bedlam—it isn’t big enough. Federal cases Skills: Bluff 7 (+10), Concentrate 7 (+10),
are heard in the nearby metropolis that Diplomacy 5 (+8), Gather Information 3
Bedlam sits in the shadow of. (+6), Intimidate 10 (+13), Investigate 2
(+4), Knowledge (Civics) 6 (+9), Knowledge
The District Attorney’s Office (Current Events) 3 (+6), Knowledge
In Bedlam, the DA is an elected position, (Streetwise) 2 (+4), Notice 8 (+11),
rather than an appointed one. Yet the Perform (Oratory) 7 (+10), Profession
current DA, Cord Killingsworth, was not (lawyer) 7 (+9), Sense Motive 9 (+12)
elected—at least at first. Feats: Connected, Contacts, Distract
DA Monkowski got removed by the (Linked to Bluff), Inspire, Leadership, Skill
state authorities for corruption, wire-fraud Mastery (Knowledge [Civics], Notice,
and deviancy and the Governor appointed Profession [Lawyer], Sense Motive)
Killingsworth as his temporary replacement. Complications: Seeks revenge on all
That’s illegal, but the city didn’t have the superhumans everywhere for the loss of his
resources to litigate, and anyway hand
Killingsworth was efficient, capable and Drawbacks: Disabled (has a hook for a
popular. He won an election last year, and hand)
the issue of his legitimacy has gone away. Background: They call him “the Hook”
DA Killingsworth seems to be on a because of his prosthetic left arm. He has
mission to clean up Bedlam and he’s willing some ugly scars on that side of his body, as
to cut corners to do it. He does not take well. He jokes that he got them trying to
bribes to go easy on organized crime, but he scratch himself with his hook. That’s about
doesn’t stop his Assistant DAs from doing it. as close to being funny as he gets. Grim,
Nor does he tell them to break the law, driven, all-but humorless, he never smiles.
plant evidence, intimidate witnesses or Handsome, in a hawk-nosed, dark-haired,
perjure themselves. There is an unspoken brooding kind of way, he has some scars on
understanding that they are supposed to the left side of his face but they just add to
increase the conviction rate, and they do his rugged appeal.
what is required to ensure that this He’s on a lonely crusade for justice.
happens. The boss ignores evidence of Ten years ago, while he was still an
wrongdoing. Or perhaps he throws a bad Assistant County Prosecutor, a supervillain
Assistant DA to the wolves if it becomes called “Eat ‘em Up Jack” tore off his arm and
impossible to sweep things under the rug. Killingsworth has been obsessed with
Right now, the two fastest rising vengeance ever since. Eat ‘em Up Jack died
stars in the DA’s office are Ronnie in prison two years after the incident, so
Hagstrom, who has been doing most of the instead the Hook is going to have his
really shady stuff and Kim Casteel, who revenge on all superhumans and mask-
never breaks any rules, and seems to get by wearing bastards everywhere. He does
purely on her good looks, boundless energy what he can to hurt them from his position
and talent. Neither one seems to be on the as DA, but he has much grander ambitions.
take, but neither one seems anxious to He intends to get to a higher office, where
meddle with the Mafia, either. Casteel in he can accomplish a lot more. Possibly as

92
high as State Attorney General or even Generic Assistant DA
Governor. To get there, he’s going to have PL: 3
to do something about crime in Bedlam. Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0)
Increasing his conviction rate is his key to Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
higher office. And he’ll do whatever it takes Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 1
to bring those numbers up. He’s aware that Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0
this means convicting people who may be Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 2
innocent. But no one is innocent, he feels, Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Diplomacy 2 (+4),
especially if they’re from Wolverton or Gather Information 2 (+4), Intimidate 3
Hardwick Park. (+5), Investigate 1 (+3), Knowledge (Civics)
Back when he was an Assistant 4 (+6), Knowledge (Current Events) 2 (+4),
County Prosecutor, he had to plant evidence Knowledge (Streetwise) 1 (+3), Profession
and get a few witnesses to lie in order to (lawyer) 4 (+6), Sense Motive 3 (+4)
get convictions. He knows that’s how it’s Feats: Connected
done. In fact that’s why Eat ‘em Up Jack Complications: Subject to orders from the
went berserk in the courtroom and ripped District Attorney
off his arm—he realized that he’d been set Background: Most of the Assistant DAs are
up. However, Killingsworth thinks it’s loyal to Killingsworth and willing to bend a
beneath his dignity to do dirty stuff himself, few rules for him. Only a few are willing to
so he relies on his Assistant DAs to do it for bend as many rules as Ronnie Hagstrom
him. (see below.)
The Mafia doesn’t worry him as
much as the capes. And it’s hard to get Assistant DA Wally Slocomb
convictions against them in Bedlam—it can PL: 1
be hazardous to your health, too! Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 0 (+0) Con: 12 (+1)
Killingsworth is beyond caring whether he Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1 )
lives or dies, but if he gets killed he can’t Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 0
continue his crusade and all those Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 1
parahuman @#$%s will go unpunished for Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: -1
what they did to his arm. The Hook’s wife
Skills: Bluff 3 (+2), Diplomacy 1 (+0),
divorced him years ago, and while people
Intimidate 1 (+0), Knowledge (Civics) 3
think of him as an eligible bachelor, he is
(+3), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+3),
interested in only the most casual kind of
Profession (lawyer) 2 (+2), Sense Motive 2
affair.
(+1)
His wife says she left him because
Complications: Lazy, cowardly, avoids
he had become so crazy and morose after
work, fear and pain equally
he lost his arm, but he’s sure she just
Background: DA Killingsworth has tried to
couldn’t stand the sight of his hideous,
keep councilman “Big Andy” Czernik’s
crippled body. He has always disliked
people out of his department. He’s afraid
handicapped people for being so
they’ll steal money or do something
contemptibly weak, but now he hates them
flagrantly corrupt and get the state or
so much he can barely stand to look at
federal authorities breathing down
them.
everyone’s neck. That’s how Monkowski got
His daughter keeps trying to call
removed. But he hasn’t been able to
him—she’s nine and she desperately misses
completely keep them out.
her dad. But she has Cerebral Palsy and
Wally Slocomb acts as Big Andy’s
she disgusts him, so he won’t take her calls.
eyes and ears within the department.
He’s thinking about having a restraining
Fortunately, he’s too lazy and incompetent
order taken out against her.
to do much harm, and too untrustworthy for
the Scarpias to call on him for any really
important favors.
Slocomb is a big fat drunken mess
with a patchy attempt at a beard. He often

93
shows up late or calls in sick. He throws see. To speed the process along, he has
away his money at the dog track and while gotten involved with Detective Parnell Slope
he’d be happy to supplement his income (see his individual description on Page 76)
with a bribe or two, he lacks the energy who has been torturing up a steady stream
required to extort one from anybody. Nor of dubious convictions for him. This is a
does he have the force of personality whole lot easier than going to all the trouble
required to intimidate a slug, or the brains of coercing witnesses and planting fake
required to do a good job of planting evidence himself—although he still does.
evidence. He always looks baffled and It’s too much fun to resist. The look on
nervous, as if at any second somebody some poor guy’s face when he realizes that
might find out that he has no idea what’s he’s been set up, that he’s actually going to
going on around him. die for no good reason, it’s priceless, a thing
of beauty. Hagstrom gets along great with
Assistant DA Ronnie Hagstrom Detective Slope and his crew. Once he gets
PL: 5 elected District Attorney, he’s sure to make
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3) Slope an Assistant DA to follow in his
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) footsteps.
Initiative: 5 Attack Bonus: 5 Melee, 3 Hagstrom fancies himself a pretty
Ranged Defense: 5 (2 if caught Flatfooted) tough guy, and he is. He lifts weights
Toughness Save: 5 (3 if caught constantly, boxes at a private health club
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes three nights a week and most importantly,
Save: 5 Willpower Save: 5 has the stone-cold psychopathic viciousness
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Diplomacy 3 (+5), that most actual criminals yearn for. He
Gather Information 2 (+4), Intimidate 8 always goes armed—not because he expects
(+10), Knowledge (Civics) 5 (+6), trouble, but because he might like to start
Knowledge (Current Events) 3 (+4), some.
Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+5), Profession
(lawyer) 5 (+6), Sense Motive 3 (+5) Assistant District Attorney Kim Casteel
Feats: All-Out Attack, Assessment, Attack
Focus (Melee) 2, Chokehold, Connected,
Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll
2, Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Dodge
Focus 3, Startle, Taunt
Complications: Ruthless bully, will do
whatever is required to advance his career
Equipment: Large Pistol (Ranged Weapon,
4 Damage)
Background: A rising young guy in the
DA’s office, Ronnie Hagstrom has the good
looks and charm for higher office and he
knows it.
A grinning blonde bully, both in and
out of the courtroom, he’s headed for the
top by whatever means prove necessary.
The way to get there, he thinks, is to kill as
many non-white defendants as possible, so
he’s racking and stacking ‘em, sending as
many guys to the death chamber as he can.
Whether or not any of them are guilty is
PL: 8
isn’t really his chief concern. Nor, he
suspects, will it be a problem for the folks Str: 26 (+8) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a
whose votes he wants. Black and brown Int: 20 (+5) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 8 (-1)
faces on death row are what they like to Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8

94
Defense: 8 Toughness Save: 8 (4 creations (you can find out more about this
Impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a annoying arch-villain on Page 350.) She
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 8 must have bought some fake ID from the
Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+11), Computers 10 Mafia and moved to Bedlam, where people
(+15), Concentrate 11 (+17), Diplomacy 5 don’t ask very many questions. After all,
(+4), Gather Information 7 (+6), Intimidate she never prosecutes any cases against
5 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 12 (+17), organized crime, as if they had something
Knowledge (Current Events) 6 (+11), Notice on her.
3 (+9), Perform (Dance) 5 (+4), Profession If this is true, then the city could be
(lawyer) 12 (+17), Sense Motive 1 (+6) in a lot of trouble. Should it be proved in
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Connected, Contacts, court that she has no actual law degree—
Eidetic Memory, Evasion 2, Skill Mastery that she isn’t even human, it would allow all
(Knowledge [Civics], Knowledge [Current the dozens of cases she’s worked on to get
Events], Profession [Lawyer]), Takedown appealed. And the mess gets even bigger if
Attack she turns out to have been influenced by
Powers: Immunity 30 (all Fortitude organized crime. For now her boss is
Effects), Protection 8 (Extra: Impervious 4), covering for her. Meanwhile the rumors are
Super-Senses 5 (Detect Radiation, spreading.
Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Ultravision)
Complications: Trying much too hard to Adventure Seed: Bride of Master-Bot
be human. Doesn’t know how to repair Someone spots the infamous supervillain
herself. Never sleeps. known as Code Name: Wifebeater at Bub’s
Drawbacks: Disabled (Color Blind, No restaurant in downtown Bedlam, talking
Sense of Smell) with some of the Sicilian guys who hang out
Background: Assistant DA Casteel works there late at night. This is one of the places
harder than anyone else in the department. where Donny Scarpia hangs out. Has the
A little too hard, people say. They are Scarpia Family hired a supervillain? If so,
starting to notice the tireless, dogged way then why?
she pursues cases, her flawless memory for Not long thereafter, the Player
facts, the number of hours she puts in and Characters hear that a document forger
wonder out loud if she ever finds time to named Willy Ying has disappeared. He lived
sleep. And not as a joke. over a crummy Chinese restaurant in the
Kim is a little too pretty to be an Meadows called “Good Chinese” (more
Assistant DA, really—she looks more like an commonly known “Bad Chinese”.) One or
actress hired to play one on TV. Always two witnesses swear they saw Code Name:
carefully formal, she smiles a lot, but it looks Wifebeater lurking around Good Chinese.
odd and fake. When she isn’t at work, she Then one of the witnesses vanishes and the
devotes time to six or seven volunteer rest abruptly clam up.
organizations, takes courses, participates in And then the robot attacks begin.
ballroom dancing competitions and runs Dozens of Model 111 robots (Master-Bot’s
marathons. primary servitor-model) begin showing up in
She is not presently involved with public places, smashing stuff and
anyone, although she goes on casual dates demanding that Master-Bot’s wife come
all the time—sometimes as many as three in home. Master-Bot has a wife?
one night. None of her dates ever gets The PCs will have several chances to
more than a kiss on the cheek, but that’s tangle with the robots in public. During one
okay by most of them. Despite being such incident, the robots show up outside
conventionally beautiful, there is something the offices of the District Attorney, yelling
about her that turns most guys off. that “stupid bad-life humans are am all
Something hard to define. return Master-Bot’s bride to us!”
People are starting to whisper Code-Name: Wifebeater arrives at
behind her back that she’s a robot— the scene and is caught completely
probably one of “Master-Bot’s” failed unawares. A three-way battle ensues and

95
the PCs capture Wifebeater (if they can’t do a lot of good work for them over the years,
it by themselves, then he gets injured by a but it was time for him to go. Killing a
robot and it slows him down enough for robotic Assistant DA posed some unknown
them to catch up with him.) He won’t say challenges, so Dapper Donny reluctantly
anything about what he was doing there. consented to hire a supervillain.
Once they have a high-profile When Wifebeater confronted Kim
defendant like Wifebeater, the Bedlam after the attack, he planned to finish her off,
criminal justice system moves with but since Master-Bot wasn’t actually after
uncharacteristic haste. Wifebeater is to be Kim there was no longer any risk of
arraigned the next day. Assistant District exposure and no reason to kill her. It’s a
Attorney Kim Casteel is assigned to the shame they can’t bring Willie Ying back from
case. As his captors, the PCs are called to the dead, but life goes on.
testify.
Wifebeater represents himself, Judges of Note
giggling and cutting up and carrying on in Not a comprehensive list by any means,
the courtroom. Just as the court is about to here are some of the judges that Player
get down to business, robots swarm the Characters might find themselves in front of.
building. Master-Bot has come in person
and he’s brought a whole bunch of big Judge Howard Leeth
tough com-bots with him. A huge battle PL: 3
erupts throughout the building. Wifebeater Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0)
may or may not get loose. Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
Then, as Master-Bot himself strides Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
into the courthouse, one of the Defense: 3 (+0 if caught Flatfooted)
stenographers meekly steps forward and Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0
says that she’ll go back with him. All she Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 3
ever wanted was to see what the world was Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Diplomacy 5 (+5),
like. She pulls off her fake skin, revealing Knowledge (Civics) 6 (+9), Knowledge
gleaming metal underneath. (this is Steel (Current Events) 4 (+7), Notice 4 (+6),
Selina—see Page 352.) Oddly, her voice Profession (lawyer) 5 (+8), Profession
sounds exactly like Kim Casteel’s. (Judge) 6 (+9), Sense Motive 6 (+8)
Wifebeater’s case is declared a Feats: Benefit (Judge), Dodge Focus 3
mistrial. The two robots leave together, Complications: Deeply depressed
Selina hanging her head sadly. Background: The city is eating him alive—
If the PCs talk to Kim Casteel about he can barely stand it anymore. Judge
this incident afterwards, Code Name Leeth has tried to retire three times. He's
Wifebeater suddenly pops up out of always been turned down, so he staggers
nowhere and advances on them. Then he on. He's a mournful, disheveled looking
gets a phone call. “Really?” he says into his man in middle age, with a thick untidy mop
cell phone. “So it’s off? I am still getting of gray hair that he doesn't bother to comb,
paid, I assure you!” Then he waves stubble on his cheeks, a long, horsy face
goodbye to the PCs and to Ms. Casteel and and sunken, bloodshot eyes. Everything
walks away. about him seems to slump. He moves
What was really going on here? slowly, as though in pain, and never, ever
The Scarpia Borgatta found out that Master- smiles.
Bot was back in town before anyone else Weary, exhausted and depressed,
knew about it. They hastily decided to he hears most cases with his head propped
eliminate both Kim Casteel herself and the in his hands. When he gets really unhappy,
forger who prepared her fake documents. If he puts his face down flat.
it comes out that she was (as they suspect) There are actually some advantages
a robot, and that she was going easy on to drawing Judge Leeth. He's too tired of
mob defendants, it would direct far too life to be intimidated or take a bribe. In fact
much attention to the family. Willy Ying did that's why the city is killing him. A more

96
callous man would be able to take the on defendants. The Mafia loves him
things he has to see in stride. Instead he because he does whatever they tell him to.
complained about it so much to his wife that Judge Krummel still lives in Stark
she killed herself. His kids hold him Hill, in the same row-house where he grew
responsible and want nothing more to do up, and is fond of saying so. He has a
with him. second home in Florida, and spends as
much of his time there as he can.
Judge Barry Krummel
PL: 4 Judge Miriam Burdett
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2 ) PL: 1
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) Str: 6 (-2) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: 8 (-1)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
Toughness Save: 4 (2 without his Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 0
bulletproof vest) Fortitude Save: 4 Toughness Save: -1 Fortitude Save: -1
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 4 Reflexes Save: -1 Willpower Save: 1
Skills: Bluff 4 (+6), Diplomacy 2 (+4), Skills: Diplomacy 1 (+2), Knowledge
Intimidate 6 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 1 (Civics) 5 (+7), Profession (lawyer) 5 (+7),
(+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Notice Profession (Judge) 3 (+5)
3 (+5), Perform (Oratory) 5 (+7), Profession Feats: Benefit (Judge), Wealth
(lawyer) 3 (+4), Profession (judge) 3 (+4), Complications: Sometimes acts weird and
Sense Motive 2 (+4) unpredictable
Feats: Benefit (judge), Connected, Contacts Background: The oldest jurist in the state,
Equipment: Bulletproof Vest (4 Protection) Judge Burdett hasn't been quite right for
Complications: Mean old bigot years. Her husband and son look after her
Background: They call him "Barry the at their huge house in Stone Ridge. Mr.
Hammer." He's a tough old guy from Stark Burdett has no useful source of income,
Hill who looks like he played football in while their son is a Star Trek watching
college and seems to comb his hair with slacker, so it's imperative that they keep her
buttered toast. His face is battered, lined on the bench.
and constantly red with fury, but you can The city needs her too, since they
see he was once handsome. don't have nearly enough judges and the
A famously outspoken jurist, he court calendar is already packed far over
claims to be "tough on crime", by which he capacity. Everyone tries to cover for her
means tough on people from Wolverton. lapses and odd behavior on the bench. The
Barry the Hammer is famous for his no- clerks of the court do their best to keep
holds barred approach to cleaning up the really important, high-profile cases away
streets. So long as the perpetrators aren't from her, but sometimes they get
white or rich or cops or connected to the overloaded and there's no one else.
Bedlam Mafia, he gives them the maximum She can run a courtroom
penalty the law allows. He's also known for competently enough. But her short-term
making outrageously racist remarks to the memory sometimes fails her and at times
press, and for his close personal friendship she will blurt out non-sequiturs or do
with Municipal Councilman "Big Andy" something unaccountably strange. She's
Czernik. He doesn't know the law very well, particularly prone to random outbursts of
and will often dismiss precedents cited by swearing.
the defense with the words "I ain't heard of Judge Burdett is a tiny, hunched
that ruling, and even if I did I wouldn't go woman with thinning white hair and a
by it." seemingly endless collection of huge,
Prosecutors love him, because he outrageous hats.
takes their side. The press loves him
because he's a loudmouth and sometimes
inflicts weird and humiliating punishments

97
Judge Alton Pfeffner III The Probation Department
PL: 2 Bedlam’s probation officers are responsible
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) for making sure that parolees and people on
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) probation meet the terms of their release,
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2 that they show up for court dates,
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 1 community service and any mandatory
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 0 therapy (drug rehab, for example, or anger
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Diplomacy 4 (+6), management counseling.) Probation officers
Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+4), Knowledge answer directly to the DA’s office, rather
(Current Events) 4 (+5), Profession (lawyer) than to the Bedlam Police.
4 (+5), Profession (judge) 3 (+4), Sense Badly understaffed, they don’t have
Motive 2 (+2) enough time to give most of their cases
Feats: Benefit (Judge), Wealth 2 anything more than cursory attention.
Complications: Barely paying attention to Unless of course your probation officer
what’s happening in his courtroom decides that they don’t like you, or gets
Background: He never wanted to be a pressure from above to come down hard on
judge, but he didn't know what else to do you, or decides to shake you down for
with his time, apart from whiling it away in a bribes. In fact shakedowns are rare, since
deck chair on a yacht. He hates the law, the job is so notoriously thankless that most
hates everything to do with it. All of his really crooked officers seek other, easier
brothers and cousins became partners at work. Instead this tends to be the realm of
major firms in New York, or sat on the unambitious timewasters, failures and
federal bench judging the legality of drunks, as well as the occasional crusader
corporate mergers, never having to dirty out to do some good.
themselves by hearing sordid criminal cases. As official officers of the court,
But here he is, past fifty and still stuck in a probation officers can make arrests. Some,
dead-end job as a Bedlam city judge. He but not all of them choose to carry
prefers to hear civil cases, but even these handcuffs and sidearms.
are boring and ugly and he pays little
attention. Tall, thin, handsome and tanned, The Office of the Public Defender
with elegant white hair and a fatherly smile, A small, underfunded and frequently
he always looks as though he has just come misunderstood section of the criminal justice
in off the tennis court and he usually has. system, the Public Defender’s office is
He's notoriously inattentive, frequently supposed to ensure that every defendant in
getting details wrong or mishearing things the court system gets competent
people say. His command of the law is representation, whether they can afford a
weak, but he will listen and nod wisely while lawyer or not. If you opt to have “an
lawyers present him with complicated attorney appointed by the court” they will
arguments, his mind a thousand miles away. send you one of the overworked drudges
He drinks too much and likes from the Public Defender’s office.
cocaine, although he isn't an addict. He's The head of the office is the “Public
nowhere near so wild as he was back at Defender” herself, Tawanda Johnson. The
Yale—he's pretty sure he did something Public Defender is a largely ceremonial
unforgivable at one of those frat parties, post—they don’t actually work cases. That
something that could haunt him. He can't falls to the dozen or so Assistant Public
quite remember what it was. Defenders. This is actually a good thing.
Judge Pfeffner lives in Stone Ridge PD Johnson is a political appointee, and
with his wife Lillian. They have two while she has strong roots as a community
daughters. Alberta is presently raising hell activist in Wolverton, and great connections
at a private high school in Pennsylvania and with the Reverend Willy Boggs’ political
Ida is already on the rampage at Yale, the machine, she isn’t a terribly competent
little Dickens. attorney. In fact there are conflicting
reports as to whether or not she has ever

98
actually passed the bar exam (the fact that fired—and then went on to find the real
she has legally changed her name to killer himself! This will not do. Poor Fido
“Attorney Tawanda Johnson” encourages may have a fatal accident if he keeps doing
this kind of speculation.) stuff like that. But the stress of the job and
“Attorney” Johnson is good-hearted his personal habits may kill him first.
but inarticulate, and sometimes seems to
have difficulty understanding the things NPCs for the Office of the Public
people say to her. She’s an inspiringly Defender
passionate public speaker, even if her Here’s a handful of Public Defenders, in case
remarks sometimes make no sense. It’s an you need them. PDs are a mixed lot. Some
open secret that she’s being treated for are good, some are bad. Some practice this
bipolar disorder. kind of law because they love it, others
Kindhearted though Ms. Johnson is, because they can’t find decent work.
you probably wouldn’t want her to represent
you in court. Too many of the Assistant PDs Generic Public Defender
aren’t much better. In fact the city has PL: 1
been sued more than once by defendants Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1)
whose court-appointed lawyers showed up Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 10 (+0)
drunk, slept through hearings, or simply Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
failed to appear. There are judges who Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
would dearly like to put some of the least Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
competent PDs in jail for negligence and Willpower Save: 1
contempt of court, but there’s already a Skills: Bluff 3 (+3), Computers 3 (+4),
critical shortage of them. Some are Diplomacy 3 (+3), Gather Information 3
ambitious young law school graduates who (+3), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+5), Notice 2
want to make a difference in the (+3), Profession (public defender) 4 (+5),
community, some are burnt-out, drunken Sense Motive 4 (+5)
failures who can’t find other work and a few Background: This is a typical specimen of
are competent attorneys who lack the the breed—neither one of the good ones or
charisma to make good trial lawyers. And one of the bad ones. They are probably
then there’s Fido. pretty young and this is likely to be one of
Larry “Fido” Turwood is a great fat their first jobs after passing the bar.
ruin of a man with a scruffy beard and an
irritating, nasal voice. He smokes constantly Larry “Fido” Turwood
and drinks too much in his off-hours. His PL: 5
clothes are rumpled and frayed, his Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: 10 (+0)
expression is meek. And he’s an incredible, Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 16 (+3)
amazing trial lawyer. Fiercely committed to Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
protecting innocent people, he’s quite Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
annoying and easy to underestimate. He’s Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
also a cunning, fearless, ruthless debater. Willpower Save: 7
He has an uncanny ability to provoke people
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Computers 3 (+4),
who have something to hide into exploding
Diplomacy 9 (+12), Gather Information 6
at him and revealing too much. His record
(+9), Intimidate 4 (+7), Investigate 5 (+8),
is far from perfect and he has seen too
Knowledge (Civics) 6 (+9), Knowledge
many innocent people get shafted by the
(Current Events) 4 (+7), Knowledge
system, but he wins a surprising number of
(History) 3 (+6), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3
cases.
(+6), Notice 2 (+6), Perform (Oratory) 9
Unfortunately, this is raising his
(+12), Perform (Singing) 3 (+6), Profession
profile and making the Bedlam Police Force
(public defender) 8 (+11), Sense Motive 8
take notice. Last year he got an unjustly
(+12)
accused kid off of a high-profile murder rap,
Feats: Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy,
then got the detective who framed the kid
Knowledge [Civics], Profession [Public

99
Defender]), Second Chance (failed Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
Diplomacy rolls), Taunt, Well-Informed Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
Complications: Fiercely dedicated to Willpower Save: 0
battling injustice, smokes and drinks too Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Computers 3 (+4),
much Diplomacy 3 (+5), Gather Information 3
Background: He looks like a mess. Fido (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+5), Notice 1
Turwood weighs close to three hundred (+1), Profession (public defender) 4 (+5),
pounds, has deep lines in his faces and a Sense Motive 4 (+4)
graying beard. He smokes and he smells Feats: Attractive, Contacts
like it. His dress shirts are rumpled and his Background: Just a few years out of law
tie has coffee stains. His eyes are deeply school, Mitzi took her current job because it
sunken on either side of his shapeless nose was the only thing available that would give
and never look as though he’s slept well. her actual courtroom experience. She has
He’s also cursed with a braying, nasal voice. already started to tire of it.
But a sharp mind and a fearless soul Thoughtless and shallow, she
lurk behind his shabby exterior. He’s doesn’t have much sympathy for her clients.
completely dedicated to the cause of justice Early on she represented a couple of
and he fights with every ounce of his defendants who were guilty of some awful
considerable strength for it. Yet he’s also a crimes, so now she assumes out of hand
humble, unassuming guy who never boasts that all her clients are guilty and deserve
about his accomplishments. While there are whatever punishment the court throws at
a number of people in the justice system he them. Anyway the details of her cases are
deeply hates (Assistant DA Ronnie Hagstrom often icky and gross so she tries not to pay
and Detective Parnell Slope are particularly very careful attention. She’s a also afraid of
high on his list) he doesn’t make pompous non-whites, although she wouldn’t ever
speeches at them or throw tirades when admit this to herself, and always speaks to
they run into each other—he limits himself her black and Hispanic clients in a slow,
to a few dry witticisms. condescending tone of voice.
You wouldn’t know it from his “Fido” Turwood gently pokes fun at
cheerful demeanor and his deadpan wit, but her for her lack of empathy, and she
he finds this life incredibly stressful. He despises him for it. She also thinks he’s
smokes three packs of cigarettes a day and physically attracted to her (he is) and this
drinks more than ten cups of coffee. In his makes her loathe him all the more.
off hours he sucks down bourbon and She’s a moderately pretty blonde,
brushes up on casework. Divorced, he’s with short hair and a square, plain face.
pretty lonely and hopelessly lusts after every Her hairdo and pantsuits are always up to
cute girl in the office. date. Her favorite retort is “what-ever.”
It might surprise people to know Mitzi is already looking for a job as a
that he sings with a chorus, and that he has paralegal, or a document reviewer.
a superb tenor voice, nothing like the reedy Anything that will take her out of the
whine he speaks with. But he doesn’t get Bedlam Public Defender’s office and away
enough opportunities to sing, his job from that creepy Fido guy.
consumes him so completely.
His cigarettes and his drinking and Corrections
his weight may kill him soon, but it’s Once the police and the courts have
possible that if he keeps winning cases (hopefully) done their work, the corrections
something else will kill him first. system takes over. There are three types of
correctional institutions. Jails hold people
Mitzi Fickerling who are awaiting trial or who are serving
PL: 1 sentences for minor, municipal violations
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) (unpaid traffic tickets, for example.) Prisons
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) hold inmates who have been convicted of
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 state or federal offenses. Then there is the

100
strange, vague world of institutions that cellmates when they haven’t done anything
house prisoners with no legal rights—mental and everyone in that cell will treat you
institutions and juvenile detention facilities, differently.
for example. Because of all the rumors of abuse
We’ll cover all three in order, at the City Jail, it is now official jail policy
starting with Bedlam’s City Jail. that any time guards enter an inmate’s cell
they must carry a camcorder and tape the
Bedlam City Jail entire encounter, to make sure no one does
A bulky old brick building that resembles a anything that could get the city sued. So
19th century factory, Bedlam’s jail is whenever they want to give an inmate a
showing its age. Its wiring is ancient and beating, the guards note in the log that the
faulty, its walls are crumbling, its security camera isn’t working today.
systems are hopelessly outdated. The There are security cameras all over
guards don’t carry guns, because the jail the jail, but they seldom have a guard to
can’t afford them. Instead they rely on their spare for monitor duty, so all kinds of bad
truncheons and their physical strength. stuff happens right in front of the cameras
They carry huge old walkie-talkies covered and never gets reported or even noticed.
with duct tape that often don’t work. The guards rarely even bother to turn the
This is where people who have security cameras off before they clobber
broken municipal statutes get sent to serve someone.
their time. If you get convicted of driving There is no computer database for
drunk or too many traffic tickets or a keeping track of prisoners at the City Jail.
domestic assault, you will probably serve Instead records are filed on numbered slips
your time at the City Jail. It’s also where of paper in a huge bank of wooden drawers
suspects wait for their trials. There is that resembles a card catalogue. This slows
currently a backlog of untried cases at the down their administrative procedures
courthouse. Therefore, Bedlam’s considerably. Some detainees have missed
overcrowded City Jail sometimes has to hold their trial dates or release dates because the
suspects for more than two years before jail couldn’t find them in time.
their day in court. The authorities are trying Perhaps as many as half the guards
to solve the problem by putting lots of at the jail are willing to take bribes. A few
suspects under house arrest, but there is shake down prisoners or their families for
presently a shortage of body beepers (and a protection money. Not many of them have
lot of the ones they have don’t work very good connections, so the dope they
properly) so too many young men continue can supply you with is pretty inferior, as are
to languish in the city jail for years at a the cigarettes and booze. It’s hard for an
time, without ever having been convicted of inmate here to get much special treatment
anything. no matter how much they pay for it, since
A typical cell at the jail holds six there are so few amenities to go around.
inmates, has Toughness 12 walls and a door Most mob guys can’t wait until they get out
made of Toughness 10 bars. Some of the of the Bedlam jail and into state prison,
doors (about one in twenty) are prone to where life can be a lot better for a Mafiosi
jamming open or shut. with favors and money to spend.
This is meant to be a 3,000 bed Officially, the guards in the Bedlam
facility, but it currently houses about 5,000 Jail work for the County Sheriff’s
inmates and pretrial detainees. The ratio of department, rather than the city. But the
guards to prisoners is about 1/15. That’s Sheriff’s Department knows how crooked
downright dismal, and it’s no surprise that they are and keeps them on a totally
it’s hard for them to keep order. Many separate career track from the other
guards resort to making inmates fear them deputies, to prevent the corruption from
as a way of exerting control. The best way spreading.
to do this is to beat someone for no reason. There is no superhuman
Clobber them senseless in front of their containment unit in the Bedlam City Jail.

101
This is not where the Special Assault Squad associates get all kinds of special privileges.
takes captured superhumans to await trial. These privileges unofficially include being
Where do they take them? No one seems allowed to kill people.
to know.
Juvenile Hall
Bald Knob Penitentiary Not quite every kid’s worst nightmare (that
Down Route 5, past the Bedlam Airport (off would be Rainbow Acres Therapy Center),
he left edge of the map on Page 10) are two it's close enough. This is where young
exits marked simply “Authorized Traffic offenders go if they aren't tried as adults.
Only: Shoot-to-Kill Rule Enforced.” These No matter what your crime, the state has to
exits lead to the former state prison at Bald release you on your eighteenth birthday.
Knob (the big, bare, stony hill the prison Sometimes, through incompetence or
stands on.) malice, a kid's paperwork get lost or delayed
These days the facility is privately and they wind up staying much longer. The
run by a big firm called Incarceration oldest resident is twenty-three.
International. They also run prisons in Every parent with a kid in Juvenile
Kazakhstan. Hall complains that the facility is too far out
Bald Knob is a medium-security of town. Located west of Bedlam on Route
facility, but it has a maximum security wing, 2, it's hard to visit if you don't have a car.
a supermax facility in the basement and a Juvenile Hall looks like a run-down
special ultramax unit designed specifically to elementary school, except for the concertina
hold supervillains. Sometimes parahuman wire around the playground. Few of the
prisoners have been mysteriously buildings are taller than one story. They
transferred out of the ultramax wing and have dormitory-style facilities for 1,500 boys
into federal custody. No one seems to know and 600 girls. These are not separate cells,
exactly where they go. There are rumors but big open barracks with rows upon rows
that the feds may run a secret facility of triple-decker bunk beds. Sometimes
further upstate. terrible things happen here after lights-out.
Bald Knob is what they call a rough Or during the middle of the day, for that
joint. Incarceration International has been matter.
maximizing its profits by cutting services. Seven out of ten kids in Juvie are
Their medical facilities are completely black. You might think that would mean
inadequate, their law library is dangerously that Eentsy Z's coalition would rule the
out of date, the food is bad and roost, but in fact a lot of their mortal
overcrowding is getting steadily worse. enemies, the A’s, are confined here too.
Then there are the guards. A lot of them That divides the black population enough
are locals from the nearby town of Bald that the Mara have a significant amount of
Knob, but the ones assigned to the highest power too and no one gang really rules
security wings are from Kazakhstan and live Juvie. The guards are about evenly divided.
in staff dormitories on site. Brutality is Some owe their loyalties to the A's, some to
common and corruption is rife among the the Mara and some to the "Last of the Last"
staff. Particularly the Kazaks, who also (as Eentsy Z's boys are sometimes called.)
don’t seem to speak English. There is an organized black market
As a result of all these factors, among the guards as well. Too many of
prisoners have come close to rioting on them took this job because they like to
several occasions. The Administration has inflict beatings and...other things on young
coped with this by making deals with the boys. Small pretty boys are currency among
prison gang-leaders. The Mara are strong a certain segment of the staff. They're
here, but the two prison warlords the careful not to mess with anyone affiliated
administration deals with most are former with the major gangs, however. Or to
Bedlam racketeer Lincoln Stone and Scarpia interfere with them as they go about their
family underboss “Joey Sideburns” Medrano. business. You might think that wouldn’t
So now both the Mob and Lincoln Stone’s leave them with a lot of boys to choose

102
from, but in fact there is always a never- with three tiers of balconies above it. The
ending supply of frightened kids with no dorm rooms open directly off of the
gang affiliations who got sent here for balconies. They’ve all been converted to
shoplifting or curfew violation or because padded cells now. The wings of the main
their parents wanted to teach them a building are slowly falling apart. No one is
lesson. A boy will indeed learn many officially allowed down there. The ceilings
lessons here. keep caving in and spilling boxes of old
The current Chief Facilitator records everywhere.
(warden) at Juvenile Hall is Gary Spicer. A In 1920, Dr. Harwood Crawley
huge, fat, choleric man, he will proudly tell founded a private psychiatric hospital on the
you that he used to be a gang kid himself grounds of the Bedlam Girl’s Academy.
(he ran with the Stark Hill Viscounts), before Within five years he became the first
a career in corrections turned his life director of the asylum to take his own life.
around. That’s true. In fact he did time in Three others have since done the same.
this very same Juvenile Hall, where he These days the State Hospital is run
picked up his lifelong taste for what he still by a public-private partnership.
calls “lights-out delights.” The man takes a Unfortunately, the Bedlam City Government
lot of satisfaction in his job. For him, is one of the partners and they manage to
Juvenile Hall is a veritable palace of siphon off a lot of the hospital’s resources.
pleasure. As a result the facility suffers from chronic
underfunding and its grounds are a mess.
The Crawley Asylum They have a lot of administrative problems,
Officially named the Harwood Crawley State too—not the least of which is that no one
Hospital for the Criminally Insane, everyone wants to work here for very long. Even if
in Bedlam just calls it the Crawley Asylum. you don’t count the dismal working
It has been in operation since 1921. Many a conditions and dangerously dilapidated
madman’s tears have watered its cold brick infrastructure, something about this place
walls. Many prayers have echoed oppresses people. Or makes them
unanswered down its bleak corridors. dangerously obsessed with it. A surprising
Based on a fifty acre lot in the forest number of the staff have themselves
west of Bedlam (down Greely Road), the developed mental illnesses while working
Hospital is comprised of a dozen or so brick here.
buildings that have all seen better days. The patients are an unusual group.
Perhaps as many as six of them have No one is much interested in serial killers
become structurally unsound and either lie anymore. The psychiatric community feels
vacant or are stuffed with old broken it has learned about all it can from these
furniture and boxes of medical records, monsters and no longer bothers to study
slowing soaking up the rain from the leaking them very much. For the most part they get
roof. sent straight to death row for execution,
This used to be a girl’s school, but rather than to a mental hospital, even if
then it abruptly closed, back in 1919 (see they are obviously insane. They can’t be
the Bedlam Timeline, on Page 25.) It was rehabilitated, so why bother keeping them
organized around sororities with an alive? But in Bedlam a lot of psycho-killers
“international” theme. There is a faux got sentenced to indefinite psychiatric care
Greek temple where the girls of “Greek before the current fad of executing them
House” once lived, a sad little windmill with took hold. Many of them are still around.
its vanes missing, a green pagoda (perhaps Wilfred Skutch, the infamous Stark
the only pagoda you’ve ever seen with a Hill Strangler, is here. So is Harlan Wayne
screen door) and other ersatz international Fuchs, the “Cannibal Killer.” So is “Johnny
buildings. Smooth” Mulligan, who used to kill
The central structure was once the prostitutes by injecting them with bleach.
school’s administrative center and senior So is Capricorn, Bedlam’s most notorious
dormitory. It has a huge atrium/ballroom and mysterious serial killer, whose real

103
name remains unknown. The hospital is Among the patients in the
also home to Doctor Melvin “The Mad Alzheimer’s ward is Sammy “Snap-Brim”
Dentist” Flickinger, who never actually killed Hammer (see Pages 25 and 26.) Once the
any of his patients, but did some scourge of the underworld, now he seldom
unbelievably disgusting things to their even knows his own name. His family has
mouths. There are other maniacs in long since forgotten him.
residence, less famous but equally horrible. The current head of the Crawley
And there are worse monsters here. Asylum is Ramona Blackmore, an unusually
If an insane superhuman gets committed, young psychiatrist to be given the job. At
this is where they get sent, by default. Over sixteen, Dr. Blackmore was the youngest
the years the hospital has developed a pre-med graduate in the history of Stanford.
cocktail of medications that will, if She had her MD by the age of 19, although
administered regularly, suppress psychic no one was willing to let her practice. She
abilities, and will also hold in check many had a PhD at 25 and she’s only thirty-two
powers based on other, stranger now.
phenomena (magic, the ability to She has been trying to reorganize
manipulate cosmic forces, and so forth.) the hospital, without much success. People
There are radical side effects to the close to her say that she may be starting to
“Crawley Cocktail”, which vary from patient get seriously depressed, and that she has
to patient, but tend to include uncontrollable been spending too much time in therapy
shaking and dry mouth. sessions with some of the more delusional
Seymour “Sparky” Sanders, the patients. She has said something about a
pyromaniac supervillain known as Doctor common theme to their madness.
Scorch, has responded so well to the Something to do with the occult.
treatment, and has been such a helpful and That shouldn’t surprise mystically
cooperative patient in general, that he has inclined PCs. Any Player Characters who
been granted exercise and library privileges. can sense unnatural forces will know that
Few other supervillains have been as the grounds of the Crawley Asylum are
successful. Many haven’t left their cells in awash in nightmarish otherworldly forces.
years. Something very big and very bad happened
Sometimes there is no way to really here about a hundred years ago, and the
incapacitate a supercriminal’s powers. In a whole place is haunted by fiendish
case like that, they keep them doped up on presences from beyond. Some are ghosts,
so much heavy sedation that they lie in bed some are worse things, drawn from the far
all day like vegetables. Officially, all of the side by the loathly aura that the hospital
really dangerous prisoners are kept in the emanates. Every once in a while these
padded cells in the main atrium, but in fact sinister entities teach one or another inmate
the hospital is too overcrowded and too how to conjure up horrors.
disorganized for that to really be true. Mystical heroes and occult
While the Crawley Asylum is investigators have found themselves walking
supposed to be for violent cases, there the halls of the Crawley asylum more than
aren’t enough beds in the psych wards at once in the past fifty years to stanch some
any of the Bedlam’s three hospitals. So new wound in the side of reality. Previous
there are always a few patients in Crawley chief administrators have had arrangements
who have suffered garden-variety nervous with one or another paranormal hero, but
breakdowns or senile dementia. The staff Ramona Blackmore doesn’t yet.
house non-violent patients in the
outbuildings and try to keep the maniacs
away from them.

104
Doctor Ramona Blackmore, PhD Feats: Attractive, Fascinate (Linked to
Diplomacy), Skill Mastery (Diplomacy,
Knowledge [Behavioral Science], Profession
[Psychologist], Sense Motive), Well-
Informed
Complications: Workaholic. Prone to
depression. Growing ever more obsessed
with learning the secrets of the Crawley
Asylum
Background: Dr. Blackmore has always
pushed herself hard. A child prodigy, she
spent her whole life years ahead of
everyone around her, always keeping busy,
always moving forward. She had boyfriends
in college, but never got close enough for
any of them to be more than “friends with
privileges.” She didn’t have time for
anything else. While she has a superb
command of psychological and psychiatric
theory, people are largely something she
appreciates in the abstract, like a
complicated Sudoku puzzle.
Yet she isn’t exactly cold or ruthless.
She seems poised, distant and detached,
but she genuinely wants to help her
patients, and she’s gotten ahead by working
really hard, not screwing people over. She
wants to help her patients because it’s her
job and because it’s a challenge and
because it’s the ethical thing to do—not
because she feels some kind of emotional
connection to them (or anyone.)
Dr. Blackmore isn’t doing very well
right now. It’s not so much that she feels
PL: 6 depressed by the hellish conditions at the
Crawley Asylum. In fact she regards fixing
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
the Asylum’s problems as an interesting
Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 17 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
problem to solve. But she’s totally unused
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2
to having so much spare time on her hands.
Defense: 6 (2 if caught Flatfooted)
She’s taken to wandering around the halls
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 2
aimlessly, talking to patients who’ve been
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6
regarded as incurable for decades, and in
Skills: Bluff 3 (+6), Concentration 5 (+8), her perambulations she thinks she may have
Diplomacy 6 (+9), Gather Information 4 stumbled across something. A deep, dark
(+7), Intimidate 3 (+6), Investigate 2 (+5), mystery surrounds the asylum, she has
Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 1 (+5), grown convinced of it. There is a pattern to
Knowledge (Behavioral Science) 11 (+15), the terrible events that have haunted this
Knowledge (Civics) 2 (+6), Knowledge (Life place—a reason for the miasma of dread
Sciences) 4 (+8), Knowledge (Philosophy that hangs over its walls. She has been
and Theology) 6 (+10), Languages 4 interviewing its most disturbed and
(French, German, Greek and Latin), Notice dangerous residents, compiling accounts of
10 (+13), Profession (hospital administrator) their delusions, and she thinks she is on the
4 (+8), Profession (psychologist) 10 (+14), verge of seeing the truth take shape.
Sense Motive 9 (+12), Stealth 3 (+5)

105
 This obsession has begun to eat her Rainbow Acres is one of the last of
up from the inside, and some part of her these hospitals in operation. This is the
can see that and watches in helpless place kids fear worse than Juvenile Hall.
detachment. Where precisely this will lead Every teenager in Stone Ridge knows
her is up to the GM. It could take her down someone who knows someone who got sent
the path of heroism or villainy or madness to Rainbow Acres for mouthing off to their
or suicide. She could become a paranormal parents one too many times. They’re never
investigator or a sorceress or the mindless quite the same when they come back.
pawn of some monstrous thing from beyond As minors and mental patients, the
the void. Or she could just go insane. kids at Rainbow Acres have no constitutional
Dr. Blackmore has been neglecting rights at all. The faculty can literally do
her regular duties and falling behind on her anything they want to them in the name of
work, for the very first time in her life. That therapy. It’s all just a question of whether
can’t be a good sign. or not the parents will make a fuss and the
insurance will pay for it.
Rainbow Acres Therapy Center Therapy centers like these have
Back in the 1980s, medical service providers always attracted a particular type of
figured out a wonderful new way to make employee. The kind of doctor who is
money. It costs a lot less to treat kids who blessed with a certain ethical flexibility, and
don’t really have any mental illnesses. And enjoys working with kids in a no-holds-
a minor’s parents can have them committed barred, hands-on therapeutic environment.
to psychiatric care for any reason or none. With so few of these centers left around the
So a whole range of new “treatment country, therapists, nurses and orderlies
centers” sprung up around the country, who prefer this kind of work have flocked to
specializing in care for “behavior disordered” Rainbow Acres.
teens. If your teenager gives you too much The business offices are located in
lip, or you just want them out of the way for one of the skyscrapers downtown. This is
a while, you can pack them off to a where parents drop off and pick up their
psychiatric care facility and let your kids. The location of the actual treatment
insurance plan baby-sit them for as long as facility is not made public. There have been
you like. too many escape attempts and rescue
Because most of the facilities that attempts for them to want anyone to know
specialized in this kind of “care” were run by precisely where the campus is. But every
fairly unprincipled people (no one with any teenager in Bedlam knows that it’s in the
professional ethics would participate in such woods on Bramwell Road, east of town. Or
a scheme), the living conditions they offered maybe in one of the buildings on Industrial
for kids were pretty poor. And they were Drive. Or it’s part of the “Liberty Shoppes”
prone to giving teenagers brutal forms of mall.
“therapy” as punishments. Medication with Kids who have spent time in the
horrible side-effects, hydrotherapy, even facility say that the staff transport you there
shock treatment in some cases. It’s a lucky in mini-vans that you can’t see out of. The
thing that pre-frontal lobotomies were no treatment center has no windows and it all
longer commonplace by the 1980s, or they appears to be located in a single large
would have surely have used that technique building. The only place you ever glimpse
as well. the sky is a small exercise courtyard
Unfortunately, the authors of this surrounded by plastic plants. Everything
new trend in therapy hadn’t counted on one inside the center is painted in warm, Crayola
important factor. Kids grow up. And when primary colors. Or it was back in the 1980s,
they grow up, they can sue you. In the before it started getting smeared with
early ‘90s a blistering wave of lawsuits and vomit, excrement, etc.
scandals spooked the investors and the The current head of the psychiatric
whole “Behavior Disorder Clinic” movement faculty at Rainbow Acres is Doctor Byron
collapsed. Everywhere but Bedlam. Shreve. He answers to a chief administrator

106
and a board, but Dr. Shreve is effectively in Motive 6 (+9), Stealth 3 (+5)
charge of all on-the-ground operations at Feats: Assessment, Connected, Contacts,
Rainbow Acres (although he often defers to Distract (linked to Diplomacy), Startle
his Head Nurse, Norman “Butch” Dinkle, on Background: Doctor Shreve would never
matters of security—Dinkle scares him half do anything inappropriate to a patient. He
to death.) Dr. Shreve is forbidden from has driven two of them to suicide, and has
working with children in the state of permanently damaged the minds of many
Oklahoma, but Bedlam’s state doesn’t have others, but he has never broken the rules.
a reciprocity arrangement with Oklahoma, He has never struck a patient, never
so he can practice freely here. He doesn’t touched one inappropriately—never come
molest his patients—at least in the into physical contact with one at all, in fact.
conventional sense. He does however enjoy Any violence he cares to inflict on them is
breaking them just a little too much. done by nurses and it’s all done for the good
Parents come visit their kids at the of their health.
downtown office. One of the minivans While he does get a kick out of
drives the patients there to meet them. The torturing uppity kids with hydrotherapy,
ride is sometimes short and sometimes long. shock treatment and medications that have
There’s no predicting it. brutal side-effects, he much prefers to hurt
Why did Rainbow Acres manage to them without anyone ever laying a finger on
stay in business when so many other them. It’s more of a challenge. Most of all
behavioral therapy centers failed? It’s a he loves to psychologically abuse them in
simple question of economics. Most of them therapy, winning their trust and then cutting
collapsed because lawsuits made them a them down, getting into their secret
poor investment risk, but in Bedlam thoughts and offering his merciless
investors could count on being able to pay commentary. Of course this is much more
off the judges. All they had to do was to effective when they know he holds their fate
bring Municipal Councilman “Big Andy” in his hands. It also makes them desperate
Czernik in on the scheme. He’s always felt to get on his good side, despite the fact that
that kids need to learn more respect, he doesn’t have one.
anyway. This wouldn’t be an effective
strategy with really disturbed people—they’d
NPCs for Rainbow Acres lose control of themselves and attack him.
Just in case the PCs ever try to break But with a captive population of sane,
anyone out of Rainbow Acres, here are vulnerable teenagers, he’s able to do quite a
some stats for Doctor Byron Shreve, Butch bit of damage. He knows that there are
Dinkle and a generic orderly/nurse/guard. other members of the staff who aren’t as
careful about the rules, and tries not to
Doctor Byron Shreve know anything about their activities, so that
PL: 4 none of it can ever be connected to him.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) Dr. Shreve is divorced—his wife was
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3) also a therapist, but she was actually cruel
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2 enough that it frightened him, so he feigned
Defense: 4 (0 if caught Flatfooted) an affair and got her to cut him loose. He
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0 won custody of his daughter, who is now in
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 4 high school.
Skills: Bluff 3 (+6), Concentration 5 (+8), A devoted, kind father, he gets his
Diplomacy 6 (+9), Intimidate 4 (+7), aggressions out at work and doesn’t bring
Knowledge (Behavioral Science) 3 (+5), them home with him. Despite his doting
Knowledge (Civics) 2 (+4), Knowledge (Life attentions, his daughter has tried to commit
Sciences) 3 (+5), Knowledge (Philosophy suicide three times. Her mother had a
and Theology) 3 (+5), Notice 8 (+11), harder time leaving work at the office and
Profession (hospital administrator) 4 (+6), she messed the kid up good and proper.
Profession (psychologist) 5 (+7), Sense

107
Norman “Butch” Dinkle Generic Nurse/Orderly
PL: 6 PL: 4
Str: 17 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3) Str: 15 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6 Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
Toughness Save: 3 Toughness Save: 1
Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 3
Willpower Save: 6 Willpower Save: 4
Skills: Bluff 4 (+5), Climb 4 (+7), Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Climb 4 (+6),
Intimidate 8 (+9), Medicine 4 (+6), Notice 6 Intimidate 5 (+6), Medicine 4 (+4), Notice 6
(+8), Profession (nurse) 4 (+5), Stealth 5 (+6), Profession (nurse) 4 (+5)
(+6) Feats: Chokehold, Improved Disarm,
Feats: Chokehold, Diehard, Improved Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Taunt
Improved Pin, Improved Sunder, Improved Equipment: Short Club (Melee Weapon, 2
Trip, Weapon Bind Damage), Taser (Effect: 6 Stun)
Equipment: Short Club (Melee Weapon, 2 Complications: Hates kids. Loves order.
Damage), Taser (Effect: 6 Stun) Doesn’t collect stamps.
Complications: Hates kids. Loves order. Background: A typical nurse at Rainbow
Collects stamps. Acres is a short-tempered guy from
Background: A big fat male nurse with Wolverton who couldn’t get a job at the City
huge muscles, acne and thick aviator Jail and has no patience at all for kids. But
glasses, Butch Dinkle rarely makes any facial there are others who have made their whole
expression at all. He doesn’t talk much, careers out of working in facilities like
either, except to quietly tell people to do Rainbow Acres and greatly enjoy the
things. Sometimes he speaks too softly for opportunity to interact with kids in an
you to understand, which is good. He really environment free of consequences. Some
prefers it when kids don’t do what he says, have moved hundreds of miles across the
because then he gets to hit them. He country to Bedlam, in order to find work in
particularly likes to grapple kids and twist one of the very last such institutions in the
their limbs into painful positions. Especially US. Doctor Shreve knows this, so he tries
if they’re pretty girls. hard to to find out anything that could
Butch has more than a trace of implicate him.
obsessive-compulsive disorder and he
doesn’t like having his routines disrupted,
even though it allows him to hit people. He
collects stamps, and can often be seen at
his station, going over a new stamp or two
with a magnifying loop. Yet despite his
social maladroitness and his nerdy hobby,
he’s a beer-drinking member of the
Coronets’ street gang from Stark Hill. He
hasn’t spent much time hanging out with
them for a while, but he lets any member of
the Coronets who gets sent to Rainbow
Acres treat the other kids pretty much
however they please.
He’s not very clean for a guy with
OCD, and his glasses are always smeary
with thumbprints and speckled with
dandruff.

108
The Bedlam Fire Department has just seven Bedlam Fireman
working ambulances, with equipment that
hasn’t been updated in years. This puts a
lot of pressure on the paramedics who work
for Bedlam’s three hospitals, each of which
maintains its own small ambulance fleet.
There have been arguments between
dispatchers over which ambulance should
pick up a given patient. People have died
while waiting for the dispatchers sort out
their disputes.
Below, we have some information
on the Bedlam Fire Department, followed by
hospitals and then Animal Rescue.

Bedlam’s Fire Department doesn’t have

enough manpower or ambulances and the
number of non-working fire hydrants in the
city may be as high as one in four. On
paper they have eight fire stations
(supplemented by a few volunteer
companies) but in fact two of them have
“temporarily” closed for lack of funds, and
one has burned down. For some reason the
City Fire Department is often unwelcome in
Stark Hill, where the locals prefer to rely on
their own two volunteer companies. This
may be because they have started hiring
non-whites. Yet the department also gets PL: 2
accused of taking longer to respond to calls Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
from Wolverton and Hardwick Park than the Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
rest of the city. Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2
People had high hopes that the new Toughness Save: 2 (+3 vs. heat-based
Fire Chief, Lucy Szmuda, would be able to attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
change things, but instead she’s had to Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
spend all her energy fighting to keep her Willpower Save: 2
job, and may be about to give up soon. Skills: Climb 4 (+6), Drive 2 (+3),
She’s really tough, but everyone has a limit. Investigate 1 (+1), Medicine 4 (+6), Notice
Below we have some sample 4 (+6), Profession (firefighter) 4 (+4)
firemen and a paramedic, as well as a Feats: Evasion
couple of generic templates. Equipment: Axe (Melee Weapon 2), fire-
retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves (3

109
Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas wrong. On the job, he loves giving civilians
mask (immune to suffocation) the same kind of treatment, yelling at them
Complications: Subject to orders from for minor safety infractions, making up
superiors, pledged to risk life if needed imaginary regulations that he can harangue
Background: While there are a number of them about breaking. The other guys at the
volunteer companies scattered throughout firehouse think this is funny and encourage
the city, actual Bedlam firemen are a it, although they also think Pete’s a fool.
vanishing breed. We have included stats He’s kind of chicken about actual
and background information for a few physical danger. Fighting fires isn’t the part
individual firefighters the PCs might at some he likes. Giving orders is more his thing.
point encounter. Hopefully he’ll make sergeant soon and be
able to spend less of his time risking his
Firefighter Pete Kistler neck and more of his time telling other
PL: 2 people what to do.
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) He’s presently single, to his
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0) amazement. He understood that chicks dig
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2 firefighters—so where are all his chicks? It’s
Toughness Save: 2 (+3 vs. heat-based not fair.
attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2 Firefighter Travis Hickel
Willpower Save: 0 PL: 6
Skills: Climb 4 (+5), Computers 3 (+3), Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
Drive 2 (+3), Investigate 1 (+1), Knowledge Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
(Civics) 2 (+2), Medicine 4 (+4), Notice 4 Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
(+4), Profession (firefighter) 6 (+6) Toughness Save: 3 (+3 vs. heat-based
Feats: Evasion attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
Equipment: Axe (Melee Weapon 2), fire- Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Save: 62
retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves (3 Willpower Save: 2
Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas Skills: Climb 4 (+8), Craft (Chemical) 2
mask (immune to suffocation) (+2), Drive 2 (+3), Medicine 4 (+6), Notice
Complications: Subject to orders from 4 (+6), Profession (firefighter) 5 (+5)
superiors, pledged to risk life if needed. Feats: Evasion
Background: A fat guy with sideburns, Equipment: Huge custom axe (Melee
everyone who sees him assumes that he Weapon 5), fire-retardant coat, boots,
must be heavily into Star Trek. But in fact helmet and gloves (3 Protection vs. heat-
he’s into power. based attacks), gas mask (immune to
He got a bachelor’s degree in Fire suffocation)
Science in college, and was a certified Complications: Subject to orders from
firefighter for years before he could actually superiors, pledged to risk life if needed, has
find a job in the field. He worked in a series an unhealthy fascination with fire and with
of convenience stores in the meantime, breaking stuff
burning up with anger over how unfair it Background: A gigantic, immature,
was. A firefighter should command respect overgrown kid, Travis has never wanted to
and obedience but here he was taking be anything but a fireman his whole life.
people’s crap like a regular slob. Now that Firemen get to chop down doors and smash
he’s a real firefighter, he intends to make windows and order people around and break
the most of the power it gives him, and pay stuff. Plus, there’s nothing quite so great as
everyone back for all the disrespect they fire. He’s been making homemade
gave him as a clerk. explosives since he was ten and fascinated
While Pete has only been on the with fire for as long as he can remember.
team for a few years, he loves to order new He gets very excited at the prospect of
firemen around, bullying them and telling getting to chop down doors, break windows
them that they’re doing everything all or otherwise cause property damage and

110
he’ll do it on any flimsy pretext. He also (usually injections of morphine or other
likes pushing civilians around and giving painkillers) while they’re lying on the gurney
them orders, although he’s not as good at in pain, but it’s not a regular thing with him.
thinking that stuff up as Pete Kistler. He just does it if he’s feeling particularly
A huge man with a big grin, he’s diabolical.
totally fearless around fire and will Funny and charming in a
sometimes linger too long in situations loudmouthed, outrageous kind of way, he
where a saner guy would have left. This likes superheroes and would be glad to be
might make him a hero some day, but it’s the Player Characters’ pal, although it’s
more likely to make him a corpse. questionable whether they’d want him as a
Travis lives with his long-term friend. Burly and thick-necked, he has a
girlfriend Ashley DeMarco in Stark Hill, with goatee, close-cropped hair and a tattoo of a
their three kids. He’s an indulgent dad lightning bolt on his neck. A big ugly scar
when he’s home (which isn’t often) and his runs through his left eyebrow.
kids adore him.
Arson Investigators
Daryl Sweet The most understaffed section of the Fire
PL: 3 Department is, unfortunately, the Arson
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) Investigation Unit. These men and women
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) are tasked with investigating suspicious fires
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 and determining their causes. In many
Toughness Save: 3 (2 if caught other cities, these investigators are called
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes “Fire Marshals”, but in Bedlam they’re
Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 “Arson Investigators.” With a mystery
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Climb 4 (+6), Drive 4 arsonist (“Torchy the Firebug”, see Page
(+6), Intimidate 4 (+6), Knowledge 270) terrorizing the city, they have their
(Popular Culture) 3 (+4), Medicine 4 (+6), hands full.
Notice 4 (+6), Profession (paramedic) 4 Bedlam’s Arson Investigators are
(+5), Search 3 (+5) “sworn” law-enforcement officers with the
Feats: All-Out Attack, Evasion, Improved power to make arrests (although they
Overrun, Improved Trip, Startle, Taunt normally arrest people only for arson or fire-
Equipment: First aid gear, ambulance, safety violations.) They carry guns. Most
switchblade (Melee Weapon, 2 Damage) rose through the ranks of the Fire
Complications: Subject to orders from Department, but a few are police detectives
superiors, crazy, cares about nothing who completed the necessary coursework
Background: Daryl is what they call a live and took the Arson Investigator Exam.
wire. A paramedic, he probably should have While they do have dress uniforms they
been eased into some kind of administrative normally wear plain clothes on the job.
position or fired years ago, but there aren’t We have stats below for both a
enough ambulance drivers and he’s better generic Arson Investigator and for three
than nothing—usually. A twitchy, grinning individual investigators the PCs might
speed freak, he’s prone to picking fights encounter.
with patients and destroying property for no
reason. He carries a little plastic devil’s Generic Arson Investigator
head in his pocket, and hangs it from the PL: 4
rearview mirror of whichever ambulance Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
he’s driving. He says awful, insensitive Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
things in front of patients and loves to tell Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
“hilarious” anecdotes about the unspeakable Toughness Save: 1 (+3 vs. heat-based
stuff he’s seen on the job, relishing the way attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
people squirm. Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
Sometimes he shakes patients down Willpower Save: 2
for money or offers to sell them drugs Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Climb 4 (+5),

111
Diplomacy 3 (+4), Disable Device 3 (+5), Complications: Subject to orders from
Drive 2 (+3), Gather Information 5 (+6), superiors, obsessed with catching Torchy
Intimidate 5 (+6), Investigate 5 (+7), the Firebug
Knowledge (Current Events) 3 (+5), Background: One look at him and you’ll
Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+5), Knowledge know he hates fire. A skinny, stoop-
(Physical Sciences) 3 (+5), Knowledge shouldered man of indeterminate age with a
(Technology) 2 (+4), Medicine 4 (+6), shock of bright red hair, Smedberg’s back
Notice 6 (+8), Profession (arson and arms are covered with ropy burn scars.
investigator) 4 (+5), Sense Motive 4 (+6) His face isn’t as bad, but it’s been marked
Feats: Evasion by the flames, too. One eye is half-buried
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon 4), under knotted pink scar tissue. The worst
fire-retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves scars are actually on his legs, where they
(3 Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas took the skin grafts to rebuild his face and
mask (immune to suffocation.) Seldom back, but no one ever sees them. He wears
wears full protective gear while making long pants even in summer.
investigations. Smedburg is a capable investigator
Complications: Subject to orders from but also a tedious droning nerd who never
superiors seems to think about anything but fire
Description: Despite the high case-load, safety and model trains. He had a wife at
morale tends to be higher here than in the one point, but she left him long ago. He
rest of the Bedlam Fire Department, could probably push for custody of their
although their repeated failure to catch the daughters but he has never bothered. In
city’s most prolific arsonist (see “Torchy the fact he seldom remembers his visitation
Firebug” on Page 270) weighs heavily on days.
some of them. People sometimes wonder if he’s
autistic. Not only is he completely obsessed
Lyle Smedberg with arson and toy trains, he also has no
PL: 4 sense of his own safety and frequently gets
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) way too close to the flames. Off duty he
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 12 (+1) drinks and tinkers with his Lionel train
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 layout.
Toughness Save: 0 (+3 vs. heat-based In recent years he has become
attacks while wearing firefighter gear) fixated on one day catching Torchy the
Fortitude Save: 0 Reflexes Save: 2 Firebug (see Page 270.) His failure to
Willpower Save: 4 apprehend Bedlam’s most prolific arsonist
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Climb 2 (+2), Disable has been undermining his tenuous mental
Device 4 (+6), Drive 2 (+2), Gather stability, making him drink more and
Information 6 (+7), Intimidate 4 (+5), sometimes say odd, disconnected things.
Investigate 8 (+11), Knowledge (Current Smedberg is a friend of Doctor
Events) 3 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 Scorch—one of the few people who gets
(+7), Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+8), along with and understands this peculiar,
Knowledge (Technology) 3 (+6), Medicine 4 dangerous man (you can find out all about
(+7), Notice 6 (+11), Profession (arson Doctor Scorch on Page 296.) Sometimes he
investigator) 6 (+10), Sense Motive 5 (+8) visits him in jail or the psychiatric hospital.
Feats: Evasion Scorch is worried about Smedberg, who as
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon 4), he says “isn’t doing so well.” If a lunatic like
fire-retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves Doctor Scorch thinks Smedberg’s going
(3 Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas crazy, how nuts can he be?
mask (immune to suffocation.) Seldom
wears full protective gear while making Hawley “Hal” Blevins
investigations. PL: 4
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)

112
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 beard, florid complexion and big belly he
Toughness Save: 2 (+3 vs. heat-based resembles a malign Santa Claus.
attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2 Becky Lee Mumford
Willpower Save: 2 PL: 4
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Climb 2 (+4), Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
Diplomacy 4 (+6), Disable Device 1 (+2), Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
Drive 2 (+3), Gather Information 3 (+4), Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
Intimidate 6 (+8), Investigate 2 (+3), Toughness Save: 1 (+3 vs. heat-based
Knowledge (Current Events) 2 (+3), attacks while wearing firefighter gear)
Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Knowledge Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
(Physical Sciences) 1 (+2), Knowledge Willpower Save: 2
(Technology) 1 (+2), Medicine 4 (+5), Skills: Bluff 7 (+7), Climb 3 (+3), Craft
Notice 6 (+7), Profession (arson (Chemical) 5 (+7), Diplomacy 5 (+5),
investigator) 5 (+6), Sense Motive 5 (+6) Disable Device 7 (+9), Drive 1 (+3), Gather
Feats: Chokehold, Connected, Evasion Information 5 (+5), Investigate 4 (+6),
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon 4), Knowledge (Current Events) 3 (+5),
fire-retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves Knowledge (Streetwise) 1 (+3), Knowledge
(3 Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas (Physical Sciences) 3 (+5), Knowledge
mask (immune to suffocation.) Seldom (Technology) 5 (+7), Medicine 4 (+6),
wears full protective gear while making Notice 6 (+8), Profession (arson
investigations. investigator) 5 (+5), Sense Motive 5 (+7)
Complications: Subject to orders from Feats: Evasion
superiors, racist Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon 4),
Background: A big, red-cheeked, beer- fire-retardant coat, boots, helmet and gloves
bellied guy from Stark Hill, Blevins is loud, (3 Protection vs. heat-based attacks), gas
talkative and prone to using racist epithets. mask (immune to suffocation.) Seldom
He’s very suspicious of anyone whose skin is wears full protective gear while making
darker than his own and quick to accuse investigations.
them of setting fires. As far as he’s Complications: Subject to orders from
concerned, if a black guy isn’t guilty of arson superiors, has an awful secret
he’s probably guilty of something else and Background: One of the few female Arson
taking another one off the street can’t be a Investigators in the state, Becky Lee is a
bad thing. special favorite of Chief Szmuda, and puts
In any case he investigates, he’s up with endless crap from her colleagues for
less concerned with finding the culprit than it. Quiet and watchful, she always seems
figuring out how to pin the crime on guarded. Partly this is because she’s often
somebody from an ethnic group he doesn’t the target of abuse, partly it’s because she’s
like. It amazes many people that he can get embarrassed by her thick Georgia accent,
away with openly hating black people in a but it’s mostly because she’s a pyromaniac,
modern work environment. When people and is constantly afraid that she’s about to
ask him about it he laughs and says that get caught.
yeah, he’s the last of a breed all right. In A firebug from an early age, Becky
fact he keeps his job because he’s in thick Lee grew up in a family of small-town
with the Czernik machine. Willing to take firefighters in north Georgia. She has
bribes, if the Mafia needs a fire investigator struggled with the impulse to set fires all her
to come confirm that something they burned life, and suspects that her father and
wasn’t arson, they ask for Blevins. brothers may have, too. She was the only
He lives in a big house in Stone girl in the family who went into firefighting
Ridge that he can’t afford, with his wife and and the only one to go to college. She was
five loud delinquent sons who all want to their favorite child, until she lost control of
grow up to be firemen. With his white her impulses one too many times and had to
leave town under a cloud of suspicion.

113
 In Atlanta she trained as an room to treat most of their health-care
investigator and she has since put that needs, so the waiting time in Triage is
training to good use in evading capture. astonishingly long.
Still, she has left every job she’s ever had in Understaffed, underfunded and
just a few years, either under suspicion or depressing, Bedlam General does not attract
afraid that she was about to be. Here in the highest caliber of health care worker.
Bedlam things are a little more slipshod, so Their computer system was last updated
she’s gotten away with setting fires for some time in the late 1980s and it’s prone
longer. She’s also been more careful. A to baffling outages. Since they don’t have
reckless love of flame has cost her two enough staff, administrative mistakes get
marriages and the custody of her kids. She made and some of them can have ugly
doesn’t intend to have to uproot her whole consequences for the patients. Bedlam
life again any time soon. General has been cited many times by both
The strange thing is, she isn’t the City and State Authorities for unsafe
Torchy the Firebug. She has used his working conditions, sanitary violations and
prolific arson spree to conceal and cover up so forth, but if they fine the hospital or shut
her own crimes, but she doesn’t waste much it down, that will only make things worse for
time wondering who he (or she) might be. the people it serves. What’s more, they
Becky Lee is too busy struggling with and might start flooding the other two hospitals.
trying to conceal her own vice to care much Bedlam General has a fleet of six
about anything else. ambulances, four of which are presently in
working order. People say their sirens have
distinctive “whoop-whoop” sound, probably
because they haven’t bought any new ones
in years.
Please note that Bedlam General
Hospital has been infiltrated by both the
Bedlam has three hospitals—a bad one, a Mara and Eentsy Z’s coalition. More than
mediocre one and a good one. There is also one nurse or administrator is either an
a free health clinic in Wolverton and another active gang member themselves, or the wife
one in Hardwick Park. Details on each of or girlfriend of one. If a patient gets
these facilities can be found below. admitted who is of interest to either gang,
they will know about it in 1-20 hours (the
Bedlam General Hospital GM can either decide or roll at random.)
Sometimes referred to by people from Neither the Scarpia nor the
better neighborhoods as “Downtown Gorganzua family have any agents here, but
General”, this is Bedlam’s oldest, largest both the Mara and Eentsy Z owe the
hospital, and its most troubled. Scarpias fealty, so assume any such
Located just off Industrial Drive, information gets back to them within 2-40
near the old warehouses and abandoned hours. It can happen much faster if they
factories, it has stood for more than a have been told to be on the lookout for a
hundred years, and its age shows. Made of patient. While there are security guards
smoke-weathered brown bricks, it looks like who might be willing to look the other way
an institution out of a Dickens novel. during a mob hit, no one has ever actually
Gloomy and gothic, many of its windows are carried out an assassination here, yet.
broken and the rest are covered with iron
gridwork. Our Lady of Sorrow
It’s a big facility, with 600 beds, but Bedlam’s smallest hospital and its second
it’s still so crowded that they have patients oldest, Our Lady of Sorrow was built by a
sleeping on gurneys in the hall. A lot of group of Catholic Working Men’s
local people from Wolverton and Hardwick associations back during the 1920s. It is
Park are unable to afford physicians and located at the base of Stark Hill and
have to use Bedlam General’s emergency primarily serves that community. Heavily

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remodeled during the 1960s, it’s an ugly, The Mob has more than one doctor on staff
brick-shaped pile of glass and steel, all fly- who is willing to kill patients for them, either
specked windows and harsh, squat with lethal injections or by medical
rectangles. It was rebuilt to withstand riots “mistake.” In cases where Dapper Donny
in a style known at the time as “Neo- Scarpia wants to set an example, a patient
Brutalist” and bears some resemblance to might get accidentally scheduled for some
the way most people imagine Soviet unnecessary surgery and die of complica-
hospitals must have looked. Its windows tions.
are high and narrow, like gun-slits, with Our Lady of Sorrow has won two
massive concrete slabs between them. awards for being the hospital with the
A privately run Catholic hospital, lowest rate of malpractice suits in the state.
Our Lady of Sorrow is fairly large, with 195 The awards are proudly on display in the
beds, but it’s always crowded. It offers lobby. People have considered suing them
mediocre care (getting a post here has more on occasion, but most have hastily
to do with your connections than it does reconsidered after a visit from the hospital’s
your skills) but a great many people in Stark backers.
Hill are fiercely devoted to it and refuse to
be treated anywhere else. Beth-El Hospital
They have a fairly large ambulance Bedlam’s second largest and arguably its
fleet (8 working vehicles) for a hospital of best hospital isn’t located inside the city
this size, yet they are very stingy about limits. Beth-El is a large private hospital
responding to emergency calls. They don’t with 455 beds, located off Melman Road
like admitting patients who aren’t from Stark near the Stone Ridge community.
Hill and they don’t like responding to It primarily serves Stone Ridge,
emergency calls from Wolverton and since it’s too far away from the city proper
Hardwick Park. In fact they have a bad for its ambulances to reach very many
reputation for turning away black and emergency calls before the crews from Our
Hispanic patients, or giving them Lady of Sorrow or Bedlam General Hospital
substandard care and then rushing them out get there. It’s also difficult for residents of
the door as quick as possible. Most folks the city’s poorer neighborhoods to get to
from Wolverton remember that back in the Beth-El on their own, since many of them
1960s, if a black woman gave birth in Our lack cars, and the Bedlam City bus system
Lady of Sorrow she would sometimes get doesn’t go there. In any case they don’t
sterilized, as a kind of joke. Most people treat uninsured patients. As a result, the
from Wolverton prefer not to seek treatment hospital is quiet and not overly crowded.
here unless they absolutely have to. Many of its beds go empty. They have the
The Mafia has completely infiltrated state’s second best trauma center and a
Our Lady of Sorrow. Mob guys get special, superb radiological facility. Many of their
no-questions asked treatment here, and patients are elderly and they have a state-of
they get to bypass the lines in the the-art facility in a separate building that
emergency room. Both the Scarpias and the specializes in gerontological medicine. It
Gorganzuas use Our Lady of Sorrow—this is has a fleet of eight ambulances, all of which
part of the peace accord between them. are in better shape than the ones used by
But only the Scarpias get to use it to launder the Fire Department and the other hospitals.
money. The Chief of Staff is also the
If a patient who either crime family Chairman of the hospital’s board. Dr. Elliot
is interested in gets admitted to Our Lady of Glazier has fought long and hard to keep
Sorrow, they will know about it in 1-5 hours Beth El from getting bought out by one or
(or less if it’s someone the admitting nurses another of the giant health-management
have been told to look out for.) While the firms. He is very proud of its independence.
security staff at Our Lady of Sorrow would A small, trim man with a white goatee, he’s
surely turn a blind eye if the Mafia needed a neurologist by trade but has dedicated
to perform a hit there, they’ve never had to. much of his career to studying the curious

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physiology of parahumans. The hospital, so it’s usually better to pay a
mechanisms by which superpowers work are doctor if you can. Yet the Free Clinic is a
barely understood by conventional science. whole lot better than nothing.
Dr. Glazier confesses to being fascinated by The local hoodlums regard the Clinic
this mystery. He’s widely regarded as one as a valuable community asset, and have
of the country’s leading experts in this declared it neutral territory, where anyone
peculiar field, although he dismisses all such can seek treatment without being harassed
claims with a fatherly wave of his hand. A by gang members. All rivalries and
lot of people wonder why a neurologist of vendettas are to be put aside the moment
his stature is working in Bedlam instead of you walk through the clinic’s doors. For the
at the Mayo Clinic—or for that matter why most part, this arrangement works. There
he isn’t teaching medicine at an Ivy League have been one or two fights in the clinic, but
school. He says that this is where he feels not many.
he can do the most good.
PCs may be relieved to know that The Hardwick Park Free Clinic
the hospital has now resolved its security This small free clinic operates out of a
problems. For some weeks, a disturbed storefront on Blaed Drive. It provides basic
woman named Eleana Morgenstern kept medical care for anyone who needs it—
appearing at the admissions desk, raving provided that they don’t owe the gangs any
that the hospital had stolen her son, Josiah. money. The Mara completely dominate the
There is no record of any such child having clinic and effectively control its operations.
ever been admitted to Beth-El, of course, They don’t steal its supplies and seldom
and eventually the police managed to intimidate any of the doctors or nurses who
apprehend her. She has not returned and is work here, but they strictly control access.
no doubt under psychiatric care. Let us To get care at the clinic, you have to be in
hope that she gets the help she needs. good standing with the gang, No one who
Oddly, there was a similar incident two owes them money or drugs is admitted, nor
years ago. are people who don’t pay them for
Perhaps emotionally disturbed protection.
people have been attracted to the story of As you might imagine, not a lot of
Captain Gladius, a superhuman who was doctors or nurses enjoy working under
said to have checked into Beth-El after a conditions where they may be asked to stop
battle downtown with an unidentified group treating a patient to go patch up a wounded
of parahuman criminals. He never checked gang member, or where scary guys with
out, which caused some confusion, until it tattoos hulk around the premises giving
was discovered that the rumors were false them orders. Doctors come and go here,
and he had never checked into Beth-El in but most of them are doing court-ordered
the first place. He has since dropped out of community service, or have been assigned
the public view and so is unavailable to here as punishment for screwing up at
comment on the matter. Bedlam General Hospital. None stay longer
than they have to, with the exception of Dr.
The Wolverton Free Clinic Susan Yang, who has always liked gang
Based in a converted bungalow, the free guys and who has become the Mara’s
clinic offers medical services to anyone. personal physician and occasional moll.
They don’t have enough supplies or
equipment and they’re not very good at Suzie Yang, MD
dealing with trauma and injuries, but they PL: 4
do provide fairly solid basic care. Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
Most of the doctors and nurses who Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
put in volunteer hours at the free clinic work Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 5
at Bedlam General, which is not known for Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 4
the quality of its staff, and most of them are Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 4
really tired after working long shifts at the

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Skills: Bluff 7 (+9), Concentration 6 (+7), knows it’s wrong, she says, smiling
Computers 5 (+7), Diplomacy 7 (+9), winsomely, but these guys, they’re just so
Investigate 1 (+4) Knowledge (behavioral hot. Can you really blame her?
sciences) 3 (+6), Knowledge (life sciences)
7 (+10), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4
(+7), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3
(+6),Knowledge (technology) 1 (+4),
Medicine 7 (+8), Notice 2 (+3), Profession More than one local agency is in charge of
(doctor) 6 (+9), Sense Motive 4 (+5), animal rescue. There is no municipal dog
Stealth 3 (+5) pound any more, and a patchwork of city
Feats: Attractive, Connected, Well-Informed agencies, nonprofits and private companies
Complications: Would do anything for the house strays and deal with animal-related
Mara. Would also betray them if an even problems. One look at the number of strays
cuter and more dangerous guy asked her to wandering Bedlam’s streets, hungry and
(and yes, that might include a PC.) vicious, and you can see that the current
Background: The daughter of a system isn’t working. Read on to find out
conservative, hardworking Chinese family, how and why it has failed.
Suzie has always had a fatal weakness for
bad boys. She was utterly forbidden to Bedlam Animal Control Service
associate with the opposite sex, so from Until recently, Bedlam’s animal control
Junior High School onward she would set up services were handled by the police. Budget
fake study sessions with her girlfriends, and cuts forced them to drop the whole division,
whichever bunch of Wolverton gang- which the city promptly sold off to a
bangers she was partying with would subcontractor. Animal Control officers still
deposit her on her doorstep at dawn, too wear the same bright yellow vests, but they
drunk to stand. She would crawl up the aren’t allowed to carry weapons and they
steps to her room on all fours and tell her can’t make arrests. Like meter maids, they
parents that her allergies were acting up can issue tickets and citations, but they
again. Amazingly enough they never spend most of their time telling owners to
suspected a thing. And somehow she keep their dogs quiet or checking the tags
managed to get all her homework done. on stray animals. Most of them are
Suzie became a doctor, just as her minimum wage workers without a lot of
parents wanted. No one who went to skills, since they are cheaper to hire.
medical school with her understands how Because they don’t have the
someone who partied so hard managed to capacity, equipment or training to do much
get all her work done on time, but she did. rescue work, Bedlam has seen a number of
In fact she excelled. And her amazing tiny private contractors who specialize in
ability to do without sleep for long periods animal removal emerge. Most of these are
of time served her well as an intern. little mom-and-pop outfits, consisting of one
These days she works at Bedlam guy with a pickup truck and some traps. A
General, but with her level of talent and lot of them are pretty dubious, and none of
drive she’ll surely get a better assignment them have a reputation for being gentle
soon. In the meantime she puts in as many with the animals they “rescue.”
hours as she can at the Hardwick Park Free If the animal control officers
clinic, where she has become the personal encounter a situation where they need
physician and sometime girlfriend to the someone to physically remove an animal,
Mara. they call one of the contractors.
Dr. Yang knows right from wrong in
an abstract kind of way, but she’d do The ASPCA
anything at all for her gang friends. This Bedlam’s chapter of the American Society
including denying a patient treatment or for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has
giving them a lethal injection (they haven’t been kicked out of the national organization,
asked her to do that last thing, yet.) She and aren’t legally allowed to use the name

117
any more. That’s why they always refer to animal. Fortunately, the animals in their
themselves as “ASPCA of Bedlam.” care never spend long in their tiny, unsafe
They operate two shelters, one on cages. Unfortunately, that’s because they
Stavros Avenue and one on Voight Street. go straight to the labs.
Both are abysmal. They got kicked out of Officers for Kindness Shelter wear
the national organization for brown uniforms and often try to pass
misappropriating funds. From the filthy, themselves off as official city personnel.
crusted cages and starving animals you can They’re not above lifting the occasional pet
see where the money got siphoned away from somebody’s yard.
from.
Because they don’t have enough Stone Ridge Animal Shelter
room, turnover on animals is high. They say This small but exceptionally well-funded
they give an animal two weeks before they animal shelter is located in the Stone Ridge
euthanize it, but that’s usually a lie. gated community, just outside of Bedlam.
At-large City Council member Molly Schwartz
Class D Licensed Animal Collectors is one of their board members and their
Anyone who cares to pay for a license can largest contributors.
get certified as one of Bedlam’s Class D They never euthanize any animals
collectors. These stalwart men and women brought to them, and instead care for them
patrol Bedlam’s streets looking for stray in their cages until a good owner can be
animals that they can sell to medical found for them. Of course, they don’t have
research companies, or (sometimes) eat very many cages, and when they are full (as
themselves. A surprising number of them they nearly always are) they send new
are actually off-duty cops taking on a little arrivals straight to ASPCA of Bedlam or to
extra work to make ends meet. Kindness Animal Shelter.
Actually, the animal doesn’t always
have to be a stray. No board reviews the Office of the Dogcatcher
collectors’ certification—there’s no Since the late 19th century, this elected
administrative process for revoking a license officer was supposed to oversee Bedlam’s
and no agency to review complaints about dog pound. However, since the 1960s the
them. Anyway swiping a pet is a Bedlam Police have taken care of Animal
misdemeanor and usually gets punished Control. Yet the Office of the Dogcatcher
with a fine, if it comes to trial at all. So still exists, unconnected to anything.
keep Tabby and Fido out of the front yard, The Bedlam City Government
unless you’re there to protect them, or doesn’t publicize the fact that the
there’s no telling where they might end up! Dogcatcher isn’t part of Animal Control, and
every election a new dogcatcher gets the
Kindness Animal Shelter job. Normally they then cede their position
A while back, a bunch of Class D Licensed to some well-connected city official, who
Animal Collectors decided to get all collects the extra paychecks without having
legitimate and respectable. So they to do any work.
founded Kindness Animal Shelter, and It’s impossible to find the Office of
started soliciting for donations. A lot of local the Dogcatcher in the Bedlam Phone Book,
businesses pitched in, unaware of what kind and the city government switchboard
of shelter this was going to be, and United (located in Bangalore, India) doesn’t have a
Way has provided them with some funds as listing for them. Because of course, there is
well. no physical office at all.
They don’t publicize the location of
their facility (it’s an old metalworking shop John Otter and his Rescue Rangers
on Industrial Drive, and every inch of it is When the Bedlam Police stopped handling
full of tiny metal shards that can easily Animal Control, Officer John Otter went a
lodge in your skin) but they do have an 800 little crazy. He kept his uniform and his
number you can call to report a stray credentials and he still drives around Bedlam

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in his van claiming to be an Animal Control
Officer.
A burly, square-jawed guy, he looks
like a cop and few people question him. He
does his job the way he’s always done it,
rescuing animals, threatening cruel or Bedlam’s power, water, gas and
negligent pet owners with arrest, writing telecommunications services all come from
citations (he still has a pad of them) and private providers rather than the city itself.
generally doing all the stuff the new, fake They vary in quality, as the following
“Animal Control” officers won’t do. overview shows.
He’s superb at his job and loves
animals. Easily moved to tears, he often Electricity
weeps over hurt or neglected pets, which Bedlam gets its electricity from Universal
looks pretty weird on such a big, tough guy. Power and Light, a big national company
His old partner, a short, pretty from another part of the country which has
woman named Vera Cuvier, often rides with little penetration in this state, apart from
him on his lonely patrols. She has kept her Bedlam itself. The Universe, as people call
old uniform, too, although she no longer it, got the job recently—they seem to be
wears her gun. She’s not crazy, but she is somehow affiliated with the aerospace firm
hopelessly in love with John (though she’s than runs so many of Bedlam’s services.
too shy to tell him) and wants to see if she They don’t have a local generating station
can somehow help him before he completely and instead trade electricity with other
self-destructs. markets around the country. People call
Lately her teenage brother, their management style prone to excessive
Brendan, and his friends have started risk-taking and Bedlam has paid the price
helping them, and the whole group has for it in periodic blackouts, the worst of
started calling itself the “Rescue Rangers.” which lasted six days. Their customer
They have created their own makeshift service has been outsourced to Bangalore,
animal shelter in a deserted mansion near India and is notoriously unresponsive. They
the old Bedlam Country Club, though John do not keep a local office in Bedlam.
himself seldom spends much time there.
He’s always on the move and sleeps in his Telephones
van. Bedlam has the unusual distinction of having
Every one of the Rescue Rangers all of its original copper wiring. There are
knows this situation can’t last. It’s just a no fiber-optic lines at all in the central part
matter of time before John gets caught and of the city. This makes both phone service
send to prison for impersonating a police tinny and the internet slow.
officer and they can’t carry on his crusade Two telephone companies serve
without his incredible skills. Bedlam, a big clunky one and a little scrappy
Privately John doesn’t think going to one.
prison will be much of a problem. He’ll
never let them take him alive. But there’s Conglomerated Communications
no time to think about that. The work goes Bedlam’s official telephone service provider
on and there’s no one else to do it. is the last vestigial stump of the giant
Brendan has recently got the crazy octopus that was once Ma Bell. Spun off
idea of running John Otter for dogcatcher in during the breakup of AT&T, they kept most
the next election, and if John lives long of their old equipment and corporate culture
enough to do it, this could upend intact. They have only a few markets left,
everything. scattered around the country in places like
Bedlam, where the local authorities weren’t
strong enough or rich enough to replace
them with a more up-to-date utility.
Although they are no longer a giant

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multinational they still behave like one. The calls when it pleases them. They only get
services they offer are limited and paid for the visits they complete, so they
expensive. No special deals, no free tend to forget about service calls from
weekends or unlimited long-distance customers who live well outside their
packages. They have three rates—one for established routes. If they don’t make
peak hours, one for off-hours and one for enough visits in a day they won’t make
Sunday. And that is all. Customer Service enough money to survive, so if they get five
is unfriendly, remote and slow to respond. calls in one neighborhood and one call from
They do not offer internet and their cell- somebody over in the next neighborhood,
phone service is designed to keep other they’ll do the distant one last if at all.
companies from being able to get a Ultranow runs loud, flashy, poorly
connection. You would think that they’d made commercials on local television and is
cause so much dissatisfaction that other clearly pitching their services to Bedlam’s
companies would have long-since pushed minority community. They have also tried
them out of the market, but in fact their guerilla advertising campaigns of
forty-year contract with Bedlam’s city questionable legality. They pay graffiti
government gives them a total monopoly artists to put their logo on buildings. They
and is completely iron-clad. All payphones hire homeless people to tag public
in Bedlam bear the ugly yellow-and-black telephones with stickers that list an 800
logo of Conglomerated Communications. number you can call to use their super-
Their motto is “Conglomerated cheap long distance service. There were
Communications Connecting People” and rumors that they had paid gang members to
they print it on everything with huge initial go around Wolverton at night and smash
caps that make it look like “CCCP” at a residents’ satellite dishes (then it came to
distance. And it does in fact provide the light that this false rumor was being spread
kind of service that reminds a lot of people by Conglomerated Communications.)
of the old Soviet Union. People in Bedlam look forward to seeing
what Ultranow will try next.
Ultranow
This small, struggling telecommunications “I Don’t Care” Long Distance
company offers all the services and extras If you make a long distance call from a
that Conglomerated Communications can’t— Bedlam payphone, the CC operator is
and at a really low price. They’re able to required by law to ask you what provider
give you wireless internet bundled together you would like. Anyone who answers “I
with three hundred channels of cable TV don’t care,” or “I don’t know” or “anybody”
and free long-distance on weekday is in for a surprise. All three of those names
afternoons. They can do this because they are owned by an entrepreneur named
contract out just about everything to other Frankie Scalvino, and he charges three
providers and rent time on other companies’ times the going rate for long distance.
equipment. They have a small office Frankie operates his three phone
downtown and a smaller one in the Liberty companies out of his home office in Stark
Shoppes Mall, but no actual telephone Hill. Anyone who has a complaint about his
equipment at either one. They are purely a business practices can come discuss it with
service provider on paper, buying and him at his favorite arcade, where they will
selling time on other companies’ hardware. find him playing pinball with local mob
This scattershot approach, combined with overlord “Dapper” Donny Scarpia.
CC’s hostile attitude and constant efforts to
shortchange Ultranow have made their Water
service pretty unreliable. They are prone to Bedlam’s water tastes funny. That doesn’t
inexplicable outages and weird signal surprise people who know its history.
distortion. Bedlam’s infrastructure is old, but its water
Ultranow farms out its repair service system is the oldest part of all. Large
to independent contractors who make house

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portions of it were built more than a century there’s nothing they could do to make it any
ago. worse. That is a joke, right?
A few years ago it came out in the
press that Bedlam’s water treatment plant Gas
had failed two quality tests in a row. The Bedlam Gas Company is a public-private
Bacteria counts and algae were both partnership, based on Industrial Drive. The
unacceptably high and the city was now in customers actually buy shares in the
real trouble with the state authorities. company and run it like a giant co-op. This
Councilman Andy Czernik’s office arrangement has lasted for more than
expressed indignation at the leak and the eighty years, and although Bedlam Gas
councilman personally launched an doesn’t have enough money or enough
investigation into how the information could service technicians, it’s actually worked
have gotten out to the press. After a lot of pretty well. They don’t cut the gas off if
time and money, the results were you’re freezing and they don’t let big
inconclusive—although a number of workers landlords demand special treatment at
at the water treatment plant were fired, just everyone else’s expense.
to be safe. The Mob has long been frustrated
The city’s Water Department went by its inability to scam any money out of the
into federal receivership shortly thereafter, Bedlam Gas Company and they have tried to
with a court-appointed guardian to make run it out of business more than once. “Big
sure the quality of the supply improved. Andy” Czernik may be gearing up for
Just in the nick of time, before a major another attempt to crush them.
political disaster could erupt, the city
manager sold the water department to a The Sewers of Bedlam
company called Zed-Com. Since Zed-Com
wasn’t under indictment and the city Water
Department no longer existed, the court-
appointed overseers no longer had access to
the city’s water-quality tests.
In any case things have improved a
lot under Zed-Com’s management. They
are a private entity, so they don’t have to
share their records with anyone and they
aggressively sue anybody who leaks inside
information about them to the press. In one
case they even managed to have a Bedlam’s sewers are huge and old, built in
whistlebower prosecuted. the grandiose style of ages past. Oversized
Only a few people know that in the and hard to fix, they were largely
meantime, despite hefty pay-offs to state constructed at the dawn of the twentieth
officials they have continued to fail their century, and have been heavily modified
safety tests, with unacceptable levels of and expanded ever since. The city
e. coli and fecal bacteria in nearly every authorities have completely lost track of
sample. To cope with this crisis, they are where they all lead. At the moment not
considering spinning off the division that even the Department of Public Works claims
runs Bedlam’s Water Department and to have a complete and accurate chart. The
disassociating themselves from it. It’s an storm sewers (which do not connect to the
expensive solution, but not as expensive as wastewater sewers—at least in theory) are
having to fight all the lawsuits they are sure particularly large and especially full of
to suffer otherwise—and nowhere near as unmapped sections.
costly as actually fixing the problem. For a hundred years people have
People sometimes joke that the told urban legends that the city fathers built
reason no supervillain has ever tried to a network of tunnels beneath the sewers
contaminate the city’s water supply is that downtown, in order to move freight

121
between the buildings on miniature rail cars. to fight villains in subway tunnels and
They say the Phantom Empire used this rendezvous with seedy contacts on
warren of passageways for more sinister underground train platforms. So we’ve
purposes as well. This maze of tunnels may come up with a compromise solution.
extend as far south as Ash Street and as far A commuter line runs from the
north as Stark Hill. But no one knows for Bedlam train station to a much larger city
sure whether or not it even exists. nearby. In a spasm of optimism, the
There are rumors that a crazed Redevelopment Commission decided in the
DPW official named Llewellyn Philbrick spent 1990s that Bedlam could become a hip new
most of the 1980s exploring the Bedlam bedroom community for young
sewers and constructing a complete map, professionals. After all, the hip crowd is
and that the map itself is somewhere in always looking for new neighborhoods to
Bedlam’s deserted City Hall. No one has discover and gentrify—why not Bedlam?
ever taken the trouble to look for the lost There are, alas, a great many answers to
map and find out if it exists. Nor does that last question, and despite the new
anyone seem to known what became of commuter rail line, the yuppies never came.
Philbrick. The train runs beneath Bedlam’s
More than one supervillain has streets like a subway It makes three stops
taken advantage of the generous size of inside Bedlam, one on Slaughter Road, one
Bedlam’s sewers and set up shop down on Terminal Drive and of course one in the
there in the darkness. This makes the city Bedlam Train Station (the line goes no
authorities even less willing to fully explore further.)
them. Some of the previous occupants may Trains run every thirty minutes at
have left booby traps, or worse things. rush hour and then every 60 minutes until
10PM. It costs $5 to ride into the big city
nearby but only $2.50 to ride from one
Bedlam station to the next. A few people
use it to commute to work across town, but
for the most part the trains pull out of the
stations half-empty.
There are three ways of getting around There is no special police detail
Bedlam without your own car—by train, by assigned to watch the trains. Cops only
bus and by cab. None of these options are come down to the stations if they are called.
safe or pleasant. But then neither is driving As a result, the platforms can be dangerous
in Bedlam. Or walking, come to think of it. at night, full of panhandlers, con men and
drug dealers. Apart from the ticket sellers in
The “Bedlam Subway” their fly-specked bulletproof booths, there is
usually no representative of authority
present on the trains or platforms.
Recently, a few “urban pioneers”
(mostly young bohemians who can’t afford
the rent in the big city nearby) have actually
started moving into the neighborhood
around the Terminal Drive station and a
little enclave of hipsters has formed there,
just like the Redevelopment Commission
predicted ten years ago. So far there aren’t
enough of them to have much impact on the
local economy.

The Bus
Bedlam doesn’t exactly have a Bedlam’s city buses are big, green and old.
subway—it’s not big enough or rich enough People call riding the bus “taking the Green
to support one. But your PCs will still want

122
Limousine.” They have small windows that Bedlam City Bus
don’t open very far and only a few of the Strength: 48
newer models have air conditioning. Bus Speed: 4
routes in Bedlam are listed by numbers from Defense: 5
one to 13, followed by a decimal point and Toughness: 12
then a second number indicating the sub- Size: Gargantuan
route they follow. So for example the buses
that travel down Ellmore Place (the Description: Built like a tank, with a diesel
unofficial dividing line between Wolverton engine and solid steel body, these old
and Hardwick Park), are the 4.1, the 4.5 and warhorses are battered and rusty but
the 4.7 incredibly durable. Many are missing lights
The Bedlam Transit Authority used or have windows that have cracked or else
to be a division of the city government, but jammed open or shut. The seats are barely-
it went into receivership and got sold off to padded steel benches and only one bus in
a contractor. It still has the same name and three is handicapped-accessible.
most people aren’t aware that it’s been
privatized. That’s a good thing, because a Cab Companies
lot of the subcontractors who provide The life of a Bedlam cabbie is tough. It’s
services like vehicle maintenance are friends hard to make enough money to stay afloat,
and business associates of Big Andy Czernik. unless you’re one of those guys who can live
The current owner of the BTA is in his cab and take fares 24 hours a day,
Allied Holdings, a financial services company catching sleep in naps (you’d be surprised
which absorbed the remains of Consolidated how many cabbies really do this.) This is
Transit Services when some unwise also one of the most dangerous ways to
investments made them vulnerable to make a living in America—more cabbies die
takeovers. Allied Holdings has tried to by violence than any other occupation apart
increase the profitability of the BTA by from police officers. Many cabbies carry
reducing the quality of its service—although firearms and most of the veterans have at
it’s hard to see how its quality could be least a tire jack or a pair of needle-nosed
reduced any further. They are heavily pliers close at hand.
subsidized by the city and state, but that’s Because the life of a Bedlam cabby
just more money to be siphoned off the top. is so rough, people tend not to stick with it.
BTA contracts out personnel It’s the kind of job a new immigrant can get,
management to a firm called People First, but after they’ve tried it for a while most of
which subcontracts to a local Bedlam agency them give it up. This is why so many
called Human Needs, which is partly owned cabbies are new and don’t know their way
by the Scarpia crime family. This means around the city very well. The
that to get a job as a bus driver or a inexperienced guys don’t get experienced—
dispatcher, you will need a family they leave, to be replaced with other
connection to either the Scarpias or the inexperienced guys.
Czernik machine. As a result a lot of drivers Because both of Bedlam’s biggest
live in Stark Hill and they have a bad cab companies are unpopular, many people
reputation for being rude to African- are willing to trust the independent gypsy
American passengers, making culturally cabbies who ply Bedlam’s streets illegally.
insensitive remarks and so forth. Buyer beware. Some of these independent,
As a concession to the Reverend part time operators are good honest guys
Willie Boggs, Big Andy has arranged for trying to make a living, but some of them
more African-American drivers to get hired. are crooked and will try to trick or intimidate

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an unwary customer into paying an passenger or beats up an irritating fare, the
exorbitant rate. Since most unlicensed cabs others will all cover for them. They also
don’t have meters, always get the driver to have a bad reputation for getting tough with
agree to a price up front. other cabbies and throwing them off their
“turf,” chasing them away from places like
Red Apple Cab the train station and the downtown cab-
“Rotten Apples” some people call them. Or stands. Now that they have fallen on bad
“red lemons.” Their ads proclaim that this is economic times, people say they may have
Bedlam’s only locally owned cab company. taken to doing errands for and borrowing
But that’s not true. In fact it was bought money from the Mafia.
out years ago by a holding company owned Yellow Cab shares a dispatcher with
by a Texas millionaire, who pays little Red Apple. Even though it’s a different
attention to it, provided that it continues to phone number, the same bored voice will
make a profit. It does this by paying its answer and say “taxicab service” when you
drivers as little as it can. It provides the call.
cars, which the drivers rent for a share of
their take, it provides uniforms, and charges Regency Crown Cab
the drivers to wear them and takes back A small cab company, based in the
their meager pay in a dozen other little ways Meadows. All twelve of their drivers are
as well. members of Nigel Garwood’s immediate
Few drivers can make a living family. A scowling, short tempered
working for Red Apple, but there are always Jamaican, Nigel feels that only fools let
more suckers willing to give it a try (mostly themselves get taken advantage of, so
recent immigrants.) As a result, their every fare he cheats must be a fool. He and
drivers are seldom experienced, often don’t his brothers and sons and nephews drive
speak English and don’t know the city very cabs without meters and charge whatever
well. Red Apple pays the absolute minimum they think the passenger can pay.
to maintain its aging fleet of vehicles, so Because they work in the Meadows,
they are smelly and in poor repair. an unincorporated zone that is technically
beyond the city’s limits, they don’t have
Yellow Cab Bedlam cab licenses, so no one can revoke
Despite what you’d expect, Yellow Cab really them. Bribes to the local cops have kept
is a locally owned company. In fact there them from getting arrested so far. But it’s
are dozens of different Yellow Cab just a matter of time before Nigel gets in
companies in cities all over the US, all real trouble. Because Regency Crown is
independent of one another. Bedlam has located in the Meadows, they can get
one of the smaller ones. It’s actually a anywhere in that neighborhood faster than
collective, owned and operated by its any other cab company.
drivers, who pay a share to join and who They often listen in on the
own their own vehicles. dispatcher that Yellow Cab and Red Apple
They used to have the best drivers use, and swipe fares out from under Red
in Bedlam, but as it’s gotten harder and Apple drivers (Nigel has decided not to mess
harder for a cabbie to make a living here, a with Yellow Cab after they beat up two of
lot of their older guys have drifted away, to his nephews and started leaving death
be replaced by newcomers who don’t stay threats on his voice-mail.) If you call for a
long. There is a real camaraderie among Red Apple and a Regency Crown shows up,
the long-term drivers, which has an ugly make sure to bargain with the driver in
undertone. If one of them rips off a advance.

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Classy Productions Limousine Service The owner never appears in person
at the lot. It’s managed by a short, fat
nervous man with sunken eyes named
Reggie Russo, who always seems to say
everything twice. “Reggie the Echo” they
call him. He’s not a killer or a “made guy”
but he’s capable of homicide if he gets
scared enough.

The Death-Cab
For more than a hundred years, there have
been tales of a monstrous, ghostly cab that
stalks the streets of Bedlam, hungry for
blood and meat. At the turn of the 20th
century, it was supposed to be a sinister
black carriage driven by a faceless man with
a cloven hoof. Ever since the 1940s it has
taken the form of a battered up old
“checker” cab with its license plate obscured
by grime. Once you get inside, most people
want to get back out immediately. There is
an evil smell and the remains of previous
passengers are strewn around the interior.
Razor blades, barbed wire and pieces of
bone are embedded in the walls.
Getting out is trickier than it looks.
The seat belts won’t open once you put
them on. The doors open only from the
outside and the door handles are booby-
trapped, injuring anyone who tries to leave
the hellish cab before they reach their
destination.
The destination itself varies.
Sometimes it takes passengers to some evil
dimension where demons gnaw their flesh.
Sometimes it drives them around endlessly,
battering them against the walls of its
This limo service is based downtown. They interior until they slowly die. Sometimes the
supply everything from old Lincoln town cars cab takes passengers where they want to
to stretch Hummers. Their drivers all seem go, at terrifying speed, and then its doors
to be big older guys with sunglasses, who flop open as it goes around a curve,
don’t talk much and are good at looming dumping them at their destination at eighty
ominously. miles an hour, to splatter like eggs on the
Run by the Bedlam Mafia (Donny sidewalk.
Scarpia’s mom owns the business on paper) The driver can’t be seen clearly
they are an excellent way to launder money, through the grimy partition (although
transport drugs or hide unwanted corpses. passengers can hear his horrible voice
Not all of their drivers are willing to clearly enough.) He is known only as “Mac.”
participate in illegal errands for the mob. In Most people think he’s the devil.
fact many of them don’t know that this is Rumor says that Lucius Hardwick
who they work for, but enough do to keep once went for a ride in the Death-Cab. It
things running smoothly. politely dropped him off at his destination
and the driver refused to be paid.

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Not counting Juvenile Hall, Bedlam’s public school system’s profitability. They aren’t as
educational system oversees eighteen fussy about making sure that teachers have
elementary schools, three middle schools all the correct certifications so they can
and six high schools. There are also twelve afford to pay them a lot less. They have
private schools, eight of them parochial. also learned that big advertising firms will
Of the eighteen K-5 schools that the pay a lot of money to let you put ads in
Bedlam Department of Education oversees, school cafeterias, in classrooms, inside
two are presently under renovation and textbooks and so forth. Kids are very
have been for so many years that no one impressionable, and the product loyalties
expects them to reopen. School 115 in you teach them at an early age will stay
Hardwick Park busses its students to spare with them for life. It’s incredibly valuable to
classrooms in Grissom High School. School be able to catch them between the ages of
113 is in the Country Club, and the few five and eighteen, and plenty of ad agencies
remaining kids in that district have been will pay extra for the privilege.
scattered through other Elementary Schools But of course all that money goes
throughout the system. straight back to the parent company in the
Bedlam’s public schools were once Persian Gulf. To actually run the schools
known only by three-digit code numbers. themselves, they depend largely on funds
Elementary schools all start with “1”, Middle from big sporting goods manufacturers, who
Schools with “2” and high schools with Zero. regard urban schools as farms for the
Over the years most, but not all of them, athletes who sell their products to the
have been renamed after famous public. How much money they give you
Bedlamites or US Presidents. depends on how prominent your teams are
It may be a misnomer to call them and how many award-winning athletes you
“Public Schools.” Bedlam passed a charter produce, so as a result, a talented jock can
school law which allows the actual on-the- get away with nearly anything in a Bedlam
ground management of the schools to be school. Teachers can be replaced and the
handled by for-profit companies. None of school won’t lose a dime. But if they get a
them are run by the city anymore. The reputation as a school that’s unfriendly to
state authorities claim that this is illegal, star athletes, their funding takes a nosedive.
that Bedlam has no authority to pass such a Nor are they much interested in
law and they have successfully prosecuted stamping out their gang problem—or for
them for it. The municipal government that matter admitting that it exists. In Stark
ignores this and continues to run its school Hill, Grissom High has actually turned
system its own way (ignore this last part if security duty over to the street gang called
you decide to place Bedlam in the state of the Coronets, because they keep order and
Michigan—the one place in the United States don’t charge for their services.
were it’s actually legal to farm schools out to In most of Bedlam’s schools,
for-profit entities.) security is provided either by G and T (you
Bedlam’s service provider is can find out all about this firm on Page 163)
American International Educators (people or by the Bedlam Police, which assigns
sometimes jocularly call them “AIEEE!”.) patrol officers to the schools as a
They’re a division of a Dubai-based punishment if they screw up too many times
corporation called American International on the job.
Corrections, which mostly runs prisons. Here is a brief list of Bedlam’s
They have broken the back of Bedlam’s schools, with a little information about each
once-mighty teachers’ union and as a result one.
they have been able to greatly increase the

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Public High Schools and students alike have found numerous
There are six public high schools in Bedlam. ways of subverting the system.
They vary a lot in quality. All of them but Most of the kids at Pemberton live
Pemberton High are underfunded and in Stone Ridge, but it’s also a magnet
plagued by violence. school, and some are talented students who
have been bussed in from the city.
High School 019 If you go to Pemberton, it means
Located in Greely Point, on top of the hill your family couldn’t quite afford Walgrove
overlooking the docks, this is one of Prep, or that you didn’t meet their
Bedlam’s oldest schools. It’s made of brown admissions standards. But the social
bricks and while it isn’t very large, it’s half- hierarchy is still extremely rigid and
deserted. Not many teenagers live in Greely extremely ruthless here. They are
Point and most of them attend Catholic particularly dependent on their sports teams
School. to bring in money, so jocks can get away
They don’t have enough kids to get with anything at Pemberton. This school is
a really decent football team (the pool of the least violent in Bedlam, but it has the
students who are interested is just too highest suicide rate.
small) so they bus teenage athletes in from You can still buy drugs at
Wolverton. These are just about the only Pemberton, despite all the draconian
black kids in the school. They are all security.
enrolled in the “Vocational Tech” program,
which means that they attend separate Double Zero High
classes, on a different schedule from the In fact this is High School 005, the oldest
other students. They arrive and leave at school in Bedlam. But everybody calls it
different hours, they eat their lunch at other Double Zero. Even the staff and faculty
times and they never come into contact with have taken to calling it that.
the white kids. This, of course, is racial Located on North Ellmore Drive, it’s
segregation, and it’s completely illegal. But on the border between the Hispanic
so far no one has said a word to the federal neighborhood of Hardwick Park and the
authorities about it. African-American neighborhood of
Wolverton. That’s why kids sometimes call
Austin Pemberton High it “Ground Zero.”
Small, new and clean, Pemberton is a two- It’s a huge, ugly building, four
story building that looks like it belongs in an blocks long and four stories high, that
office park. All shiny blue windows and seems to have grown at random, with
gleaming metal fixtures, it is impossible to extensions in different styles sprawling
get to on foot. The school is right across down the street. Not as bad as Bleeker or
Wulfe Drive from the Stone Ridge gated Herzog, an uneasy truce seems to be
community and no sidewalks lead there. holding here between the Hispanic and
Students who don’t have cars take the bus— African-American kids. This also helps keep
and endure a lot of teasing for it. drug-dealing down (and the violence that
This is a strictly regulated campus. goes with it), since no one group dominates
Students have to swipe their ID cards to the school. But there have been incidents,
open all doors both inside and out of the some of them bloody. And if the gang
building—which may cause a serious warfare between Wolverton and Hardwick
tragedy the first time there is a fire. The Park heats up, kids could start getting killed
school’s central computer knows every here every week.
student’s schedule and only opens
classroom doors that they are supposed to Helmut Herzog High
be in. This creates awful problems when Smaller than Bleeker or Double Zero, Herzog
students change classes, or switch High is the worst-funded school in Bedlam.
extracurricular activities, or get sent to some It’s a shabby little three-story building with a
other room by a teacher, so staff, faculty lot of broken windows. It serves all the

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students in Hardwick Park who don’t go to arch-rival, Herzog. Wolverton’s gangs aren’t
Double Zero. The overwhelming majority of as well organized as the Mara, and they
them are Hispanic—mostly Mexican, don’t control the administration or the
Salvadoran or Honduran. security guards. This is a good thing, but
Like most inner-city schools, Herzog they also get into occasional rumbles with
isn’t as dangerous as people like to think. one another in the halls (although this has
It’s important to remember that most really died down a bit since Eentsy Z built his
bad kids skip school. The majority of coalition of street gangs) No one has died
students at Herzog just want to socialize in a gang-related incident on school
with their friends, make passable grades property since 1996, and they’ve never
and get through the day, just like all high actually had a teacher get killed.
school students everywhere. Only a few are A great deal is wrong at Bleeker,
actual gang members or troublemakers. But but their football team, the Wolverton
it’s still a tough school. There are fights Wolverines, dominates the city’s high-school
here every week, and back in 2002 a circuit.
teacher was actually killed by a student.
The mood at Herzog is more subdued than Thaddeus Grissom High
it is at Bleeker, its big rival in Wolverton. Grissom High is the toughest school in
The Mara have a strong presence here and Bedlam. It’s located in Stark Hill, on the
the school authorities are afraid to tangle street that bears its name, but most of its
with them. students are bussed in from Wolverton and
Teachers and administrators are Hardwick Park. This is the school they send
perfectly safe from the Mara, so long as you to if you get expelled from Bleeker or
they don’t interfere with their drug sales and Herzog. It is a rigorously closed campus,
show gang members the proper respect. with security guards and student hall
Most play along, and so things actually run monitors posted at every exit, metal
pretty smoothly. In a weird way the Mara detectors and drug-sniffing dogs. Most of
keep order—they don’t want the police to the doors are chained shut in defiance of
get called to the school and that keeps most the fire codes. Many of the windows have
fights between students from getting out of bars and nearly all have the glass broken
hand. out.
Security is officially provided by The Principal of Grissom is “Dandy”
G&T, and there are a few cops on duty in Joe Slorkin, who is controversial for his
the school as well, but security is kind of a idiosyncratic approach to discipline and
joke here. Neither the policemen nor the security. He has implemented such severe
guards (most of whom are also off-duty measures that even the higher-ups at
cops) will interfere with the Mara. The ones American International Educators are
who aren’t being bribed still know enough to starting to worry about him. He says that to
look the other way. run a school this tough, you need to take
some pretty tough measures.
Langdon Bleeker High Among his more controversial
Most students in Wolverton attend Bleeker. innovations, he has created a student
It’s a huge old concrete battleship of a security group to patrol the halls and
building that dates to the 1950s. The school enforce classroom discipline. Slorkin points
looks like a giant grey slab. Built to out that this is more effective than
withstand riots, its windows resemble gun conventional policing. His kids know their
slits. Four stories high and four blocks long, peers better than any of his G&T security
it has yet to be filled to capacity. guards and they can spot problems that the
This is a tough school, but as guards cannot. It’s true that most members
mentioned above, that doesn’t mean that of his team are part of the Stark Hill street
teachers live in fear of their students or that gang called the Coronets, but that’s because
you take your life in your hands walking they’re the best kids for the job. They’re
down the hall. It’s a rowdier place than its

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tough and savvy and they know exactly how evacuation will be a nightmare, and then a
to spot drug dealers. tragedy.
Kids whisper that Slorkin is a
hypocrite—he’s the biggest drug dealer in Sewell Blottman Junior High
the school, and he’s in tight with the Mob. Named after one of Bedlam’s most
His crazy security measures are there to prominent bankers and, ironically, its most
keep rival gangs and other dealers out. ardent foes of integration. Mr. Blottman
That can’t be true, can it? would no doubt flip his wig if he saw his
school today. Located in Hardwick Park,
Public Middle Schools near the edge of downtown, it serves kids
Bedlam has three public middle schools. from Stark Hill all the way down to Ellmore
Randall Burkhardt M.S. serves Stone Ridge, Place. Unlike Helmut Herzog High School,
Sewell Blottman M.S. serves Stark Hill and the Mara have little influence over anything
Hardwick Park, while Carmichael Stokely at Blottman. Because kids from Stark Hill
M.S. serves Wolverton. Officially kids from get bussed there, the Mafia have issued
Greely Point are supposed to attend Stokely, standing orders that the school is off-limits
but in fact their elementary schools run to any of Hardwick Park’s gangs. Over the
through 8th grade (even though this is past few years this arrangement has slipped
against state law) and they only send their a little. It’s impossible to completely keep
worst students over the river. the Mara out, but they have learned that so
long as they only hassle Hispanic kids, and
Randall Burkhardt Middle School don’t interfere with any of the Stark Hill
Named after the only Bedlam native ever to gangs’ drug sales, the Scarpias won’t do
become the Undersecretary of the Treasury anything about it.
(during the Coolidge Administration), this The school itself is an overcrowded
junior high school serves the 6th, 7th and 8th hulk of a building, constructed over a long
grade students who live in Stone Ridge. period of time, with additions in various ugly
Officially it also covers the forested area styles tacked onto to its grim Victorian
down Wulfe Road, although few people live central wing. It looks a little like a 19th
there. A few impoverished rural kids seem century slaughterhouse, with a light
to attend every year, and swiftly find industrial construction facility, a warehouse
themselves tormented beyond all endurance and a garage somehow growing out of its
by their classmates. Randall Burkhardt is sides.
actually in the same building as Pennington There aren’t enough faculty,
High School, across Wulfe Road from Stone custodial staff or security guards here, and
Ridge. However, its students enter the there are far too many students. Kids are
building through separate doors, use packed in forty-five to a class, and there
different classrooms and have passing may be more teacher layoffs next year. One
periods at different times than the high whole wing of Blottman has been
school students, so they never encounter temporarily shut down for structural
one another. instability and no one is sure how or when
The middle school operates under they’ll get the money to repair it.
the same elaborate, dysfunctional security
protocols as the high school, although the Carmichael Stokely Junior High
students and faculty have key cards that One of the Redevelopment Commission’s
open different doors at different hours. It last projects, Carmichael Stokely was meant
also has its own completely separate (and to be a school unlike any other, which would
totally redundant) administrative staff and dominate the landscape and show
its own custodial workers. The two Wolverton how much the city cares about
administrations don’t communicate very well educating its youngsters. Instead of a
and they don’t share a coordinated disaster conventional three or four story building
plan. If there is ever a fire or another covering a block or two, they opted for a
serious emergency in the building, narrow, eight-story tower, looming down

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from the hillside near the edge of the Elementary Schools
Country Club. In order to look properly Of the eighteen public elementary schools in
imposing, the school was constructed in the Bedlam, sixteen are partly functioning and
Brutalist style, and is often mistakes for a two are more or less permanently closed for
prison (which actually makes AIE renovations that never seem to happen.
administrators more comfortable working Here are the ones that are still operating.
here.) Space doesn’t allow us to go into nearly as
The facility was grandiose, with its much detail for each one as we have for the
own greenhouse and an indoor Olympic- high schools and middle schools, but then
sized swimming pool. Escalators connected again the PCs aren’t as likely to visit them,
the floors, since students and faculty since fewer crimes are committed there.
couldn’t be expected to walk up and down
eight flights of steps all day. Best of all, Darius Mortlake Elementary
Stokely didn’t cost the city a dime. It was Not actually located on Mortlake Avenue,
the outright gift of a giant software despite the name. This is the biggest
company that was anxious to improve its elementary school in Greely Point. Like
image. Greely Point’s only high school, it doesn’t
Unfortunately, a building like have enough students, even though it keeps
Stokely Junior High takes an enormous them through the eighth grade. The
amount of maintenance, and the city just building itself is a huge old brick cavern
didn’t have to money to keep it up. Within that’s impossible to heat.
a year all the escalators had failed and the Technically it’s against the law for
pool had drained into the pump room them to teach 7th and 8th graders here
underneath. When pipes burst in the winter rather than sending them to a middle
cold, the water leaks down two or three school, but Councilman Ron Cordell (see
floors at least, damaging all the rooms in its Page 41) has done a great job of keeping
path. There are four freight elevators at the the city authorities off their backs.
corners of the building, but no more than
one or two of them seems to work at any Thurgood Marshall Elementary
given time, and of course no one but The smallest and newest of Wolverton’s
disabled students and maintenance staff are elementary schools, Marshall was built with
allowed to ride in them. No one has used a federal grant back in the 1990s and it’s in
the greenhouse for anything but storing old better shape than the other schools in the
building materials in years, and the pool has neighborhood. It was intended to be a
lain, dark shuttered and empty, since the magnet school for gifted kids at first, but
year after Stokely opened. there were too many ordinary kids crammed
The donors wanted the school to into overcrowded classrooms elsewhere. So
have a scuba team, and hundreds of now they run a separate gifted program
thousands of dollars worth of aqualungs, inside the school, while teaching regular K-5
rebreathers and other gear lies abandoned classes in most of their other classrooms.
in the rooms off the pool. The vigilante Unfortunately, a disgruntled school
Nocturne has a temporary lair in one of administrator named Henrietta Diggs is irate
those rooms, and camps out here about over the way Marshall is “misusing” the
once every two weeks. grant and she’s been raising hell with the
Rod Anger, Bedlam’s favorite right- Federal Department of Education about it.
wing radio talk show host, loves to point to Soon their grant may get pulled thanks to
Stokely and its problems as proof that the her efforts, and the school will swiftly go
residents of Wolverton can’t be trusted with downhill.
anything nice, and that government
intervention never helps anyone. Of course, Woodrow Wilson Elementary
it was in fact a private company that Located in Wolverton, this school has the
conceived the project, but he usually doesn’t best peewee football team in the city. In
mention that part. fact they’re a little too good. There are

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rumors that the school authorities have actively blocking it It’s as overcrowded as
been “red-shirting” promising athletes— Ellwood Holmes and has many of the same
holding them back a year or two in order to problems.
make them bigger and stronger. Some of
their players may be twelve or thirteen and Marion Darkwater Elementary
weigh as much as 150 pounds. While it’s named after the same Bedlam
real-estate tycoon, Darkwater Elementary
Lincoln Darger Elementary isn’t anywhere near Darkwater Street. In
Just off downtown on the edge of Hardwick fact it’s on Mortlake, in the southern part of
Park, this small school is where most of the Wolverton, which causes a lot of confusion
kids from the Meadows and the apartments when people from outside the neighborhood
around Terminal Drive get bussed. It also go looking for it.
has a lot of kids from Hardwick Park and a Overcrowded, but not quite as bad
serious shortage of Spanish-speaking as Holmes, this is where most of the
teachers. children from Bedlam’s small Jamaican
While it’s no worse than many of community attend classes. There is a lot of
Bedlam’s public schools, Darger is presently friction between the Caribbean kids and the
infamous, for this is the place where a students for some reason.
teacher named Ashley Gutreau had an This is Eentsy Z’s old elementary
inappropriate affair with one of her sixth- school, and it’s locally infamous as the place
grade students, and where the principal where he killed his first human being, at the
tried to cover the incident up rather than age of six, in a dispute over the rules of
report it. A cloud still hangs over Darger, freeze-tag. Students will tell you that you
while Miss Gutreau languishes in prison. can still see the blood on the ground where
it happened, but of course you can’t.
Ellwood Holmes Elementary
Wolverton’s largest elementary school, Lucius Hardwick Elementary
located on Ellmore Avenue near “Double This school is actually located in Wolverton,
Zero” High. It has absorbed many of the rather than Hardwick Park. Built by the
students from the closed School 119 and it’s Lucius Hardwick foundation, it reflects Mr.
packed to capacity. They bus kids here Hardwick’s personal feelings about
from all across the neighborhood and it’s education. Built specifically to resemble a
often standing room only on the busses prison and remind children to fear their
once they fill up, in direct violation of the teachers, this grey cement block has tiny
safety standards. A lot of kids from windows and bare concrete walls. This
Hardwick Park go here too, but there are actually makes it harder to keep order, since
almost no Spanish-Speaking teachers, which the building is hellishly hot in the spring and
causes constant trouble. fall thanks to its foolhardy design, and this
There are a lot of discipline makes students restless. Its high narrow
problems at Holmes. Average class size is hallways are not suited to the school’s
now up to fifty and there’s just no good way overcrowded passing periods and make it
for the school’s limited staff and faculty to even harder for teachers and security to
keep order. maintain control. It has wound up being a
school where teachers fear their students,
Elementary 118 rather than the other way around.
Hardwick Park’s biggest elementary school,
there have been efforts to rename it after Horatio Hoggard Elementary
one or another community leader, but Located just to the south of Lucius Hardwick
Hardwick Park doesn’t have enough pull on Memorial Park, this school was built in the
the Municipal Council to get it changed. late 60s and it shows unmistakably in its
There are also rumors that certain forces on architecture. The principal and
the Council don’t like the idea of a school administrators have somehow gained the ire
with a Spanish name., and have been of the gang called the Mara, although no

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one is exactly sure how. Very ominous edge of the city’s oldest Italian
graffiti has begun to appear on the walls neighborhood. It’s a tall, narrow, building,
and someone has been leaving crucified made of weathered bricks.
dogs on the front steps. Where this might Kids say there is something wrong
lead, no one knows at Weybright. The place is haunted.
Seriously haunted. Two teachers and three
Langhorne Greely Elementary students have gone insane and attempted to
Most kids in Stark Hill attend Catholic commit suicide there in the past five years.
school. For those whose families can’t
afford it, there are also a couple of Anthony Martucci Elementary
underfunded public elementary schools, This was Stark Hill’s original public school,
although it’s regarded as a real social stigma and it was once beautiful—a grand brick
to go there. Because they don’t have structure in the art nouveau style with
enough students, a lot of their classroom wedding cake curlicues all over the walls. It
space sits empty. This has made it very even has ivy growing on one side.
easy for the mob to strike crooked deals Inside it’s not as nice. The Mafia
with the school’s contractors, stealing steals every dime it can from the school’s
materials and selling them off elsewhere. budget and its facilities are falling apart.
The Reverend Willie Boggs has been trying The Municipal Council likes to hold public
hard to get the school to let Wolverton bus photo-ops on the front steps, because it
them some of their excess kids, but looks a lot like City Hall, but is in much
Councilman “Big Andy“ Czernik has always better shape.
blocked him, saying that “this is how it
starts.” Calvin Coolidge Elementary
We presume he means letting any Wolverton’s oldest and most run-down
black people into the neighborhood, even elementary school. Its facilities are in worse
for a hew hours a day, would somehow shape than any other school in the system
weaken the barriers against them. Most and nearly half of it has had to be shut
residents of Stark Hill agree. down thanks to black mold and collapsing
ceilings. Many classes are held in the
Elementary 114 parking lot in trailers, which the school calls
There are safer places to locate a school “modular classrooms.” The trailers are very
than the north end of Industrial Drive. The hot in summer and very cold in winter and
six lanes of traffic roaring past are they smell bad.
dangerous enough for the school busses, let Some community activists have
alone the students. At least there’s no actually been calling for Coolidge to get torn
longer very much pollution from the dying down. But then where would all the kids
factories. go?
Sometimes objects fly off the back
of passing trucks and bounce into the Roland Woodworth Elementary
playground, so the kids are no longer This school serves the children of Stone
allowed to go outside for recess. Last year Ridge. It’s a gleaming, shiny new cube of
a car came crashing into the second story of bulletproof glass, located on Wulfe Road
the building and it’s still stuck there now. directly across from the Stone Ridge gated
No one seems to know how to remove it or community. It is of course impossible for
what to do about it. Some people say it’s students to walk to and from school, but
made the building structurally unsound, but most Stone Ridge parents think that’s a
all the local schools are so overcrowded that good thing and will keep their kids out of
it wouldn’t make sense to shut 114 down. trouble. Nowhere is there more advertising
in the Bedlam public schools than at
Dorothea Weybright Elementary Woodworth, since these are the kids who
This is Greely Point’s second elementary will grow up to have disposable income.
school, located on Moon Avenue on the

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Elementary 105 younger age than most experts think is safe
On Storch Avenue, near Ash Street, sits or healthy, in order to help them get ahead.
Bedlam’s smallest elementary school. It It’s the only elementary school in Bedlam
serves the needs of the few remaining kids where students commit suicide on a regular
from the Country Club, as well as those who basis.
are unlucky enough to live on or around Ash Of course, the very richest families
Street. It’s also where about half of the can pay for the “Accelerated Program,” an
children from the giant trailer park called alternative “free-school” within the school
Shady Meadows attend school—the other where students get to learn at their own
half go to rural schools run by the county. pace, lounging around and taking endless
This mix of impoverished inner-city kids and breaks, fiddling with projects when it suits
trailer trash has led to an explosive them.
atmosphere. The city authorities aren’t fully
aware of the fact, but this is the school with Walgrove Prep
the worst discipline problem in the city. This exclusive private school is down Wulfe
More fights happen on the playground here Road from the Stone Ridge gated
than at any school in Wolverton or Hardwick community, just off the edge of the map.
Park. Frequently brawls spread out across The campus looks old, with brown brick
the whole yard and become impossible to buildings covered in ivy. But in fact
break up without calling in the police. Walgrove is new—it was constructed within
It also has the worst record of parents the past ten years, after Stone Ridge
physically intimidating or assaulting teachers opened. Its brick facades cover walls made
(these incidents usually happen when of hastily-poured concrete and the ivy is
teachers attempt to discipline children constantly tended by the groundskeeping
whose parents are members of Shady staff. Walgrove costs a lot of money but
Meadows’ dominant biker gang) their admissions standards aren’t very high
and the faculty aren’t very distinguished. A
Private and Parochial Schools lot of them have PhDs, but most of them
But of course not every kid in Bedlam has to are here because even with a PhD they can’t
attend its failing public schools. For the find jobs at the University level.
lucky few whose parents can afford it, there Getting admitted to Walgrove is all
are alternatives. See below for some of about your personal interview, which in turn
them. The GM should feel free to invent is all about finding out which family you
more. come from. Once you are admitted, the
faculty’s job is to bend over backwards to
Hugo Grimm Friends’ School give you as many A’s as possible so that you
The Quakers were once a despised minority can get into an Ivy League school on the
in Bedlam and their children were forbidden basis of your inflated GPA.
to attend the town’s schools. They were Walgrove is officially a boarding
allowed to build a school of their own, a school, although most of its students have
safe distance away from town, on what is their own cars and live so close by that they
now Krangle Street in Greely Point. It is go home almost every night and use the
now the best and most coveted private dorms mostly to party in. There is a small
elementary school in Bedlam, teaching only unhappy group of scholarship students from
the children of its richest citizens. Everyone all around the country who do not have that
in Stone Ridge hopes to get their privilege. They are here to give the school
kindergartener into Hugo Grimm. some academic standing and its students
It’s a beautiful red-brick building some low-class nerds to persecute. These
surrounded by tasteful landscaping and kids live in the dorms full-time, so jocks
huge elm trees. Inside, the best-paid always know where to find them when it’s
teachers in the city watch over tiny classes. time to beat someone up and destroy their
It’s a bit of an academic pressure-cooker, stuff.
piling far more work on its students at a far

133
Our Lady of the Five Wounds Textbooks and lab supplies are in
The largest educational institution in Stark particularly short supply, and students often
Hill, this parochial school offers instruction have to share a book.
for Kindergarten through the 12th grade,
although not all in one building. There are Abundant Tabernacle Christian
in fact three separate campuses, one for Academy
Kindergarten through sixth grade, one for This Pentecostal “True Love Christian
seventh and eighth grade and one for high School” instructs children in the One Way,
school students. All three have the same along with reading and basic math. They
archaic, faux-gothic look, with lots of ornate proudly teach their students only “the Truth
fake stonework made out of cement and of Christian-Based Science” as opposed to
rusty cast-iron fences with spikes on the actual science. Nor do they teach children
top. the corrupting and satanic “irrational”
Our Lady of the Five Wounds is not numbers, like Pi and its demonic ilk.
very progressive as far as Catholic schools Quadratic equations, which have also been
go. Bishop Sloat (see page 44) was once shown by Revealed Interpretation of the
the headmaster here, and he implemented Law to be satanic in origin, are never taught
the most severe system of corporal here either.
punishment in decades. He used to Abundant Tabernacle has more than
implement a lot of the physical discipline one campus. Their main facility is located in
himself, and after two boys died while he the Meadows, in a large, tacky white
ministered to their disciplinary needs, he building shaped something like a tent or a
was hastily promoted to a position where he postmodern church, covered with windows.
would have no direct contact with students They also operate smaller, store-front
and parishioners. But his legacy lives on. schools in strip malls in Wolverton, Hardwick
In a lot of schools, physical Park and Stark Hill. They also have a
punishment is confined to a single room, branch in the Liberty Shoppes Mall that’s
administered with a paddle under strict exclusively for 7th and 8th graders.
guidelines. While they certainly have There are rumors that some of their
paddles at Our lady of the Five Wounds, the older students have formed a more radical
monks and nuns who teach there don’t feel clique within the school, and have been
confined to use them, and are free to get talking about taking Direct Action against
students’ attention by slapping them, or the unrighteous, perhaps with pipe bombs.
twisting their ears, or picking them up by More than one teacher sympathizes with
their hair (if they’re small and light enough) their aims and may be encouraging them.
etc. Sometimes they hit kids for breaking Nor is it clear whether or not they are just
the rules and sometimes they do it to make talking tough, or whether they actually have
sure they’re listening, or to emphasize a the means to put these plans into action. If
point, or for no reason at all. rival cliques of adolescents start getting
There is some question of whether blown up by pipe bombs, we’ll know for
or not the disciplinary procedures at Our sure.
Lady of the Five Wounds are strictly legal.
But Municipal Councilman “Big Andy” Notable people within the Bedlam
Czernik has done a good job of shielding School System
them from official inquiries—he doesn’t see Some are the stat-blocks and background
why today’s kids shouldn’t have to go material on the next few pages are meant
through all the suffering he went through for teachers, while some are for
himself back in school. administrators. Apart from Principal Joe
While all three campuses of Our Slorkin, none of them are tied specifically to
Lady of the Five Wounds are better funded any one school—you can spread them
than the Bedlam Public schools, they are still around wherever you need them for your
in a state of decay, with a declining number stories.
of students and crumbling facilities.

134
Principal Headly Dingman Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1
PL: 3 Defense: 1 Toughness Save: 0
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Fortitude Save: 0 Reflexes Save: 0
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0) Willpower Save: 0
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1 Skills: Computers 3 (+4), Diplomacy 3
Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 3 (1 without (+2), Intimidate 2 (+1), Knowledge (Civics)
body armor) 1 (+2), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 1 (+2),
Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 3 Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 2
Willpower Save: 0 (+3), Notice 4 (+6), Profession (high school
Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Computers 2 (+3), administrator) 3 (+4), Sense Motive 1 (+1)
Diplomacy 3 (+3), Gather Information 1 Complications: Does not care about his
(+1), Intimidate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) job at all
1 (+2), Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 2 Background: Stultz has totally given up on
(+3), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 1 (+2), his school, his job and anything else apart
Notice 4 (+6), Profession (high school from punching the clock. He is seldom seen
administrator) 4 (+5), Search 1 (+3), Sense in the corridors of his school and some kids
Motive 1 (+3), Stealth 2 (+3) are starting to wonder if he even exists. For
Feats: Startle the most part he stays barricaded in his
Equipment: Body Armor (3 Toughness), office, wasting time at his desk, playing
Baseball Bat (Melee Weapon, 2 Damage), Minesweeper on his laptop (the office
Bullhorn doesn’t have a PC) and waiting until the bell
Complications: Paranoid, obsessive rings. He leaves almost all the day-to-day
compulsive, fears and hates kids details of running the school in the hands of
Background: Headly Dingman has gone a his assistants and they aren’t doing it very
little nuts. The stress of his job and his well. He has also taken to drinking during
constant fears for his own personal security the day.
have made him a paranoid loon. He Those few students and faculty who
communicates with students through a have seen Mr. Stultz report him to be a
bullhorn and routinely wears riot gear at great fat orca of a man with dangling jowls,
public assemblies. He never goes anywhere and a lot of stubble on his cheeks. His voice
without an armed escort of security guards. is thick, met and indistinct. He dresses with
Constantly convinced that students are the absolute minimum level of formality he
mocking him and plotting against him can get away with—jeans and a dress shirt
behind his back, he sometimes holds with no tie. Frankly, if he could come to
impromptu “security Sweeps”, raiding work in a bathrobe, he would.
lockers and classrooms at random,
terrorizing any kids unlucky enough to get in Principal Nellie Rittle
his path. He’s also getting unstable, hearing PL: 2
voices and developing weird rituals and Str: 7 (-2) Dex: 10 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
delusions. Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
All his craziness has left him a less- Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
than capable administrator, and a lot of the Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 1
school’s problems are growing out of control Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 2
under his nose. Willpower Save: 3
Dingman is a completely bald man Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Computers 2 (+3),
with huge bug-eyed glasses and deep lines Diplomacy 3 (+5), Intimidate 5 (+7),
in his face. He often seems to be looking Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+2), Knowledge
past you, rather than at you as he speaks. (Earth Sciences) 1 (+3), Knowledge
(Physical Sciences) 1 (+3), Knowledge
Principal Hermann Stultz (Popular Culture) 1 (+3), Notice 4 (+6),
PL: 1 Profession (high school administrator) 4
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 10 (+0) (+6), Sense Motive 4 (+6)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 8 (-1) Feats: Distract (Linked to Intimidate),

135
Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate), Startle, regards his school is falling apart. His other
Taunt secret is a little more serious.
Background: A spindly little loudmouth A huge, muscular guy, he has
bully, Rittle claims to be a tough, take-no- always been attractive to teenage girls. And
prisoners, “zero tolerance” principal. But he’s weak and foolish enough to take
that’s really kind of a joke. She is good at advantage of the fact. To tell you the truth,
pushing kids around and devising bizarre he’s been going through them like popcorn,
punishments for them, but she knows better ever since he took this job. The Mob has
than to ever actually mess with any gang found out about his problem, and they are
members and carefully avoids noticing any blackmailing him with it. As long as he runs
of the real criminal activity going on in her his school, drugs will be sold there without
school. any interference from his office.
It’s just a job to her. She privately For his part, Poke is so scared about
feels that she has no hope of changing his inadequacy as a manager to worry much
anything, so why bother trying? But it’s a lot about his other situation. He’s a big,
of fun to shove kids around and it makes impressive looking African-American guy
her popular with the parents. Anyway she with a moustache. He always dresses
has to do something to fill her day. impeccably, with an expensive suit and
A genuine sadist, she gets a carefully dimpled tie. Girls swoon over him.
particular thrill out of verbally abusing pretty
girls. It’s even better if they look shy and Principal Joe Slorkin
vulnerable. PL: 5
A tiny woman with hunched Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
shoulders, she might have been pretty Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
fifteen years ago but her personality has Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 5
begun to inscribe itself indelibly on her face. Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 5
She never raises her voice, and speaks in a Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5
quiet, menacing purr.
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Diplomacy 4 (+6),
Intimidate 7 (+9), Investigate 4 (+4),
Principal Lloyd Poke
Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+6), Knowledge
PL: 3
(Streetwise) 4 (+7), Notice 6 (+9),
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3) Profession (high school administrator) 3
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) (+6), Profession (mobster) 4 (+7), Search 3
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 (+6), Stealth 3 (+3)
Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 4 Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Improved
Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 0 Grapple, Improved Pin, Leadership, Master
Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Diplomacy 4 (+6), Plan, Quick-Draw, Startle, Taunt
Knowledge (Streetwise) 1 (+1), Profession Equipment: Huge Pistol (Ranged Weapon,
(football coach) 7 (+7), Profession (high 4 Damage), Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon,
school administrator) 3 (+3) 5 Damage; Extra: Autofire)
Feats: Attractive, Endurance, Fast Overrun, Complications: Owes his first loyalty to
Improved Overrun, Improved Pin, Inspire the Scarpia Borgatta and his second to the
Background: Poke has a couple of secrets school district
that he’d like to conceal. First, he doesn’t Background: Grissom High is the toughest
actually have a degree in education—he’s school in Bedlam. It takes a tough guy to
just a football coach who was willing to go run it, or so Joe Slorkin will happily tell you.
along with crushing the teachers’ union, and He has made all kinds of reforms, intended
that’s the only reason he got this job. He’s to tighten security and stamp out crime.
not up to it, and has no training as either a Grissom’s security services, for example, are
teacher or an administrator. He does know provided by Garvin and Torsberg Ltd, but
a lot about coaching football and the teams they don’t have enough officers to patrol the
have done well under him. But in other halls, they don’t speak the kids’ lingo and
they aren’t present in classrooms. So

136
Principal Slorkin has created a student It’s important to remember that
security group made up of kids he can trust most people don’t know Principal Slorkin is a
(all of them members of the Coronets street crook, and neither do most of the students
gang and its affiliates) to help keep order in at Grissom. To the world he’s just a tough
ways that the regular security guards guy with a tough job to do.
cannot. They use this power to harass more
or less anyone they want, all with the Julie Wylde
principal’s help and encouragement. PL: 2
They have also helped him bring the Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
school’s drug problem under control. The Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
Coronets sell all the drugs in his school and Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0
he takes a piece of the action. Anyone Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 1
caught selling drugs who isn’t one of his Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 2
boys will get sent to Juvenile Hall and very Willpower Save: 1 (2 vs. mental attacks)
swiftly get killed there. Skills: Diplomacy 5 (+7), Knowledge
This is making him really rich and (Arcane Lore) 1 (+3), Knowledge (Popular
getting him a lot of respect from the Scarpia Culture) 3 (+5), Knowledge (Theology and
Crime family. He’s not Sicilian, so he can Philosophy) 3 (+5), Notice 2 (+3), Perform
never be a Made Guy, but he’s a valued (Singing) 2 (+4), Perform (Stringed
associate and they would take it ill if Instruments) 1 (+3), Profession (teacher) 3
anything bad were to happen to him. (+5), Sense Motive 1 (+2), Stealth 1 (+2)
Slorkin is a short, fat, violent man Feats: Ritualist
with huge furry eyebrows and sunken red- Powers: Mind Shield 1
rimmed eyes. He dresses in hideous brown Background: It’s hard to believe, but Miss
polyester suits and has offensive body odor. Wylde actually commutes into Bedlam every
The Scarpias call him “Dandy Joe”, but it’s morning on the train from the larger
ironic (much like “Dapper” Donny Scarpia) metropolis nearby, in order to work at an
He usually goes around the school flanked inner city school. She does this because she
by two of his largest hall monitors. feels it’s the right thing to do.
Amazingly for a high school Wispy and willowy, with a soft,
principal, he is openly racist, and wants to diffident voice and long grey hair, you can
make sure his Coronets keep their boots on guess instantly that she’s former flower
the black kids’ necks. Slorkin has a bad child, even before you see her peasant skirt
temper and is prone to striking people who and her hippie jewelry. She has recently
annoy him, but he keeps it under control at separated from her long-term boyfriend and
school. He also has a cruel sense of humor has thrown herself deeper into her work.
and likes to make ugly jokes at the expense She’s determined to make a difference.
of his black and Hispanic students. He Julie wants to be involved in her students’
never does this around grown-ups, however. lives and she sometimes gets a little too
Seen as a rising power within the involved. Many of her students have wound
mob, he has somehow gained the enmity of up sleeping on her couch when they couldn’t
“Little Junior” Gorganzua, Young Junior’s safely go home and she has done even
wastrel son. Little Junior seems to think riskier things. Not once has she ever slept
that some of Slorkin’s Coronets showed him with a student, but she has smoked dope
disrespect, but he might just feel jealous of with them on occasion and by the standards
him as a rising star. If Pookie (see Page of the Bedlam school system, that’s nearly
250 for more about this biker warlord) tires as bad. She’s also been teaching Marxism
of working for crazy Little Junior, he will in her class, but no one in the administration
probably try to switch over to Dandy Joe pays any attention to this.
Slorkin’s bunch, and may find himself It’s only a matter of time before her
appointed Assistant Principal of Grissom recklessness gets her into serious trouble,
High. either with the gangs or with the law. Or
with worse things. Julie is a practicing

137
witch, although not a very powerful one. If The other science teachers on the
one of her students gets in trouble with faculty resent and are perplexed by him.
sinister unseen forces, she will try to help With his PhD and multiple engineering
them. Julie knows just enough about magic degrees, he could be making real money in
to get them both in really serious danger. the private sector. What is he doing
teaching science in Bedlam? It’s almost like
Euclid D. Farnham he enjoys teaching underprivileged kids—
but that’s so crazy no one wants to believe
it. At any rate he’s clearly not one of them,
so they avoid him. He doesn’t seem to care.
Wildly enthusiastic, with a crazy
mop of hair that hangs in his eyes, he’s the
very picture of the mad scientist. Farnham
is not actually that great a teacher—he talks
too fast and seldom spends enough time on
review, but he’s certainly a memorable
instructor and he really does get kids
interested in science.
A real live gadgeteer, his theories
were too startling for the mainstream
research community, most of whom
dismissed him as a crackpot. That’s why
he’s a public school teacher instead. And a
lot of his theories really are confused bunk.
He seems to have dabbled in nearly every
crackpot pseudo-science theory out there,
from cryptozoology to Orgonne therapy to
the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky.
Euclid Farnham seems to be one of
PL: 4 those gadgeteers who can make weird
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) machines with the power of his mind, rather
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1) than a bona-fide scientific genius. He leads
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 1 the school’s Science Club and many of his
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0 best students are members. All of them are
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 2 smart inner-city youngsters who love Mr.
Farnham—or at least love the incredible
Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Concentration 5 (+7),
things that he’s shown them (Farnham
Computers 6 (+9), Craft (chemical) 6 (+9),
himself is kind of a wild-eyed enigma and
Craft (electronic) 6 (+9), 2nd Craft Skill
sometimes a little scary.) They have started
(mechanical) 6 (+9), Disable Device 6 (+9),
calling themselves the League of Science
Knowledge (Life Sciences) 8 (+11),
and they may be about to get into deep,
Knowledge (Physical Science) 8 (+11),
bad trouble.
Knowledge (technology) 8 (+11), Notice 5
Euclid Farnham has already taken
(+7), Profession (teacher) 4 (+7)
them on an incredible voyage to the insides
Feats: Beginner's Luck, Inventor, Skill
of their minds and one into another
Mastery (both Craft Skills, Knowledge
dimension, and he nearly lost a few of them
[physical science] Knowledge [technology]),
both times. He’s much too absent-minded
Well-Informed
and focused on his loony theories to really
Background: Mr. Farnham teaches science
care very much about his students, and he’s
at one of Bedlam’ inner-city schools. It
totally irresponsible.
could be a high school or a junior high or
Right now the League of Science is
just possibly a grade school (although this
building a rocketship out of junk, down at
would be harder to fit.)
an old salvage yard on Industrial Drive.

138
This ridiculous contraption will really work, (wrestling coach) 5 (+5), Sense Motive 1
so long as Mr. Farnham is there to watch it (+2), Stealth 1 (+2)
launch, and it will be capable of inter- Feats: Diehard, Distract (Linked to
planetary (and possibly even interstellar) Intimidate), Fascinate (Linked to
flight. This adventure could put them in a Intimidate), Improved Grab, Improved
truly amazing amount of danger, but it’s Grapple, Improved Pin, Rage 3, Startle
nothing compared to what might happen if Equipment: Body Armor (4 Toughness),
they form a detective agency and start using Big Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Damage),
forensic science to solve local crimes in Shotgun (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage),
Wolverton. Their teacher isn’t nearly brave Submachine Gun (Ranged Weapon, 4
or capable enough to protect them against Damage; Extra: Autofire)
the likes of Eentsy Z or the Jigsaw Man. Background: Mr. Matusik is a bluff, hearty
And there’s all kinds of other trouble Driver’s Ed. teacher. He used to coach
they could get them into. If a dimensional wrestling, but his back got too bad for it, so
rift gets opened in a classroom or a school now he teaches kids how to drive. Loud
robotics project falls in love with a and enthusiastic, he can be a little
cheerleader or a bunch of students get overbearing but he’s never cruel.
shrunk down to microscopic size, you can be He’s a big guy, with hands like
sure that Euclid D. Farnham is mixed up in it knotted tree roots and a floridly red face.
somewhere. He’s also filling his students’ Divorced, he collects guns in his off-hours
heads with useless rubbish that isn’t real and he drinks too much. He has an uneasy
science. truce with his shy, bookish teenaged
daughter, Marissa. They inhabit the same
Reggie Matusik house but have little to do with each other.
This is about to change.
Marissa is going to come home one
night sobbing. Some jocks caught her in
the halls and threatened to do things to her,
soon. Reggie attempts to have them
brought up for discipline, but finds that
under the current regime, the school isn’t
willing to do anything about the problem.
Each day the same crowd of boys taunts
Marissa with her impending fate, and no one
does a thing. Then one night, she doesn’t
come home until dawn. They got her. She
commits suicide the next day.
Sensing that Reggie might be
feeling a little raw about this, the boys who
assaulted his daughter start taunting him
PL: 4 about it. So he decides to teach them a
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) lesson in Driver’s Ed. The GM can let this
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) play out in one of two ways.
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4
Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 4 (1 without The Driver’s Ed Teacher
body armor) After drinking and crying all night, Reggie
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 2 Matusik comes into school with some guns
Willpower Save: 1 from his collection and holds the whole
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Craft (Mechanical) 4 place hostage. He’s sobbing and talking
(+4), Drive 5 (+6), Intimidate 5 (+6), incoherently and he isn’t completely sure
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 2 (+2), what he wants. It’s revenge, though. He’s
Knowledge (Technology) 3 (+3), Notice 2 pretty sure of that. He’s going to try to get
(+3), Profession (teacher) 3 (+3, Profession all the athletes who attacked his daughter

139
into the Driver’s Education simulator room, Feats: Chokehold, Diehard, Distract (Linked
along with the principal and any other to Intimidate), Fascinate (Linked to
administrators he has a grudge against. If Intimidate), Fearless, Fearsome Presence 3,
he can get them down there, he will force Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
them into the simulators, tape them in place Improved Pin, Startle
with duct tape and play the simulation with Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Drive 5 (+6), Intimidate
them, shouting out questions about what 8 (+12), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 2
they ought to do in this or that driving (+2), Knowledge (Technology) 3 (+4),
situation. If they get a question wrong, he Notice 2 (+5), Profession (teacher) 3 (+4),
shoots them or hits them with a Profession (wrestling coach) 3 (+4), Stealth
sledgehammer or sets them on fire. 5 (+5)
By now a SWAT team has Powers: Immunity 31 (Critical Hits, all
assembled in front of the building. If they Fortitude Effects), Mind Shield 2, Protection
storm the place everyone is likely to die, 4 (Impervious), Super-Senses (Darkvision),
including innocent kids who may get caught Super-Strength 4 (Flaw: Limited [does not
in the crossfire. If a superhero wants to go allow him to lift more than his carrying
into the building and negotiate with the capacity, useful only to wrestle opponents])
crazed driver’s ed instructor, the cops will Complications: Monster from beyond,
give them a few minutes. utterly focused on vengeance and driver
safety
The Driver’s Ed Teacher II: In-Car
Reggie drinks himself to death the night
before he was planning to go postal at the
school. But he comes back from the dead a
few weeks later, just a little decayed and
thirsty for revenge. He will steal one of the There are two colleges in the vicinity of
school’s drivers’ ed training cars, weld a Bedlam. A two-year community college and
bunch of fishhooks and razor blades to the a four-year private school. Both are
body, make some lethal modifications to the troubled, but they have very different
interior and go hunting jocks. He will run problems. See below.
some of them over, but others he will take
on terrifying rides with him, quizzing them Bedlam Community College
on driving safety and then either killing BCC has three campuses. One is located
them in the car or dumping them at high downtown, on the third through the eighth
speed when they get a question wrong. floors of a skyscraper. There is also a very
small campus in Greely Point, near Griswold
Driver’s Ed Teacher Double Feature Street. It consists of a single small
Or feel free to combine the two plots. If nondescript brick building, shaped like a
Reggie gets killed during Scenario One, have concrete block. BCC’s auto and diesel
him come back from the grave for Scenario program is located in a big garage in the
Two. Meadows.
Their automotive program is pretty
Reggie Matusik, Undead Driver’s Ed good. The rest of their departments are
Teacher from Hell maybe not so great. Particularly in the area
PL: 5 of Liberal Arts.
Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: n/a Publicly funded school buses pick
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 18 (+4) students up from three locations in Stark Hill
Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 6 and one location on Ellmore Place, on the
Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 4 boundary between Wolverton and Hardwick
(impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a Park. The young people who go to Bedlam
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 3 (5 CC are a pretty rough crowd, apart from the
vs. mental attacks) Drama and Communications students. The
seats on the buses are all slashed up and

140
covered with gang graffiti. Members of Irish sororities. A small Greek Row spills down a
and Italian gangs from Stark Hill regularly country lane behind the college. It’s not a
come into contact with their traditional good place to find yourself on a Saturday
enemies from Wolverton and Hardwick Park night if you don’t belong to one of the
on campus, so brawls are common and fraternal orders.
sometimes bloody. Belchner’s football team is
Meanwhile the Drama and surprisingly good, but that’s because they
Communications Departments continue to bring in talented inner-city athletes and
function in a whole separate world up on house them separately from the other kids.
the eighth floor of the downtown campus. Even though they aren’t comprised of
They have recently started offering courses mainstream students, Belchner’s teams
in TV production and the local PBS station is inspire fanatical loyalty among the frats.
produced in their facilities. Whenever the team wins its homecoming
There is a small bohemian crowd of game, the frats raid the student dormitories,
theater students who hang around near the drag underclassmen’s belongings out onto
college downtown. They are just starting to the quad and set them on fire. The
discover the Circle Perk Coffee Shop (see administration regards this tradition with a
page 192.) nod and a wink. Boys will be boys, after all,
and when they are men, they will be able to
Belchner College write big checks for the school’s
Down Krangle Road from Bedlam (to the endowment.
west, if you’re using the map the way it’s The one real problem with life at
printed instead of turning it on its side) you Belchner, according to most students, is the
can find America’s least prestigious private lack of any nightlife in the area. The school
college. It’s a small, red brick campus with is off in the forest and the nearest town is
ivy on its dignified-looking old buildings and Bedlam. More and more students have
beer cans strewn everywhere. A lot of the started exploring Bedlam as an
beautiful leaded glass windows have been entertainment option. For now they seldom
smashed out by successive generations of venture further than the Meadows, but a
students. It’s not uncommon to see heavy few of the more adventurous have taken to
19th century furniture lying on the quad, haunting the illegal nightclubs on Industrial
soaking up the rain. Drive. They often feel uncomfortable there,
Belchner has been serving America’s but the steady supply of teenage girls from
rich and troubled youth for more than a Stone Ridge keeps them coming back.
hundred years. A private institution, its Groups of hellraising Belchner frat-
tuition is as high as Amherst or Princeton, boys are becoming a more and more
but its admission standards are more like common sight in Bedlam. They frequently
Bedlam Community College. This makes it go armed and they always travel in big
the place of last refuge for privileged groups. This has already started to cause
students who have managed to get serious friction with some of the locals, who
themselves kicked out of Dartmouth, are frequently armed themselves.
Georgetown, Tufts, etc. It has the singular The campus cops have standing
distinction of always being rated dead last in orders to retrieve Belchner students who get
US News and World Reports’ annual list of into trouble in the city before the Bedlam
private colleges and universities. And to be police have a chance to. So long as the kids
fair, its focus on academics isn’t as strong as confine their antics to the Meadows, this is
it might be. Fortunately for athletes and easy. Police response time there is slow
less-motivated students in need of a degree, and it’s not within Bedlam’s city limits.
they offer majors in fields like Hotel Getting them out of trouble on Industrial
Management, in addition to more traditional Drive is a lot trickier. If students get taken
curricula. in by the campus cops, they’re sure to get a
Social life at Belchner revolves stern talking-to from the Dean. In the
around its venerable fraternities and custody of the Bedlam Police, who knows?

141
Despite what you may have heard, business ahead, Stuckey often remarked. He made
is not dead in Bedlam. Here is a guide to his destiny with his own two hands.
some of the City of Now’s biggest Wolfram had left all kinds of
employers. Please note that this list is not incredible designs and engineering marvels
comprehensive. There is room for more, behind him, and once Mr. Stuckey had the
depending on what your campaign needs. FBI confiscate the plans from his old
Perhaps Toxicorp (see Page 183), the business partner’s widow, he was set for the
world’s largest manufacturer of poisons, has next forty years. He became the confidante
a chemical plant out on Industrial Drive. of kings and presidents—an essential man.
Perhaps some sinister corporation from your A lot of American corporate executives were
own campaign has opened a Bedlam office. sent to prison for doing business with the
Nazis during World War Two, but there was
Wolfram Aerospace never any question of doing that to Mort
(name suggested by John McMullen) Stuckey.
We keep making reference in this book to “a Yet while his name was known and
large aerospace firm” which runs a lot of feared in the corridors of power, Stuckey
Bedlam’s government institutions at a profit. and Wolfram Aerospace came to avoid the
They are Wilfred Krebbs’ employer (you can public eye. Other captains of industry
find out more about Bedlam’s City Manager enjoyed being in the limelight, but Stuckey
on Page 39) and they own all of Bedlam’s always felt more at home in the shadows.
parking meters, among other things. We And so not many people today know his
intended to leave the firm’s identity open for name, or for that matter the name of his
the GM. Every campaign world seems to company. They’re as big as Lockheed or
have at least one vast and sinister Boeing, but no more better known than, for
corporation with evil plans and a bottomless example, the Carlyle Group.
lust for power. Choose whichever you like. This suits a company whose best
But if you don’t actually have one prepared, work has always been on secret projects.
here’s Wolfram Aerospace to use as a Max Wolfram’s chief innovations were in jet
placeholder. None of our future publications engines—he was decades ahead of anyone
will tie them into the background of Bedlam else. So they built high-altitude spy planes
in such a way as to make it hard to replace and super-fast fighter-craft and the missiles
them with your own Big Awful Company— that could shoot them down. Their best
we promise. money-makers weren’t declassified for
Wolfram Aerospace has been in decades after the Air Force had retired
operation since the 1930s. They are huge, them. When the age of spy satellites
but quiet and low-key. In all their years of dawned they were at the very forefront.
existence, they have never run a television They also researched anti-parahuman
commercial. The company was founded by measures and got entangled with some of
Max Wolfram, maverick inventor and the government’s most secret agencies in an
aviator, though he soon lost control of the effort to secure live test subjects for this
firm to his more aggressive and business- work. They were one of the first
savvy partner, Mort Stuckey. Although commercial manufacturers of armored
Wolfram himself died in poverty and battlesuits, although they’ve never managed
despair, Stuckey kept the name. He also to make them as effective as the designs
kept alive the image of the lone inventor, that some superheroes have developed, or
and often spoke fondly of his late friend’s cost-effective enough to equip an entire
gumption and pioneer spirit. Max Wolfram army with them. They have a special permit
didn’t need no union or no New Deal to get from the federal government to equip their
own security staff with powered-armor,

142
although each of their suits is so expensive Humanity, Inc.
and requires so much maintenance that it’s These days, one of Bedlam’s biggest
isn’t practical to have more than a few of employers is a temp firm. Humanity Inc.
them active at a time. It’s less well known employs huge numbers of day-laborers at
that a number of their suits have been countless sites all over Bedlam. They’ve
prone to lethal malfunctions or that the been instrumental at undermining the
average lifespan of their pilots is something longshoreman’s union down at Bedlam
like five years. Harbor, although the Gorganzua crime
Artificial intelligence was one of family has largely kept them out of Greely
their other major areas of research, Point. If you see a bunch of wretches
although they don’t talk about what toiling outside at some miserable unskilled
successes they might have achieved here. job (picking up scraps and broken pieces of
They also acquired one of the country’s metal on a construction site, for example)
leading pioneers in cybernetics (Body- then they probably work for Humanity. If
Hammer LLC) and through them they have you see them doing it without proper safety
built the Pentagon Protection Force’s small gear, then you know it for sure. Humanity
staff of cybernetic bodyguards (see Page has always kept its profits high by keeping
89.) This project has not been without its its costs low. It’s cheaper to bribe safety
challenges. Few of their cyborgs can endure inspectors, for example, than it is to buy
the pain and neurological damage that the your men work gloves and goggles. And
process causes for more than a few years. should a worker lose a finger or an eye,
There have been incidents. The only really there are plenty more guys to fill his boots.
successful test subject cost something like Humanity’s local offices are
six billion dollars to build, and that’s not downtown, but the facility where men wait
exactly cost-effective. to be sent out on jobs is a giant Quonset
In 1974 President Nixon was forced hut by a broken-down factory on Industrial
to resign and this so enraged Mort Stuckey Drive. Not really constructed for human
that he died of a heart attack. But his spirit habitation, it’s very cold in winter, very hot
still guides the company—and perhaps his in summer and there’s nowhere to sit down.
brain as well. His head was placed in They also have a pickup location in
cryogenic suspension upon his death, and Hardwick Park, behind the burnt-out ruins of
there are rumors that it still presides over a Wunder-Chuk restaurant. Large numbers
meetings of the board. of undocumented Hispanic workers stand
The current CEO of Wolfram does patiently around the lot in the pre-dawn
not advertise his name in the press. No one chill, waiting for trucks to pull up and
is quite sure who it could be. Their home foremen to start yelling for “guys who want
offices are in Delaware, but their to work today.”
construction and testing facilities are mostly It’s better than the other places you
located in Nevada, New Mexico, Kazakhstan can wait for day labor—Humanity doesn’t
and (it is rumored) Antarctica. Possibly on pay much, but at least you know for sure
the floor of the Pacific Ocean, as well. They that they really will pay you at the end of
don’t have an office in Bedlam. the day. And they never ask uncomfortable
City management is strictly a questions about your immigration status or
sideline for Wolfram Aerospace. Player your criminal record.
Characters who attempt to tamper with their Because it’s a valuable resource, the
affairs will soon find that not only do they gang called the Mara control access to the
have a small army of power-armored thugs, pickup point in Hardwick Park. You have to
but the capacity to hire a seemingly pay them a fee to wait there, and you have
unlimited number of supervillains. Wolfram to be in good standing with the gang (no
also has an enormous amount of clout with members of your family can owe the Mara
some of the Federal Government’s scariest money or have shown them disrespect.)
agencies. Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik
doesn’t like Humanity. The dockworkers’

143
union has been good to him and to his Bedlam is already seeing the results
supporters, and the giant temp firm has of Reliable Mortgage’s generosity.
undercut them pretty badly. Unable to get Wolverton is suddenly awash in
Big Andy’s patronage, they have become foreclosures. They sell sucker loans to
political allies of the Reverend Willie Boggs desperate people, often showing the client
and his political machine. The local chapter forged documents that offer different rates
of the Dockworkers’ union was largely made than what they’ll really be getting. A few
up of guys from Stark Hill and Greely Point, months into the deal they jack the rates
who always discouraged African-Americans through the roof, the client loses their house
from joining, so Boggs feels no loyalty to and they sell it to the next sucker. Or to
them. some stupid yuppie in another state who
Humanity is owned by a group of thinks he’s going to make a killing in the
investors in Sweden called the Karsten- real-estate market.
Borghelm Group. They have branches all Of course a lot of people are also
over the United States, Eastern Europe and desperate to move out of the city and into
South Africa. So far as anyone knows no Stone Ridge. And here Reliable is happy to
actual company executive has ever set foot help you too. They’ll sell you a big ugly
in Bedlam. house you can’t afford and when they dial
up the rates and take it away from you,
Reliable Mortgage there’s always another poor bastard
One of the nation’s largest mortgage standing in line for it.
brokers has come to Bedlam, offering A lot of people know by now that
incredible deals at low-low rates that can’t refinancing through Reliable is a sure way to
possibly last! You’d think that Bedlam lose your home, but then again, a lot of
wouldn’t have such a vibrant housing people are totally desperate for cash. If
market, but that hardly even matters to the your kids are hungry and it’s thirty-five
good folks at Reliable Mortgage. Most of degrees inside your house because you can’t
their local clients are in fact refinancing their pay the heating bill, you might be willing to
homes to pay off other debts—or just to entertain dubious options.
stay alive through another Bedlam winter. Big Andy Czernik’s political machine
And that’s no problem. Second mortgages, has figured out what Reliable Mortgage is up
third mortgages, seemingly anyone can get to, and they approve. Frankly anything that
a variable-rate loan approved through hurts Wolverton is okay in their book. Big
Reliable Mortgage, as if by magic. Andy’s Mafia associates have had a quiet
For some reason their shiny new word with Reliable’s Stark Hill office, which
downtown offices kept getting vandalized, now offers its services to them as a money
so now they keep their administrative staff laundering scheme, refinancing mortgages
and management carefully separate from on properties owned by Mafiosi at incredible
the brokers who actually deal with clients. rates that never go up. They’ve also been
Management works on the upper floor of a putting a few little old Italian grandmas out
downtown skyscraper, while the brokers of their houses, but so long as the money
work in store-front offices elsewhere. remains good, the Mob is prepared to
There’s one in Hardwick Park, one in Stark accept it.
Hill, one in the Stone Ridge Community
Center, one in the Meadows, one in a small The Greely Olde Tymme Toy Factory
office building in Greely Point and one in the This is the last of the really big factories still
Liberty Shoppes mall. There was one in in operation on Industrial Drive, and one of
Wolverton, but somebody burned it down. Bedlam’s major employers. There aren’t a
After a few unfortunate incidents with lot of toy factories left in the United States
former clients, they have hired huge that can compete with cheap imports from
looming security guards from Garvin and the Far East. But the Greely Olde Tymme
Torsberg (see Page 163) to protect their Toy Factory staggers on, clinging to a small
brokers on the job. niche market and its heavy government

144
subsidies. It’s been in operation for more firm of Drago and Grubb, Ltd. to do the dirty
than a hundred years. work for them. And the work is often
Here they make old fashioned toys surprisingly dirty. Link Drago and Harry
(teddy bears, rocking horses, wooden Grubb do their best to keep expenses down
soldiers, etc) the same way they have by shortchanging the aging buildings on
always made them. And with the same maintenance, heat, security and other
safety standards! But perhaps that’s unfair. amenities. They need the extra money to
While the toy-works have been plagued with pay off the building inspectors, after all. In
unpleasant accidents in recent years, it’s the past, when residents complained to city
nowhere near as unsafe as a typical 19th authorities, Link Drago hired bullyboys to
century factory. But it isn’t anywhere near intimidate them. Some tenants tired of
as safe as a 21st century factory, either. complaining to the government, and took
And even back when the Greely family their complaints to the Jigsaw Man instead.
owned the factory itself, it was always a Mr. Drago is no stranger to violence,
notoriously unsafe place to work. No one as his multiple felony convictions and a few
knows how many of its laborers have been ex-girlfriends can attest. But the Mara give
maimed or mutilated in the toy-machines him pause, so with Mr. Grubb’s cooperation
over the years. he has arranged to pay them to do his
Presently owned by a holding intimidation work form now on. They cost a
company called 4QM0M Associates, the little more, but the new arrangement seems
factory manages to evade the watchful gaze to have fixed the problem, and he can
of the safety inspectors every year, mostly always take the extra cost out of next
because it’s one of the few American toy winter’s bills by heating the buildings a little
factories left. Bribes to the local officials less.
keep them at bay, but even the feds are Harry Grubb is a good deal fatter
reluctant to come down too hard on them and less physical then lean, stringy, hollow-
and put so many people out of work. eyed Mr. Drago. He takes care of the
After four rounds of layoffs, the financial end of things, and knows some
remaining workers at the Greely Olde truly amazing ways to squirrel away cash.
Tymme Toy Factory are desperate to keep The Penningtons and Smirlocks prefer not to
their jobs and never seem to report unsafe know the details of how either business
practices. In fact, more than one potential partner handles their affairs, though they’re
whistleblower has suffered fatal “accidents” certainly happy to take the money they
on the job at the hands of their co-workers. bring in.
Of course, now that there are barely enough If a member of Bedlam’s rich old
of them left to run the machines, shifts are families were to need help with a seriously
longer and mishaps are more common. illegal matter, they might ask Link Drago for
4QM0M Associates is based in assistance. He would be the very man for
Dubai, but may soon get acquired by a far the job.
more ruthless Australian firm called Blue The offices of Drago and Grubb are
Kangaroo, which may decide to squeeze the just off downtown, in a shabby three-story
factory for its government subsidies by brick building that dates from the 19th
laying off even more workers and lowering century. Here Mr. Drago and Mr. Grubb
safety standards still further—then keeping preside over five office workers,
the money this saves for themselves. coordinating the activities of a few dozen
contractors who actually perform
Drago and Grubb maintenance and fix things (or don’t.)
Most of the apartment buildings in Hardwick Contractors are seldom invited onto the
Park are owned by either the Pennington premises in person. By an odd coincidence,
family (see Page 149) or the Smirlocks (see the FBI occupies the space right above
Page 149.) Neither one prefers to play any them, a fact which causes Mr. Drago and
direct role in how these properties are Mr. Grubb absolutely no concern at all.
managed, so they have both employed the

145
Link Drago He would certainly betray his current bosses
if he could see some long-term advantage to
be gained by it, but he’s unlikely to ever see
an advantage that would outweigh the
costs. Vindictive by nature, he usually
doesn’t let his vengefulness and cruelty get
in the way of making good business
decisions. But sometimes he just can’t help
himself. He’s only human, he shamefacedly
admits. But he’s being too hard on himself
when he says that—he’s only just barely
human.

Happy Hands Daycare

“When mom goes off to work, whose hands
does she trust enough to leave her children
in? Happy Hands!”
Or so say the commercials.
Actually, it’s more like “whose hands are
available” than “whose hands do you trust.”
Bedlam doesn’t have nearly enough day
care providers, and Happy Hands has
rushed in to fill the gap. They operate more
PL: 6 than twenty daycare centers around
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3) Bedlam, some big and some small. In fact
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) they expanded so rapidly into this market
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 7 Defense: 6 that they haven’t bought or built any
Toughness Save: 6 (3 if caught facilities themselves. Instead they license
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes local providers to put the Happy Hands logo
Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3 on their own centers. Some Happy Hands
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Craft (Mechanical) 4 daycare facilities are in strip malls, others
(+6), Craft (Structural) 4 (+6), Intimidate 3 are in private homes, or in rented school
(+5), Knowledge (Business) 4 (+5), classrooms. Some are big, some are small
Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+6), Notice 5 but all of them are overcrowded. Most of
(+7), Profession (apartment manager) 1 them are actually run by tiny little
(+3) organizations. Typically it’s one family, or
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, even one person. They pay a franchise fee
Connected, Defensive Roll 3, Endurance, to Happy Hands and in exchange they get to
Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, buy supplies from the parent company at
Improved Pin, Improved Trip, Move-By discount rates and more importantly, to
Action, Power Attack, Quick-Draw, Startle piggyback on their ubiquitous advertising.
Equipment: Lead Pipe (Melee Weapon, 4 Their public-relations work is
Damage) nothing short of first rate. They’ve actually
Background: What does Mr. Drago do for managed to make most people forget that in
a living? This and that, he says. He 1998 they were involved in a black-market
supposes he could say that he does baby scandal. They falsified records to help
whatever is required. Quiet unless he needs a ring of crooked child welfare officials take
to intimidate somebody, he’s always looking infants away from their mothers and sell
for an angle. You’re perfectly safe around them to the highest bidder. Of course in
Drago, until you have something he wants those days they were primarily a foster-care
or you let your gueard down for a minute. provider rather than a day-care franchise.
If you ever let him get the advantage of And they are now under completely different
you, he’ll take it, no matter who you are.

146
management. Or almost completely could be brewing up incredible new recipes
different (see Page 37.) for candy, alone in his mansion at night?
They have done such a good job We don’t either.
cultivating local editorial boards and For the truth is that he no longer
politicians that you never even hear about owns a controlling share of Snacktastic. He
the scandal on the news anymore. If a sold out years ago to the only man who
reporter did ask them about it, they would might be older, richer and meaner than
explain that they have no connection with himself. This would be Alois Brunner, the
the old management. Then they would Nazi supervillain known as the Black Eagle
contact the reporter’s editor and ask that (see Page 315.) Brunner is the head of a
the story not be run. Some of the older worldwide cabal of doddering old ex-Nazis,
executives may still have Mafia contacts that called Der Oktopus, and they make a lot of
they could get in touch with, too. money off their candy company. They’d be
While Happy Hands is making a lot quite annoyed if anyone were to start
of money in Bedlam, they have expanded a meddling with it, and they might hire
little too fast, and they’re having trouble supervillains to deal with the situation.
keeping track of all their new service Der Oktopus doesn’t directly
providers. As a result, they make only the interfere with the way the factory is run.
vaguest effort to check their credentials or None of the people who work there or
their criminal records. There just isn’t manage it have any idea who is really
enough staff time to do it (without writing their paychecks. Upper-level
impacting revenue.) Some of their providers management is aware that a Swiss holding
have happier hands than others. company called Amalgamated Associates
own the majority stock, but they assume it’s
Snacktastic Candy Company a front for Lucius Hardwick, set up to avoid
They make the most snacktacular candy in paying taxes.
Bedlam, according to their ads. We suppose Nonetheless, if you need a location
that’s probably true. They are the creators for some secret old Nazi wonder-weapon,
of such beloved local treats as Goober Balls, left over from the war, feel free to bury it
Chock-O-Splat and Liquid Yum. under the Snacktastic Candy Company. And
Snacktastic runs one of the few if Der Oktopus decides they want a hidden
factories left on Industrial Drive and they base in the US, staffed with gun-toting
are a major source of employment for mercenaries in colorful costumes, this is
Bedlam. This has made health inspectors probably where they’ll put it.
less-than anxious to probe too carefully into
their sanitary practices. But candy doesn’t Der Blitzenschlagger (a Secret Nazi
have to be sanitary in order to be Wonder-Weapon)
snacktacular, does it? Few of their dubious
treats have managed to achieve much
market penetration in the US, but there are
places in the less savory parts of the Third
World where they do a brisk export
business.
But alas, their squalid working
Size: Small
conditions and unpleasant candy are the
Weight: 150 pounds
least of their awful secrets.
Toughness: 4
Everyone knows that Snacktastic is
Effect: Blast 15 (electrical)
owned by Bedlam’s richest, oldest man—
Known Drawbacks: Takes a Craft
Lucius Hardwick IV. It used to be the
(Electronics) Check vs. DC 25 to repair.
Hardwick Candy Company. Mr. Hardwick
Prone to shorting out and killing its operator
has long since retreated into his mansion
whaenever it would be dramatically
and hasn’t left it or spoken to anyone but
appropriate.
his lawyers since the ‘90s. Do you think he

147
Snacktacular Nazi Assassins supremacists. It’s just a coincidence that
they happen to be working for the Black
Eagle. Few of them have any loyalty to any
particular employer, but most of them are
intensely loyal to their own warrior code—
which demands that they never betray their
boss, whoever it might be this week.

Bedlam’s three great families, the Starks,

the Greelys and the Hardwicks have all
lapsed into decay. The Starks are extinct.
The Greelys have fallen on hard times and
seldom return to Bedlam. Lucius Hardwick
IV is the last surviving scion of his family
and he hasn’t left his mansion or spoken to
anyone in years. The demise of the Country
Club hurt Bedlam’s old money families badly
and they’ve never really recovered. But
there is still Society in Bedlam, even if it’s
not as vibrant as once it was. Here is a
brief guide to some of Bedlam’s most
prominent families. We’ve left the GM
plenty of room to add more.
PL: 6
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) Hoggard
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) Long regarded as new-money parvenus by
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6 Bedlam’s oldest families, the Hoggards were
(4 if caught Flatfooted) Toughness Save: western cattle barons, originally. Then they
5 (1 without body armor) made money from railroads. Until about
Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 5 1930 they were too rich to ignore but too
Willpower Save: 3 vulgar to embrace. Then they married into
Skills: Climb 4 (+6), Drive 3 (+4), Gather the Stark family and gained Society’s
Information 2 (+3), Intimidate 5 (+6), grudging acceptance. These days they have
Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (Tactics) 5 fallen on hard times, due to unwise
(+5), Notice 6 (+7), Stealth 7 (+8) investments by the last heir, Horatio
Feats: Defensive Attack, Dodge Focus 2, Hoggard III. He bought heavily into the
Evasion Country Club and these days survives largely
Equipment: Body Armor (5 Toughness), by collecting fees for the defunct club from
Submachine Gun (Ranged Weapon, 5 its former members.
Damage [Extra: Autofire]), Combat knife
(Melee Weapon, 3 Damage) Lurman
Complications: 30% more snacktastic Cousins of the Greelys, the Lurmans are
than the next leading brand of Nazi hit- about all that’s left of the Greely line in
squad Bedlam itself. They never moved into Stone
Background: Killers for hire, most of them Ridge, largely because they didn’t live on
don’t know or care who they are working Scarlett Hill and so didn’t lose anything
for. While many of these guys are when the fiasco at Rook Island devastated
thoroughgoing Nazis, that’s only because a the neighborhood. The Lurmans have
whole lot of European thugs and always lived in the tall, narrow old houses
mercenaries are ultra-right-wing racial above Greely Point, they have always been

148
doctors and they have always been more too wealthy to reside in Stark Hill and
than a little strange. People say the current instead live on their own country estate,
family head, B. Hugo Lurman, is mentally down some wooded lane or other outside of
retarded from inbreeding. Other people say Bedlam.
that’s pernicious rubbish—he’s just crazy.
Hardwick
An anomaly, they are the richest and most
Pffefner
distinguished family remaining in Bedlam,
The Pfeffners made their fortune in butchery
but play no role in the social life of its upper
and meat-packing, but for five generations
crust. There is only one Hardwick left and
they’ve been idlers, playboys and violent
he is never seen in Society. Lucius
troublemakers. A lot of them are alumni of
Hardwick IV retreated into his mansion
Belchner College (see Page 141) and they
when the neighborhood around him turned
give heavily to support it. They live in Stone
Hispanic, and he hasn’t come out since. No
Ridge and it looks as though they may
one is sure whether or not he’s actually alive
finally be just a generation or two of bad
in there, although his lawyers still do a good
financial decisions away from exhausting the
job of looking after his business interests.
family fortune.

Pennington
The Penningtons own most of the
apartments in Hardwick Park and a lot of
the skyscrapers downtown. They are the
surviving remnant of the Stark family—
cousins by marriage.
Blake Pennington Sr. made a
tremendous amount of money from the
collapse of Scarlett Hill and the founding of
Stone Ridge. He lives in an especially big
mansion in a walled off area at the gated
community’s north end. His wife, Dahlia, is
the leading society hostess in Bedlam and
one of the founding members of the Stone
Ridge Garden Club.
Blake Pennington Jr. and his
younger brothers are known to be
worthless, thrill-seeking drunks and often
pal around with younger members of the
Pfeffner family. They get up to all sorts of
hijinx.

Smirlock
Bankers who have gone into the real estate
market, the Smirlocks own an even bigger
piece of downtown than the Penningtons.
This includes the peculiar architectural
monstrosity known as the Smirlock Building
at Blaed Avenue and Rohrbach Street. (see
Page 22.) The Smirlocks were the prime
beneficiaries of the death of Scarlett Hill and
the largest investors in the Stone Ridge
Gated Community. They grew so much
richer that now they barely have to do
anything at all. The Smirlocks are in fact

149
 Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 2
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 1
Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Knowledge (Streetwise)
5 (+5), Notice 5 (+5), Profession (whatever
At the other end of Bedlam’s social hierarchy
they did before they were homeless) 4 (+4),
from the Smirlocks and Penningtons are the
Profession (panhandler or can collector) 5
denizens of Ash Street. In fact you can use
(+5), Search 4 (+4), Stealth 2 (+2)
the NPCs in this section for anywhere in
Background: Here are some stats for a
Bedlam. There are certainly homeless
generic street person. The homeless on the
people downtown, and many of them
streets of Bedlam are a motley bunch.
congregate near the Bus Station, but Ash
Some of them have mental problems and
Street is the city’s skid row and there are
some are just down on their luck. Some
more derelicts sleeping on the sidewalk here
have recently lost their homes and others
than in any other part of Bedlam. Partly
have been on the streets for years. We
that’s because it’s where a lot of the city’s
have some individual personalities and stats
remaining social services, shelters and soup
listed below, in case you need something
kitchens can be found, but it’s also because
more specific than a generic template for an
the area has a lot of abandoned buildings.
encounter with the PCs. They are here
Sometimes vicious packs of
strictly as a resource in case the GM needs
teenagers come down to Ash Street and
them.
hurt the poor lost folks who live here. But
not so much lately. There are rumors that
Morris Fridley
something strange has been happening on
PL: 1
Ash Street, that something has been scaring
the frat boys and gang kids away. No one Str: 13 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
seems to know what it is, but the street Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 8 (-1)
people have begun to whisper the name Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 1
“the Nowhere Men” in fear and awe. See Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 1
Page 287. Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 1
Skills: Climb 5 (+6), Knowledge (civics) 3
Generic Homeless Person (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+3), Notice
5 (+6), Profession (construction worker) 5
(+5), Search 5 (+6), Stealth 2 (+3)
Background: A battered-up old African-
American gent who wears an army jacket,
Morris Fridley has had hard luck all his life.
He’s fifty, but looks older. His thin arms are
covered with muscles and his big hands are
covered with scars from a life spent working
construction. Not very articulate and a little
withdrawn, he always seems to think long
and carefully before he speaks.
He was a roofer in Maine, but he
lost his job and came home to Bedlam,
where there weren’t any jobs at all. Now he
lives in a shelter and collects aluminum cans
for money, while he tries to figure out some
way to get back on his feet. His options all
look grim. Not only aren’t there enough
PL: 1 jobs, but his third grade reading level and
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) missing front teeth make it hard for him to
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 11 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1) compete for the few spots available.
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 1 No fool, Morris has applied for food
stamps (he uses a post office box for his

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address), but he still needs money for went spiraling off the rails into a major
laundry, new underwear, deodorant and so depression. This in turn led her to start
forth, so he swallows his pride and hunts for drinking and getting into fights with her
cans, begging a little to supplement it. It’s colleagues. Shortly thereafter, she received
humiliating, but he reminds himself that if a dishonorable discharge.
he looks like a smelly unshaven wretch then Martha had nowhere to go but her
his odds of getting a new job sink even mother’s apartment in Bedlam. The old lady
lower. immediately began trying to make her feel
Never a raging alcoholic, he drinks unwelcome enough to leave. She kept
when he gets depressed and he’s been pestering her daughter to get help from the
doing too much of it lately. VA for her problems. In fact the VA
Morris is fundamentally honest and wouldn’t help her since she didn’t have a
would always try to help someone in psychiatric discharge, but at her mother’s
trouble. If he found your wallet, he would urging she kept going to see them, getting
return it to you without touching any of turned away time and again. Finally she
money inside (although he would feel stopped going and her mom used it as an
tempted.) excuse to kick her out on the street. If
anyone asks her to help her child, she will
Sergeant Martha Blaylock sullenly mutter that she did all she could for
PL: 1 Martha and that the girl ought to get herself
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) to the VA.
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 8 (-1) These days Martha is bitter and
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 1 angry, but not very good at explaining why.
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 1 She isn’t dangerous or cruel, but she’s prone
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: -1 to outbursts of yelling when she gets vexed
Skills: Bluff 4 (+3), Intimidate 3 (+2), and sometimes she scares people away. If
Knowledge (Civics) 2 (+3), Notice 5 (+4), you can catch her in one of her lucid periods
Perform (Oratory) 5 (+5), Profession she can actually be rather sweet.
(military administrator) 3 (+4)
Background: A middle-aged African- Layton “Cappy” Jones
American lady with thick glasses, she has PL: 2
struggled with her mental health all her life. Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Odd and twitchy, she sometimes seems not Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
to hear you correctly when you speak, and Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2
often blurts out strange things. Defense: 2 (+1 Flatfooted)
She’s a ten-year veteran of the Air Toughness Save: 2 (+1 Flatfooted)
Force, people are surprised to hear. Martha Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
worked in military administration for her Willpower Save: 2
entire career, managing paperwork and Skills: Bluff 6 (+7), Diplomacy 4 (+5),
processing requisitions. She never felt up to Gather Information 4 (+5), Knowledge
the job, always felt overwhelmed by it and (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice 5 (+7),
never quite felt that she knew what she was Profession (panhandler) 5 (+6), Search 5
doing. When she’s manic, she’s extremely (+7), Sense Motive 3 (+5), Stealth 2 (+3)
focused and can work really hard. When Feats: Defensive Roll 1, Dodge Focus
she gets depressed, she becomes totally Background: Cappy Jones is the kind of
unable to cope. And she’s always kind of guy who gives homeless people a bad
disturbed, peculiar and prone to blurting out name. A panhandler and con man, you can
inappropriate things. see him cadging for spare change or day
Martha did well enough during a labor at intersections all over the city with
prolonged manic period that she got his dog, Snuff. Sometimes he claims to be a
promoted to Sergeant and put in charge of veteran, sometimes he claims to have been
a whole administrative team. She was released from prison with nowhere to go—
completely unprepared to be a manager and whatever he thinks will generate sympathy.

151
His dog, a little yellow droopy-eared mutt, is Profession (panhandler) 3 (+5), Stealth 1
great for getting sympathy. (+1)
He treats the dog decently, since Background: Constantly afraid of the
Snuff is an important part of his act, but violence she sees around her, constantly
that’s about the best you can say for Cappy. feeling vulnerable and exposed, Wanda
He lives in his car—a beat-up old Ford would sit around the Women’s Shelter all
Torino that he parks near wherever he sets day if they let her. And with good reason.
up shop for the day. When the weather Homeless women get victimized a lot, and
gets bad or there is a big football game, he the Bedlam City Police don’t worry much
moves in briefly with his aunt, who has a about protecting them. Even a shapeless,
plasma screen TV. gray-haired lady in her forties like Wanda is
Cappy spends the money suckers a target and she knows it. Sometimes she
give him on crack and on gas for the car. If collects cans, sometimes she panhandles.
someone offers him work for the day, he’s But most of the time she’s too weary and
not above taking it, but he’s also not above depressed to do either and instead sits in
stealing from them the moment their back is the public library and reads. There are
turned. He also knows some shabby tricks times when the shelter fills up before she
to con cashiers out of a few dollars, which can reach it and she has to spend the night
he uses when he needs crack and can’t wait sleeping outdoors. She fears these nights,
for panhandling to get him enough funds. and with good reason.
He would commit more serious crimes if he How did a forty-one-year-old
thought he could get away with them, but divorced woman with two years of college
he’s cunning and savvy enough to know that wind up homeless? It was easier than you
he probably couldn’t. Cheerfully free of might think. Wanda was always prone to
conscience, he could easily murder depression, from early childhood. It messed
someone, but would never do that unless he up her college career and got her fired from
was sure there wouldn’t be any office jobs. It destroyed her marriage and
consequences. got her husband custody of her two
It’s impossible to tell from looking at daughters. There have been periods of her
Cappy whether he’s Anglo, Hispanic or life where she simply becomes unable to
African-American, his skin is so deeply function and sits there, doing nothing but
sunburnt and so covered with grime. He reading paperbacks and feeling miserable.
takes showers when he can, and doesn’t Whenever things grew so bad that she got
smell as bad as some homeless guys, but kicked out of her apartment, she always
you can still tell that he’s been living moved in with her mom until she got her
outdoors just by getting a whiff of him. head together. Now her mom is dead.
Smart, streetwise, reasonably brave, Not long after her mother’s demise
he makes a good ally so long as you never Wanda went through another of her black
show him any weaknesses that he could patches, lost her job as a receptionist,
exploit. He’s even sort of charming, in a couldn’t pay her rent and got thrown out on
cynical kind of way. the street. She tried to take care of her cat,
but he wasn’t used to being outdoors and
Wanda Daucher got run over within a few days, which of
PL: 0 course made her even more unhappy.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) Now Wanda is truly stuck. She has
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 9 (-1) Cha: 10 (+0) no job and can’t get another one, since no
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 0 one would hire somebody with no address.
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0 She has thought about going to her ex-
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: -1 husband or some old friends for help, but
Skills: Diplomacy 5 (+5), Knowledge can’t bear for anyone to see her this way.
(Civics) 3 (+5), Knowledge (History) 3 (+5), It’s been a year and half now and she’s
Notice 5 (+4), Profession (secretary) 3 (+5), coming out of her funk, although she still
cries a lot for no reason.

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 Gentle and kind, Wanda does not trying to comprehend what has happened to
have the same anger or self-absorption that him.
plagues many chronically depressed people. Howard looks like a scrawny little
She cares about others and tries to help deadhead with a long beard and a dirty tie-
anyone in trouble. Not physically brave, she dyed shirt. His skin is wrinkled and his
avoids confrontations but doesn’t panic if beard is prematurely streaked with gray—
she’s faced with a bad situation. you would never guess that he’s only
Wanda’s voice is low and rueful. twenty-eight. He’s belligerent and
While she does have a sense of humor mischievous when drunk, but shy and sad
about herself and her situation, she always when sober. Sometimes he stands on
looks as though she’s been crying recently streetcorners and reads his mediocre poetry
(and she has.) in an angry drunken rant. He’s pretty
entertaining when he gets worked up.
Howard Haggerty
PL: 1 Yolanda Washington
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 10 (+0) PL: 2
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 10 (+0) Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 8 (-1)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 1 Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 6 (-2) Cha: 8 (-1)
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 1 Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 1 (2 with
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: -1 Melee Weapons) Defense: 2 Toughness
Skills: Bluff 4 (+4), Intimidate 3 (+3), Save: -1 Fortitude Save: -1 Reflexes
Knowledge (Structural) 3 (+4), Knowledge Save: 2 Willpower Save: -2
(Streetwise) 2 (+3), Knowledge (Theology Skills: Knowledge (Streetwise) 1 (+1),
and Philosophy) 2 (+3), Notice 5 (+4), Notice 5 (+3), Profession (panhandler) 1
Perform (Oratory) 5 (+5), Profession (+1), Search 5 (+3), Stealth 2 (+4)
(panhandler) 3 (+4), Stealth 3 (+4) Feats: All-Out Attack, Attack Focus (Melee
Background: At some point Howard Weapons), Rage 1
Haggerty stopped being fashionably poor Background: An African-American woman
and became actually poor. He somehow whose age is impossible to judge, Yolanda is
slipped over the line between being a a reasonably functional schizophrenic. She
colorful bohemian who drank too much and understands the world around her most of
sometimes slept in the street, to a homeless the time, although she is inarticulate and
drunk with nowhere else to sleep. prone to sudden outbursts of cursing. She
An undergraduate student for eight looks haggard, careworn, angry and
years, it took him a long time and a lot of depressed, with an eerie psychotic stare.
stupid drunken antics to completely alienate No one on the street has ever seen her
his family and get kicked out of every school smile.
they sent him to. A stoner and a party Too weird, explosive and confused
animal, he always had to be the center of to hold a job, she lived with her father in
attention, always had to be the wildest and Wolverton until she was well into her
most outrageous guy in the group. If he thirties. She had violent quarrels with other
had been just a little smarter or a little more members of her family and once stabbed
talented the professors and college her aunt in the arm in a dispute over a
administrators might have been willing to disposable packet of ketchup. Her father
tolerate his bad behavior, but he was only was always there for her, however, despite
slightly better than average. Howard having no money and mental problems of
thought he was the new Chuck Bukowski, his own. Then one night they got into an
but in fact he’s just another drunken poseur. argument over some trivial thing, and she
He’s been living on the streets full time for stabbed him to death in his sleep.
about a year now, after his last group of Yolanda was confined to psychiatric
friends finally threw him off their couch. care, and then released when the Crawley
Approaching a nervous breakdown, he’s still Asylum got too crowded. The DA’s office
has made some desultory efforts toward

153
having her sent up on criminal charges (she Yet neither of their two locations
did after all commit a bloody premeditated makes enough money to stay in good
murder) but her obvious craziness has economic shape. Without enough revenue,
discouraged them from pursuing the matter. they haven’t hired enough staff, and too
Anyway they don’t have enough resources many of the folks they do manage to
to prosecute any number of far more employ leave as soon as they can, because
pressing cases. it’s such an awful place to work. The chain
Bouncing between institutions and has recently diversified into toys, pets,
the street, Yolanda became more savage automotive technology and housewares,
and depressed. Her aunt (the same one she making the giant stores even harder for the
had stabbed) briefly took her into her large, employees to keep track of.
crowded home, but she fought with some of Barely anyone seems to be in
the other relatives living there and set the charge here. The fish are eating one
place on fire while they slept. Miraculously, another in the pet section’s uncleaned
no one was killed, but this did alienate tanks. Gang tags mark the shelves here
Yolanda’s family and make it impossible for and there. People have gotten mugged in
her to get any more help from them. the endless canned goods aisles.
Unbeknownst to the authorities, she has
killed twice more, stabbing other homeless The Shambliss Street Market
people in explosive fits of rage over small Held every other Wednesday on Shambliss
things. Street, in Hardwick Park, this impromptu
Yolanda has no room in her market sprawls along for a block or two,
damaged heart for anyone’s sorrow but her covering the sidewalks and spilling out onto
own. She is incapable of feeling the the asphalt. Sometimes it centers on one
slightest empathy for anybody—her own block, sometimes on another, according to
pain is too great and it blots everything else where the vendors happen to set up.
out. Yet she has a weirdly sentimental side, It’s like a combination flea market
and will try to look after lost animals until and food market. The richest vendors have
she gets frustrated, loses her temper and little portable stalls, but there are plenty
kills them. who pile their stuff on rickety card tables or
The other street people in the just spread it out on a blanket. It’s
vicinity know that Yolanda is dangerous and bewildering, chaotic, full of loud noises and
may warn the PCs about her. pungent smells.
You can find just about anything
legal here, sold or resold for cheap,
including some of the freshest fish to be had
outside of the Omega Diner (see Page 198.)
Just because Bedlam is in a state of
If you know who to ask, nearly anything
economic collapse doesn’t mean it’s not a
illegal can also be found here, under the
fun place to go shopping. Here is your
tables. In fact this is one of the best places
guide to some of the most popular places
to buy “clean” guns in the city. The locals
left to shop in the City of Now.
do tend to cast a suspicious eye on
outsiders and the Mara is everywhere, so
Food World
keep your wits about you and shop with
This chain of discount supermarkets has a
care!
location in the Meadows, and a bigger one
just outside of town on Route 2. With its
Colossal Guns
everyday low-low prices and monopolistic
Out on Slaughter Road, directly across the
business practices it has managed to
street from Bedlam’s biggest liquor store, is
squeeze most of the little mom-and-pop
the largest firearms retailer in three states.
grocery stores out of Bedlam—largely by
It’s as big as a small department store, with
threatening suppliers who do business with
every kind of firearm you could possibly
them.
want—and more! Their savings are always

154
colossal, as their cheaply produced Most of the complex is underground.
commercials say, because they accept job- Initially the Redevelopment Commission
lots of discontinued and slightly irregular wanted to bulldoze a good-sized chunk of
guns—though they don’t mention this fact in Wolverton to make way for Liberty, but the
their commercials. Reverend Willie Boggs managed to lead a
Very proud of their status as a successful campaign to have that stopped.
Bedlam institution, their logo is a snarling The designers selected an alternate site and
gorilla (who strongly resembles Gorgah) built down instead of up. Liberty Shoppes
wearing bandoliers and firing two goes down five stories into the ground and
submachine guns into the air. In fact they has its own stop on the commuter rail
have a giant fiberglass statue of their service. It contains an amusement park, a
lovable mascot looming over their parking gigantic fifty-screen megaplex theater, an
lot ice rink, its own police substation and a day-
Owner Harry Plutzer is a licensed care facility that watches your kids while you
dealer and collector of fully automatic shop. An on-site apartment complex allows
weapons, supplying a small clientele of residents to never leave the mall at all, even
movie producers, police departments and to go home and sleep.
hobbyists around the country. Does he ever Intended as a shopping destination
sell them to anyone else? He gets very for the bigger metropolis nearby to Bedlam,
indignant when he hears people suggest it was conceived of as an outlet mall,
such a thing. The mob would kill him if they initially, but most of its discount anchor
thought he was competing with them for the stores failed within the first year. Its
illegal gun trade. amusement park shut down shortly
Harry has staffed his shop with as thereafter. The carnival rides are still there,
many pretty, enthusiastic young women as but Funland is closed and silent (and
he can find. He dresses them up in identical perhaps waiting for some deranged clown
sunglasses, vests and baseball hats that with an army of circus freaks to move in.)
bear the logo of Colossal Guns. They are The day care center (run by the Happy
instructed to grin and be perky, though their Hands Corporation) closed over some
smiles look a little stiff and frayed by the irregularities and lawsuits from parents.
end of their shift. Now huge sections of the Liberty
The very same bus that takes you to Shoppes are deserted and dark. More than
the Courthouse stops at Colossal Guns, so three quarters of the stores are vacant.
recently released defendants can stop by on They turn the lights way down in places, to
their way back into town and stock up on save on electricity. It still has a flea market,
firearms in preparation for their next a huge Goodwill store, a few dollar stores,
indictment. Perhaps if they hurry they can resale shops and an enormous food court.
also pick up some liquor across the street in A few kiosks in the middle of the hallways
time to catch the next bus. sell tattoos, piercings, drug paraphernalia
and smoothies. The megaplex is also still
Liberty Shoppes partly in service, although most people don’t
One of the Redevelopment Commission’s like to go there—it’s become a dangerous
most popular ideas was to lure a designer of place. But then a lot of Liberty Shoppes has
giant malls to Bedlam, and let them create become a bad neighborhood. Gang kids
an arch-uber-mall like few seen outside of roam the lower floors and get into huge
Canada. In order to attract them to brawls on the ice rink. The police only
Bedlam, a number of tax incentives were venture into the food court in groups of
provided, as well as construction subsidies. three or more. Winos, derelicts and crack
The city actually lost money on the deal, but fiends stumble around the benches and
hoped to recoup it in terms of jobs and urinate where they like.
economic growth. A firm called Iron Talon Security is
And so Bedlam gave birth to the in charge of keeping the mall safe. They’re
gargantuan mall called the Liberty Shoppes. the same firm that provides security for the

155
gated community at Stone Ridge (and a lot to be used in a manner inconsistent with
of unspecified services for the US their proper function.”
government in Afghanistan and Iraq.) They Located in a strip mall in the
send their worst, least-competent guys Meadows, this store is much larger than it
here. Iron Talon does not get along with appears to be from the outside. It’s huge,
the police in the Liberty Shoppes Substation and it really does have enormous quantities
and they are presently feuding over a of mass-produced religious paraphernalia.
confrontation that turned violent. The cops They are in fact the biggest supplier of
here are mostly interested in shaking down these items for three hundred miles in any
the remaining businesses for protection direction. Budget-conscious clergy from all
money and the gangs for bribes. They across the state come here.
make little effort to keep order, particularly The Jigsaw Man shops here, as does
down on the lower levels. the supervillain known as “Th’ Pope.” In
Iron Talon is more unpredictable. A fact, the Bedlam Police are concerned that
lot of their guys have post-traumatic stress the Pope may secretly own Papal Discount
disorder and are prone to overreacting when Warehouse. He may even have a lair buried
provoked. Sometimes they raid areas like underneath it. This could cause
the food court and the megaplex, beating considerable trouble if the Mara come in
on kids for no discernible reason and looking for crucifixes to immerse in dog’s
dragging some of them off to the Detention blood, and get into a brawl with the staff
Center under Funland. when they refuse to sell them a baptismal
Most of the apartment units were font.
turned over for use as employee dorms. A
lot of illegal immigrants live there, crammed Fat Planet Comics
in ten or twelve to an apartment. So do a On the shabby edge of Ash Street,
few rich people, who pay Iron Talon extra surrounded by failed porno shops, stands
for additional protection. People say that Bedlam’s one and only comic book store.
Wolverton crime lord Rock Johnson may be Proprietor Selwyn Krump has enjoyed his
one of them. total monopoly for more than twenty years.
The Liberty Shoppes are no single He’s a short, thick, furry-eyebrowed man
gang’s territory. You are as likely to with perpetual five o’ clock shadow and
encounter Italian hoods from Stark Hill as deep-set, calculating eyes. Krump is
you are to run into black gangs from notorious for charging whatever the market
Wolverton or the Mara or packs of will bear for his comics, so don’t look too
troublemaking rich kids from Stone Ridge. enthusiastic when you want to buy
Perhaps the mall will fail altogether something or he’ll jack up the price.
soon, but for the moment it’s a massive tax But first you have to find it. Over
write-off for its parent corporation and the the years, Fat Planet Comics has grown
city subsidies keep coming in. stuffed to bursting. The shelves creak
under the weight of comics, church tables
Papal Discount Warehouse piled high with boxes fill the middle of the
“Attention all priests, ministers and shop—you actually have to turn sideways to
reverends of the faith—get yourself down to get through the narrow spaces that this
Crazy Father Orloff’s Papal Discount leaves. Nothing is in any particular order
Warehouse, where the savings are out of and the boxed comics on the bottom layers
this world! We have baptismal fonts, altar are getting crushed. Some areas of the
cloths, clerical collars of every style and size, store are nearly inaccessible and look as
and yes, even monstrances! And at prices though Krump himself may not have seen
so low, the Holy Spirit Himself doesn’t know them in months. Still, you can find some
how we do it! What’s our secret? Volume! remarkable stuff at Fat Planet if you’re
Volume! Volume! We pass the savings on to willing to dig for it. Just don’t let Krump see
you! Baptismal fonts available only to you smile. And bring cash. He doesn’t take
certified members of the clergy and are not checks or credit cards.

156
 Rumor has it that Delbert Graves, clients from criminal prosecution. They are
the Warlord of Shady Meadows’ dominant particularly good at this last task, since so
biker gang, likes comic books and can many of the judges and prosecutors they
sometimes be found shopping at Fat Planet. face would love to one day be asked to join
the firm.
Spengler, Gibbons and Pugh
represent a very narrow slice of the city’s
interests. They are no friends of Big Andy
Czernik or the Bedlam Mafia. They do not
have any allegiance to Wolfram Aerospace
(or whatever company plays that role in
your game.) They serve Bedlam’s old
money. Except for Lucius Hardwick, who
Crime fighters tend to spend a lot of time in has a whole law firm of his own to serve his
court. Whether they are trying to have a needs (see “Dransfield. Stavely and Spalt”.)
villain sent to jail, defending themselves
against false charges or suing a rival for Glickman, Smerznak and Feagles
infringing on their trademark costume, “Have you suffered an injustice? Call
superheroes regularly wind up in front of a Glickman, Smerznak and Feagles and get
judge. And the kinds of battles they wage justice in your pocket and back on your
there are very different from the ones they side!”
fight in the street. A good lawyer can be as Everyone in Bedlam has heard this
difficult and as dedicated a nemesis for a ad, during the doldrums of mid-afternoon
hero as any masked arch-villain. TV. The largest independent contingency
This is not meant to be an law firm in Bedlam, they do most of their
absolutely comprehensive list of every work for no money up front, apart from a
prominent lawyer in Bedlam. Rather, it’s $200 consulting fee. Instead they take a
resource for the GM and PCs—a list of percentage of whatever damages the client
different lawyers that the GM can produce gets awarded. Unlike most struggling law
to face down a PC in court, or who they offices, they don’t handle bankruptcy or
might hire to protect their own interests. probate or all the other little services that
lawyers pay their bills with. Instead they’re
Law Firms all about lawsuits, and in particular, all
Firms have personalities and histories of about getting settlements. They’ll take on
their own, distinct from the individual any case, no matter how improbable. It
lawyers who work for them. Here are a few costs them nothing but time if they lose,
of Bedlam’s most notable. and many companies are willing to buy
them off with a settlement rather than pay
Spengler, Gibbons and Pugh their own (rather more highly-paid) lawyers’
This venerable law firm has its headquarters fees. This means that their clients are
in a beautiful old brick mansion on top of usually getting a good deal less money than
Greely Point. There are three senior they’re entitled to, even before the firm
partners and about a dozen junior partners, takes a cut, since they’re always angling on
with a staff of twenty paralegals of so. The getting the quickest settlement they can.
firm represents most of Bedlam’s wealthiest They employ nearly two dozen
families. They are not seeking new clients. lawyers, most of them young ambitious
They are small for a firm that members of Herschel Glickman’s family.
represents so many powerful interests, but Glickman’s kids and nieces and nephews are
then again Bedlam isn’t a very large city. all eager, talkative, snaggle-toothed young
For the most part they do transactional law, people with poor posture, and they all look
preparing contracts and setting up business weirdly alike—male or female. Because they
deals, but they litigate when they have to only make money when they win
and on occasion they even find themselves settlements, quite a few of them take on
defending one or another of their wealthy

157
outside work. Nearly any one could be Dransfield, Stavely and Spalt
persuaded to defend you in a criminal trial, A small, old and extremely wealthy firm,
although their skills would probably not be Dransfield, Stavely and Spalt has been
up to it. serving the needs of the Hardwick family for
The firm’s offices are located more than a hundred years. These days the
downtown on the 13th floor of a skyscraper firm is the only visible evidence that any
that has seen better days, and are far too trace of the Hardwicks still exists.
cramped for the number of lawyers working The firm quietly tends the affairs of
there. You can hear old man Glickman Lucius Hardwick. They never state directly
yelling at his progeny from his back office whether their client is still alive. They
while everyone bustles around in an haven’t litigated against anyone on Mr.
atmosphere of barely controlled chaos. Sid Hardwick’s behalf in years, but they would if
Smerznak and Irving Feagles have the good need be. The firm has offices in a beautiful
sense to avoid the office altogether and old three-story building downtown, but none
spend most of their time playing golf. of the partners ever seems to be in.
H. Symington Dransfield typically
Cromlich, Dooven, Dooven and Dahl handles the old man’s business
This firm provides secure legal services for a arrangements. A superb transactional
select clientele. Yet they’re no snooty bunch attorney, he’s not as good a trial lawyer as
of snobs, they’re quick to say. Regular guys Ervin Spalt, who is rarely seen, save on
like Donny Scarpia and “Dracula Jack” those few occasions when one of them has
Gagliano feel completely comfortable using to go before a judge.
them. H. S. Dransfield is old, slumped, and
Mr. Cromlich, Mr. Dooven and Mr. covered with liver spots. He speaks in a
Dooven (who weren’t related, oddly choking whisper and never shows any sign
enough) are all deceased. Mob lawyers are of emotion. Leman Stavely is a dapper,
prone to a host of ailments—cranial lead charming old gentleman with a moustache
poisoning, Concrete Overshoes Syndrome and a bow tie. Always superbly dressed, he
and other related health problems. And mostly communicates with people over the
many vanish altogether—a strange phone, but will sometimes unexpectedly
phenomenon thought to be related to appear instead of Mr. Dransfield. Ervin
Concrete Overshoes Syndrome. But Norman Spalt is a big, handsome, aggressive young
Dahl carries on, despite having lost both his man with a Brooks Brothers’ suit and a
thumbs in separate accidents. He heads up mean smile. He’s a diabolically effective
a staff of about ten hungry young lawyers, trial lawyer and superb at threatening
eager to make their mark on the city. people.
Despite his anxious demeanor Mr. Dahl must All three partners go everywhere
inspire a lot of loyalty in his junior partners accompanied by two or three paralegals.
for none of them ever seem to leave the The paralegals are big, silent young frat-
firm. boys who appear to be fresh out of Ivy
They keep their main offices in a League law school. The paralegals never
large and respectable-looking downtown speak, but sometimes lean forward and
skyscraper, with really superb security whisper comments in one of the partners’
arrangements. But they maintain a second ears. For some reason all of the paralegals
office in Stark Hill, in an old converted row- who follow Mr. Spalt around are attractive
house, where many of their oldest and most young women in sober-looking pantsuits.
trusted clients come to see them. Most people in Bedlam haven’t
heard of Dransfield, Stavely and Spalt, since
they keep a low profile and don’t advertise
their services. Among Bedlam’s wealthy

158
families, there is a rumor that the firm Frankie Baranzanno
serves only Mr. Hardwick and doesn’t accept
other clients. That isn’t true. In fact quite a
few of the reigning old-money families have
hired them for one or another matter that
they didn’t feel comfortable entrusting to
Spengler, Gibbons and Pugh. They have
always handled these affairs with their usual
discretion.

Layton Spengler
PL: 4
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 18 (+4)
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
Willpower Save: 6
Skills: Bluff 8 (+12), Concentrate 3 (+6.)
Diplomacy 9 (+13), Gather Information 4
(+7), Intimidate 6 (+10), Investigate 3
(+6), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+8),
Knowledge (Civics) 8 (+11), Knowledge
(Current Events) 5 (+8), Knowledge PL: 5
(Theology and Philosophy) 3 (+6), Notice 5 Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
(+8), Perform (Oratory) 9 (+13), Profession Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
(legal advocate) 8 (+11), Sense Motive 9 Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 5
(+12) Defense: 5 Toughness Save: 5 (2 without
Feats: Contacts, Distract (Linked to Bluff), his body armor)
Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, Knowledge Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 1
[Civics], Perform [Oratory], Sense Motive), Willpower Save: 7
Taunt Skills: Bluff 6 (+9), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
Background: Head of the firm of Spengler, Gather Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 5
Gibbons and Pugh, he represents the (+8), Knowledge (Business) 4 (+6),
interests of Bedlam’s wealthiest families, as Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+6), Knowledge
his own family has done for generations. (Streetwise) 7 (+9), Notice 5 (+8), Perform
He has been a federal judge and a State (Oratory) 3 (+6), Profession (mob lawyer) 6
Deputy Attorney General. Now he has (+8), Sense Motive 8 (+11)
returned to private practice, where he tends Feats: All-Out Attack, Connected, Contacts,
the affairs of Bedlam’s declining moneyed Diehard, Improved Grapple, Quick Draw,
class. His connections in the local courts are Second Chance (failed Intimidate rolls),
second to none, but he really excels as a Startle
trial lawyer, particularly when it comes to Equipment: Body Armor (5 Toughness),
bullying witnesses without losing the jury’s Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage), Knife
sympathy. Most of the local judges are a (Melee Weapon, 3 Damage), Brass Knuckles
little in awe of him—he’s leading the life (Melee Weapon, 2 Damage)
they hope to one day. Background: This battle-scarred old mob
Dr. Spengler (he’s a Professor of lawyer has been one of Young Junior
Law) is known jocularly by his colleagues as Gorganzua’s closest confidantes for decades.
“the Prince of Darkness.” It suits him. He has become an actual, official “made

159
guy” in exchange for all the services he has matter quickly resolved, you can’t do better.
rendered the Gorganzua crime family and he But you might not want him to represent
is the closest thing they have to a you in a criminal case or a big civil action.
Consiglieri. Barranzanno has personally The sharks who prowl those courtrooms in
executed traitors within the family on at their thousand-dollar suits would eat him
least three occasions, although he hasn’t alive. Kramm is eager to get a big case, and
had to actually kill anyone for years. He isn’t aware that he wouldn’t be up to it.
never goes anywhere without a pistol or his Charming and funny, in a wild, crazy
favorite weapon, a pocket-knife. While he’s kind of way, he’s pretty persuasive and
short, he’s formidable, both physically and seems to know no fear. Great at
professionally. His voice is deep and remembering names and dates, he’ll send
commanding, his manner threatening and you birthday cards years after he
forceful. represented you.
He has represented mob clients at
many trials, but these days spends most of Mel Lutz
his time working on the family’s crooked
business arrangements. If the Gorganzuas
send him in person to defend someone,
that’s a sure sign that it’s someone
important.

Wally Kramm
PL: 1
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
Willpower Save: 1
Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Computers 4 (+4),
Diplomacy 3 (+4), Gather Information 3
(+4), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+6), Notice 2
(+3), Profession (lawyer) 3 (+5), Sense
Motive 4 (+5)
Feats: Contacts (at the Courthouse),
Fearless
Background: This frizzy-haired, balding
trial lawyer spends most of his time down at
the courthouse, cruising the endless lines at
the Municipal Courts for clients. He wears a
rumpled suit, a polyester tie and running
shoes. His moustache, clothes and hairdo
make him look like a sleazy ambulance PL: 2
chaser, but that’s not quite what he is. Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Not an especially gifted lawyer, Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2)
Kramm has devoted himself to learning the Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
inns and outs of the courthouse like no one Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1
else. He’s the personal friend of seemingly Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1
every clerk, receptionist and security officer. Willpower Save: 1
He knows all the little rules, he knows who Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Computers 2 (+4),
will bend them and how much. He has the Diplomacy 3 (+5), Gather Information 3
skills to shuttle his cases through the system (+5), Intimidate 3 (+5), Knowledge (Civics)
faster than anyone. If you need a small 4 (+6), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+6),

160
Notice 4 (+4), Profession (lawyer) 3 (+5), he’s starting to affect an accent. He’s also
Sense Motive 4 (+4) growing a goatee, for some reason.
Feats: Connected, Contacts
Background: This young lawyer hopes to Orville Sudley
join the firm of Cromlich, Dooven, Dooven PL: 1
and Dahl soon. Until then, he’s trying to Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0)
make a name for himself as a criminal Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2)
defense attorney for lesser associates of the Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
Scarpia Crime Family. He’s available for all Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 0
sorts of legal work. Setting up new Fortitude Save: 0 Reflexes Save: 1
companies, guiding you through the Willpower Save: 0
loopholes in the tax-laws, but he really Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Computers 1 (+1),
excels at defense work. He doesn’t have Diplomacy 3 (+5), Gather Information 1
the right personality or a very strong (+3), Knowledge (Civics) 2 (+2), Notice 1
command of criminal law. But he does have (+1), Profession (lawyer) 3 (+3)
the right kind of connections in Stark Hill Background: A pudgy young man with a
and on the Bedlam Police Force. beard and a mullet, Orville toils at many
This is all by design, rather than different jobs. He's trying to promote
chance. Ever since childhood he’s loved himself as a country-western singer
gangsters and wanted to be one. From his (download his clips from MySpace and you'll
adolescence through college he affected all see why he hasn't been more of a success),
the trappings of hip-hop culture, but when he handles skip tracing and debt collection
he actually tried hanging around with real on a contract basis. He tends bar and sells
gangstas, he found that he would never be pot.
welcome among them no matter how hard Always smiling, always full of wild
he tried to imitate the way they talked. So money-making schemes, he is pretentious,
he shifted his focus during law school and self-absorbed and hopelessly unreliable. But
moved to Bedlam, where he actively he talks a good game, smiles a lot and
cultivated the Czernik political machine and never lacks for clients. He is desperate to
sought out wiseguy clients. It took three get a high-profile defendant—a supervillain
years to win their trust. or a serial-killer with a good gimmick so that
In the end he actually had to get he can sell the book and movie rights. Then
himself arrested and go to jail (for unpaid his career as a country music star can really
parking tickets) in order to introduce himself take off, he figures. Orville has no concept
to the people he wanted to meet. It was of his own ineptitude and will take on cases
absolutely worth it. Lawyers are like gold in that are far beyond his abilities.
the joint. He loved the way everyone
treated him with respect there, and he Marla Zarinovsky
finally made the connections he needed. He PL: 6
hasn’t yet won the confidence of the Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1)
Scarpias themselves but he’s represented Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
their associates in all kinds of matters. If Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0
Luca “Stabbo the Clown” Stegnetti needs a Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 1
lawyer on short notice, he’ll probably ask for Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes Save: 3
Mel. Willpower Save: 6 (8 vs. mental attacks)
A strange, arrogant young guy, Mel
Skills: Bluff 7 (+10), Computers 1 (+4),
doesn’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the
Concentrate 3 (+6.) Diplomacy 9 (+12),
things his clients do. It’s like he thinks he’s
Gather Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 4
living in a movie. He also seems absolutely
(+7), Investigate 5 (+8), Knowledge
determined not to be a wimpy Jewish nerd.
(Arcane Lore) 1 (+4), Knowledge
To be tough by association. He dresses like
(Behavioral Science) 6 (+9), Knowledge
a mob lawyer, in suits he can’t afford and
(Civics) 7 (+10), Knowledge (Current
Events) 5 (+8), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3

161
(+6), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) peasant skirts. She wears her hair long and
3 (+6), Notice 5 (+8), Perform (Oratory) 9 straight.
(+12), Profession (legal advocate) 8 (+11), Divorced, Marla lives with her
Sense Motive 9 (+12) boyfriend in the tiny struggling bohemian
Feats: Contacts, Distract (Linked to Bluff), enclave near the Terminal Drive train
Ritualist, Skill Mastery (Diplomacy, station, but she’s never home. Everyone is
Knowledge [Civics], Perform [Oratory], surprised to learn that she isn’t gay and that
Sense Motive), Taunt she doesn’t have a cat. She herself would
Powers: Mind Shield 2 be surprised to learn that the defensive
Background: One of Bedlam’s finest wards she has cast really work, and are
lawyers has never passed the bar. She’s the genuinely protecting her from magical
legal advocate for one of Bedlam’s women’s attacks.
shelters, and she knows far more about how
the law applies to domestic violence than
any of the Assistant D.A.s or States’
Attorneys that she works with. So she
coaches them and tells them what to do,
effectively practicing law without a license.
She does this because somebody has to.
While she does have a law degree, her
primary field is psychology and she’s never
had the time or the inclination to study for
the state bar. There’s far too much work to
do.
Funny, perceptive and fearless, she
can tell you stories that will make your blood
run cold about he things she has seen on
the job. Yet it hasn’t broken her or burnt
her out—just made her more determined to
help people. She knows Detective Harvey
Gluk (see page 76) the head of the Bedlam
Police’s Special Victims Liaison Unit and she
has some reservations about him. Still, he’s
a valuable resource and she frequently goes
to him for help. She has also met Larry
“Fido” Turwood, but he made a bad first
impression on her and she doesn’t think
much of him.
While she is Jewish, if you look
close you can see that the star around her
neck has five points instead of six. She’s a
practicing neopagan, but she claims not to
be a fundamentalist about it—it’s more
something she turns to for spiritual comfort
than anything else. She doesn’t expect the
Goddess to save anyone who can’t save
themselves—that’s Marla’s job.
A native of Brooklyn, she has a fairly
strong New York accent and a very
Brooklynese kind of wry amusement at the
world and its follies. She dresses like a New
York Wiccan, in lots of black with flowing

162
In a city where there aren’t enough G and T acts more as a referral
policemen, private security firms flourish. service than an employer. They don’t offer
This list covers the major players, but there benefits—although if one of their employees
are sure to some smaller companies around, gets arrested they will send legal counsel to
as well. assist them. Nor do they offer any training
or perform background checks. After all,
Maximum Safeguard the Bedlam police have already done that.
This is the largest security firm in Bedlam. This is a wonderfully lucrative
They provide guards for banks, apartments, business, requiring almost no overhead.
supermarkets and for nearly all of the They don’t even pay for their employees’
downtown office buildings. Maximum’s uniforms. Nor do they need to advertise
advertising materials claim that all of their very widely.
personnel are ex-special forces or SWAT It will surprise no one to learn that
team personnel. In fact most of them are Larry Garvin is married to one of the
recent immigrants who don’t speak English Reverend Willie Boggs’ sisters or that Otis
very well and have already tried Bedlam’s Torsberg is the former head of Bedlam’s
other menial jobs (cab driver, street vendor, police union. They are wired in tightly to
gas station attendant, etc.) A lot of them the Bedlam political machine, or at least the
work second jobs and spend their shifts part of it that Councilman Boggs oversees.
half-awake. Their downtown office is in one of
Maximum Safeguard is a national the shinier, newer buildings, but it’s small
firm that operates under various names and has just a few staff on duty (neither
around the country. They have a corporate Garvin nor Torsberg ever bothers to visit.)
office in downtown Bedlam and a recruiting The operation only needs a very few people
and training office in the Meadows. They to run smoothly.
give their staff nearly two whole weeks of
training before putting them in the field. Iron Talon International
Typically, a guard’s biggest worry on This firm helps provide paramilitary services
the job is that someone might figure out to a wide range of government agencies.
that they don’t speak English and have only They guard nuclear power plants for the
the vaguest understanding of what is going Department of Energy, guard embassies for
on around them. the State Department, and provide a lot of
unnamed services for the armed forces in
Garvin and Torsberg Limited (G and T) places like Afghanistan and Iraq.
This firm can provide you with off-duty They hire ex-military guys and offer
Bedlam police officers for any security need, them good salaries and benefits, along with
short-term or long. They are largely used a chance to continue living the life of a
by Bedlam’s entertainment community, professional soldier. They recruit former
providing bouncers and doormen for Special Forces and Navy SEALS as much as
nightclubs and bars. That includes the possible. When a member of one of the
illegal nightclubs out on Industrial Drive (but elite units screws up and gets kicked out of
probably not Club Death—see Page 195.) the armed forces, they can always find a

163
home at Iron Talon, no questions asked. Iron Talon Security Consultant
They do not comment on allegations that
they have provided minions for numerous
supervillains as well.
In Bedlam, Iron Talon International
provides security services for the Stone
Ridge gated community, and the huge
underground Liberty Shoppes Mall.
Guarding a gated community full of
spoiled rich people is not a dream
assignment for most of these guys. Iron
Talon tends to place guys in Stone Ridge
who have suffered too much battle fatigue
or who have committed deeds that could
embarrass the company if they remained on
duty in Iraq. Liberty Shoppes is an actual
punishment assignment, reserved for guys
with chronic discipline or drug problems.
Iron Talon personnel are immune to
prosecution in Iraq and some have difficulty
adjusting to the rules and strictures they PL: 6
have to operate under in the States. Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Fortunately, they don’t have to abide by all Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
the same restrictions as, for example, cops. Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
They don’t have the power to arrest Toughness Save: 5 (+1 without body
anyone, so anybody they take into custody armor) Fortitude Save: 3
hasn’t technically been arrested, just Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
“detained.” This means they don’t have any Skills: Drive 3 (+4), Intimidate 5 (+6),
Miranda rights, like a phone call or a lawyer. Medicine 2 (+3), Knowledge (tactics) 4
Nor is there really a limit to how long they (+5), Notice 6 (+7), Profession (security
can hold you. They aren’t a government consultant) 3 (+4), Stealth 5 (+6)
agency, so their records aren’t subject to Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Improved
Freedom of Information Access requests Grapple
and they don’t have to tell your lawyer or Equipment: Body Armor (5 Toughness),
your family whether or not they are holding Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Damage) or
you. Submachine Gun (Ranged Weapon, 4
They tend to use this power Damage [Extra: Autofire]), Tonfa (Melee
judiciously, which is to say, they don’t use it Weapon, 2 Damage), handcuffs
on anyone important or well-connected. Complications: On edge. Not used to
working in an environment where there are
consequences for misbehavior.

164
 International Investigations Inc. (or
“Triple-Eye”)

Yes, that’s actually their name. This is one

of the largest detective agencies in the
country, with more than 90 offices
nationwide. Their logo is three eyes and
their motto is “Always Watching.”
They claim in their ads to offer
“qualified professionals for every aspect of
investigation—former government
operatives and intelligence personnel to
handle all your security and investigations
needs.” The truth is that they’re more like a
franchise than a single giant agency, and
There are a number of different private the quality of the various offices that use
investigation firms in Bedlam. Some are tiny the Triple-Eye name varies wildly.
one-man operations, others are large, with a The Bedlam office is pretty good.
dozen people or more on staff. Some are Their ads may be terminally sleazy, but the
reasonably honest, others are crooks who agency looks professional. They rent office
can be hired to perform any kind of dirty space in a skyscraper downtown, with six
deed. The GM should feel free to add more full-time “Investigator Associates” (all of
to the list below. A city this size could easily them former Bedlam cops) working cases, a
support more private investigation firms— research staff of four, and three
Gary, Indiana has twenty-eight. administrative assistants. Everyone wears a
tie. Bland watercolors hang on the wall. It
Big Firms looks like an insurance office or a real estate
Firms with more than one or two licensed brokerage.
detectives on staff. We have independent The Investigator Associates are
investigators (including firms with just a efficient and handle just about any aspect of
couple of PI’s and some other researchers investigations work competently.
and administrative staff) listed in the next Unfortunately, they are a wholly owned
section. Despite what you see in old subsidiary of the Scarpia crime family, which
movies, actual one-man operations are rare, is also their biggest client. If any of their
since it’s tough for a single person to keep detectives finds out anything that might
up with all the administrative work. interest the Scarpias, they will immediately
pass the information along.

165
 The current head of the Bedlam Gianni “the Gorilla” Gavrillo
office of Triple-Eye is Gianni Gavrillo (known
to his associates as “Gavrillo the Gorilla”.)
He’s a great big linebacker of a man, with
an expensive Italian suit, a diamond earring,
a ponytail and a constant self-satisfied
smirk. He’s young for the job, about thirty,
but his career as a Bedlam police detective
was attracting too much attention from
Internal Affairs, so his real bosses moved
him here. He hasn’t been running the
agency for very long and while he’s a
capable investigator he doesn’t yet quite
have the hang of office management.
Triple-Eye’s home office in Anaheim,
California, has no idea that the Bedlam
branch has become the tool of the Mafia.
Then again, they also wouldn’t care.

Generic Investigator Associate

PL: 3
PL: 6
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 3
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 3
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6
Skills: Bluff 2 (+4), Climb 2 (+3),
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Climb 1 (+5),
Computers 3 (+4), Diplomacy 3 (+5), Drive
Computers 0 (+3), Drive 2 (+3), Gather
4 (+5), Gather Information 3 (+5),
Information 3 (+5), Intimidate 7 (+9),
Investigate 4 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 3
Investigate 3 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 1
(+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Notice
(+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice
3 (+5), Profession (detective) 4 (+5),
6 (+9), Profession (detective) 3 (+4),
Search 5 (+7), Sense Motive 3 (+5), Stealth
Search 3 (+6), Stealth 5 (+6), Swim 2 (+6)
5 (+6)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold,
Feats: Chokehold, Connected, Contacts,
Connected, Contacts, Improved Grapple,
Quick-Draw
Improved Pin, Quick-Draw
Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 2
Equipment: Baseball Bat (Melee Weapon,
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
3 Damage), Huge Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
Damge)
Damage), Sawed-Off Shotgun (Ranged
Background: A typical investigator for
Weapon, 5 Damage)
Triple-Eye may or may not know that the
Mob is their boss. However, the kind of
American Investigators
private eye who would wind up working for
Despite the clunky name, this is a solid,
them wouldn’t care one way or the other.
competent firm. Their one real weakness is
Anyone with more ethics would already have
in electronic surveillance. They don’t have a
gone looking for a different job.

166
lot of bugs or spy gear. Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
Based in Wolverton, they share a Skills: Bluff 4 (+6), Climb 2 (+2),
three story building with two dentists and a Computers 2 (+4), Diplomacy 4 (+6), Drive
mortgage broker. This is a family business, 2 (+3), Gather Information 3 (+5),
run since the 1970s by the Joneses. There Investigate 3 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) 1
are three generations of women working (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+5),
there. All eight of their staff (six detectives Medicine 1 (+3), Notice 4 (+6), Profession
and two support personnel—both of whom (detective) 3 (+5), Search 3 (+5), Sense
are itching to become investigators) are Motive 2 (+4), Stealth 4 (+5)
female and all eight are African-American. Feats: Contacts, Quick-Draw
Each of them is Jackie Jones’ daughter, Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 2
granddaughter or niece. They range in age Damage)
from eighteen to fifty-eight. Background: In fact the Jones girls vary a
Jackie herself is still in great shape bit in their strengths and abilities. But
for a woman who is nearly sixty and she still here’s a typical one.
takes on casework. All of the ladies of the
agency share her eerie calm. Always polite, Jackie Jones
never upset, they face confrontations with a
smooth blank smile that’s a lot scarier than
an icy stare could be. The agency claims to
handle only investigative work. They don’t
get physical with anybody, they don’t do
muscle-work and they don’t break the law.
Once, back in the 1970s, Jackie took
a more dangerous approach to life, and was
forever getting caught up in crazy, violent
adventures. She’d do anything, take any
risk to help someone in trouble. But since
then, something has died in her. Or
perhaps she has just grown up. Now she
risks nothing for no-one.
Her middle daughter, Latisha, is the
hothead of the group (although she looks as
outwardly serene as any of them) and could
easily be enticed into doing something more
dangerous than her mom would approve of,
if she thought it was in a worthy cause.
It is rumored that Jackie knows local
crimelord Lincoln Stone personally and may
PL: 6
have dated him. This is actually true, but
she owes nothing to the mob and wouldn’t Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
do them any favors if they asked. She has Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
visited “the Stone” in prison, but only to Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
reminisce about old times. These days she Toughness Save: 5 (2 if caught
treats him with the same polite detachment Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3
she uses with everyone. Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6
Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Climb 2 (+2),
Generic “Jones Girl” Computers 0 (+3), Diplomacy 4 (+7), Drive
PL: 3 2 (+3), Gather Information 3 (+6),
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Intimidate 3 (+6), Investigate 7 (+10),
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+4), Knowledge
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 (Streetwise) 6 (+9), Medicine 1 (+4), Notice
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3

167
6 (+9), Profession (detective) 6 (+9), Background: Most of the Jones girls would
Search 5 (+8), Stealth 5 (+6) be unwilling to use violence or directly face
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Defensive danger on behalf of a client. For Latisha,
Attack, Defensive Roll 3 Equipment 2 (10 Jackie’s youngest daughter, it would depend
pts. of equipment), Quick-Draw on the client. She loves helping people,
Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 3 wishes her mom still believed in it, and is
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 eager to have adventures. She hasn’t yet
Damage), Shotgun (Ranged Weapon, 5 had any, but the PCs might just bring her
Damage) the case that makes her a hero. Or a
corpse.
Latisha Jones If Latisha manages to get herself in
trouble, her mom will do everything in her
power to help her.

Tamika Jones
PL: 2
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Climb 1 (+1),
Computers 2 (+4), Diplomacy 5 (+7), Drive
1 (+2), Gather Information 1 (+3),
Investigate 4 (+6), Knowledge (Streetwise)
1 (+3), Medicine 1 (+3), Notice 6 (+8),
Profession (detective) 1 (+3), Profession
(receptionist) 3 (+5), Search 1 (+3), Sense
Motive 4 (+6), Stealth 2 (+3)
Feats: Attractive
PL: 4 Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 2
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Damage)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) Background: Jackie’s granddaughter
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 Tamika is officially just the office’s part-time
Toughness Save: 4 (1 if caught receptionist until she graduates from high
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes school. But she’s aching to get in the game
Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 herself. She’s learned a lot about the
Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+4), Bluff 6 (+8), business of investigation (although not as
Climb 3 (+3), Computers 2 (+4), Diplomacy much as she thinks) and she’s convinced
2 (+4), Drive 3 (+4), Gather Information 3 that she’s ready to be a full-fledged
(+5), Investigate 3 (+5), Knowledge (Civics) detective now.
1 (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+6), If the PCs bring a case to American
Medicine 1 (+3), Notice 4 (+6), Profession Investigators that is too dangerous or too
(detective) 3 (+5), Search 3 (+5), Sense irresponsible for them to handle, Tamika
Motive 1 (+3), Stealth 6 (+7) may well try to take the job on herself,
Feats: All-Out Attack, Attractive, Defensive hoping to prove to her grandma that she’s
Roll 3, Equipment 2 (10 pts. of equipment), ready to be a Jones Girl. She won’t tell the
Quick-Draw, Taunt Player Characters that she doesn’t have the
Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 2 firm’s permission or a PI license. She’s good
Damage), Shotgun (Ranged Weapon, 5 friends with her aunt Latisha and if the PCs
Damage) have something really dangerous in mind,
Complications: Likes helping people. she might talk Latisha into coming along
Wants to be a hero like her mom. with her on the adventure.

168
Independent Investigators While he isn’t the most ethical guy in the
None of these little firms may have more world, he does not work for the Mafia and
than one or two PIs on staff. PI Rod’s wants no entanglement with them or their
operation is relatively large, with three or world. But he might be tempted to spy on
four support staff. Pete Lord and Curtis them, for the money and for the thrill.
Spaulding both work alone. Spaulding
doesn’t even have an office. There is room Rodney Starvik, Private Eye
for a lot more of these little guys in a town PL: 4
the size of Bedlam. They’re just meant as Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3)
examples. Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
PI Rod (+0 if caught Flatfooted)
“Have you been the victim of a fraudulent Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 4
lawsuit? Have you been the target of Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 3
identity theft? Do you need someone on Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Diplomacy 4 (+6),
your side? Get PI Rod, the name you can Drive 4 (+4), Gather Information 4 (+6),
trust to back you up. Process Serving! Intimidate 4 (+6), Investigate 5 (+6),
Marital Infidelity! Surveillance! Background Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+4), Knowledge
Checks! Malpractice! Get PI Rod on the (Streetwise) 2 (+3), Medicine 1 (+2), Notice
case!” So says Rodney Starvik’s website. 4 (+5), Profession (detective) 4 (+5),
Look more carefully and you can Search 4 (+5), Stealth 6 (+6)
see that PIRod.com is really a free site Feats: Contacts, Defensive Attack, Dodge
hosted by Yahoo. Located over a strip mall Focus 4, Endurance, Evasion
in the Meadows, the offices of PI Rod, Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3
Investigator, sprawl over a good-sized part Damage)
of the building. He employs about six Complications: Pushy. Too brash for his
people. A team of three paralegals for own good.
research, an administrative assistant and a
junior investigator named Ralph Brimley Lord Associates, Investigative Services
who has just graduated from college, and Pete Lord (his original name was Pietro
wants to have a little adventure before he Franconi) has always been looking for an
settles down and gets a real job. Rod also angle. He’s been a lawyer, a part-time
employs a hulking ex-cop named Rufus, tabloid journalist, a collection agent and
who serves in an unspecified capacity occasionally a criminal. He’s always done
(intimidation and thuggery.) okay. But now he’s forty-six and still looking
Rodney himself is surprisingly for his big score.
professional, given his sleazy advertising He rents space in the law offices of
material and low-rent address. He’s a a big successful downtown firm, to make it
former FBI agent, with ten years experience look as though he’s somehow associated
as a police detective prior to working for the with them. He wears a trim grey beard and
bureau. A short but powerfully built guy, he a Brooks Brothers’ suit to look fatherly and
wears tasteful suits and speaks standard respectable. He wears tinted glasses to look
English. He’s overbearing company, talking threatening.
too loud and too much, constantly boasting Mr. Lord is not a member of the
about his law enforcement credentials and Bedlam mob, but he does know them and
trying to push clients into ordering extra he certainly wouldn’t turn them down if they
services. He’s also wildly irresponsible, offered him work. Nor would he turn down
prone to taking crazy risks and not above the good guys. He can be hired for any job,
breaking the law if he’s paid well enough. honest, dishonest or evil, in either his
Mostly he does process-server work, capacity as a lawyer or as an investigator.
delivering court notices to people who are He would love to have the chance to
trying to avoid them, but he loves taking on blackmail a really rich client, or to sell
the occasional dangerous, exciting job.

169
information about a client to parties who 6 (+9), Profession (detective) 3 (+5),
might need it—including organized crime. Search 4 (+7), Stealth 6 (+6)
He’s a competent investigator and a Feats: Contacts, Skill Mastery (Concentrate,
good defense attorney, although he’s better Investigate, Search, Stealth)
at legal maneuvering behind the scenes Equipment: Flashlight (Melee Weapon, 2
than he is in the courtroom—juries just don’t Damage)
trust him, somehow. Perhaps it’s the way Background: A scrawny old guy in his
he never takes off his tinted lenses. Quietly seventies, Mr. Spaulding is a man who has
menacing, he’s always guarded, picking his learned the value of patience. He has held
words carefully. No one ever sees his eyes a PI’s license ever since the early 1960s. A
behind his tinted glasses, but you can feel quiet old bachelor without any close friends,
them watching. he has nowhere to go at the end of the day
and nothing better to do than work cases.
Pete Lord Not that he minds. He’s long since learned
PL: 3 to take life as it comes.
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) Spaulding is superb at surveillance
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) work. He looks like any frail old man you
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3 might see doddering around in a too-big suit
Toughness Save: 3 (+1 if he isn’t wearing and a porkpie hat. No one ever suspects
his body armor) Fortitude Save: 4 him of being a detective. He still drives a
Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 3 car (it’s a huge old 1985 Chrysler LeBaron)
Skills: Bluff 4 (+6), Diplomacy 3 (+5), and he does a lot of stakeout from his
Drive 1 (+2), Gather Information 5 (+7), vehicle, with the radio switched to “Easy
Intimidate 5 (+7), Investigate 2 (+3), Listening” to keep him company. He doesn’t
Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+4), Knowledge carry a gun. In case of trouble, he has a
(Streetwise) 6 (+7), Languages (Italian), flashlight. But trouble never seems to come
Notice 4 (+6), Profession (detective) 4 (+5), his way. He avoids cases that require him
Search 4 (+6), Stealth 4 (+5) to confront anyone and sticks to the stuff
Feats: Connected, Contacts he’s good at—watching people and finding
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 out what they’re up to.
Damage), Body Armor (3 Toughness) While he knows how to do skip
Complications: Would sell his own granny tracing and has a police contact he can
for a stick of gum bribe to run license plate checks, the finer
points of modern electronic surveillance are
Curtis Spaulding beyond him. He’s a legwork guy.
PL: 3 It’s hard to tempt or threaten Mr.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1) Spaulding, since he no longer cares about
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0) much of anything.
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 0 Mr. Spaulding can’t afford an office
Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 1 and sets up all of his business by phone.
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 5 When he has to meet a client in person he
does it in his car. Despite looking like
Skills: Bluff 4 (+4), Concentrate 5 (+8),
somebody’s grandfather, he’s totally
Diplomacy 4 (+4), Drive 3 (+3), Gather
unshockable. You can use any kind of
Information 4 (+4), Investigate 5 (+7),
language you like around him, although he
Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+3), Knowledge
never seems to curse himself.
(Streetwise) 2 (+4), Medicine 1 (+4), Notice

170
Bedlam is too small for a major-league lawsuits and federal prosecutions just as
sports franchise. But they have a troubled they were starting to build a reputation.
minor league hockey team (the Bedlam The Lunatics tried to join the
Lunatics) and a fairly successful minor International League and the American
league baseball team (the Bedlam Maniacs) League, but while they were in negotiations,
and both have ambitions of becoming feeder Dutch got indicted on federal extortion
teams for bigger franchises. charges (unrelated to his activities in the
Bedlam’s baseball team, the Lightning League) and he decided for the
Maniacs, have recently generated national good of the team to sever his association
attention by hiring former major league with them. They have decided to sit out this
pitcher “Spanky” Trombino, who is upcoming season but they say that in a
sometimes known as the bad boy of couple of years they’ll be back—crazier than
baseball. They say that he was too hard for ever.
even a major league coach to control, so it
remains to be seen how good a job the The Maniacs
Maniacs can do of keeping him out of Bedlam’s newest sports team has attracted
trouble. controversy since long before its founding.
Back in 1914, Bedlam was the original home
The Lunatics of a baseball team called the Bedlamites,
When the Lightning League formed in 2003, who moved to another city, changed their
the rush was on for businesses to buy or name and became incredibly famous and
start their own hockey teams. A lot of successful. For a long time there has been
investors were willing to be lured by the a “bring back the Bedlamites” movement in
idea of summer hockey and the money was Bedlam, although they have never had any
flowing like crazy. It was, as they say, real hope of getting it accomplished. When
raining suckers. Municipal Councilman Big Andy Czernik
Local Bedlam impresario Dutch announced plans to bring minor league
Angelo quickly bought a team and set about baseball to Bedlam, not only did it seem to
finding them a venue. The best he could do people like the kind of wasteful project the
was to buy them time at the Belchner Redevelopment Commission used to try, but
College skating rink, but it’s hard to make it also offended the fans who hoped against
people drive that far out of town and there hope for the Bedlamites to one day return.
are problems with parking, so he kept the The Reverend Willie Boggs loudly
team on tour most of the time. opposed building a baseball park and Big
Dutch didn’t focus much on winning Andy found himself in the single toughest
games—he couldn’t afford the kind of fight of his political career. He won, but the
players who’d do that for him. Instead he contest weakened him.
focused his efforts on getting the most They say that a lot of the Mob’s
savage, brutal players he could find. Guys money went into building Maniac Park, out
other teams didn’t want because they spent on Slaughter Road, and that a lot of their
too much time in the penalty box. If he enemies are buried in its foundations.
couldn’t have the best team in the Lightning The Maniacs are owned by Sports
League, he could at least have the most Ventures International, a large chain based
controversial. Endorsements are all about somewhere in New Jersey. They don’t
how much face time you get on TV. And micromanage the team or the baseball park,
you can get there by other routes than which is run by local contractors from Stark
winning games. Their motto is “Blood on Hill.
the Ice at Every Game!” Unfortunately, the The Maniacs have been reasonably
Lightning League collapsed in a tangle of successful in their first two seasons, but

171
their big coup came this year, when they Precise Shot 2, Redirect, Throwing Mastery,
hired disgraced major league pitcher Wealth
“Spanky” Trombino, the self-proclaimed Equipment: Automatic Rifle (Ranged
“Bad Boy of Baseball.” Trombino has always Weapon, 5 Damage; Extra: Autofire; Cost:
been a great headline getter, known at least 2pts), Night-Binoculars (Super-Senses:
as much for his outrageous behavior as for Darkvision, Extended Vision)
his pitching. He has been in prison twice for Complications: Has to indulge every
vicious assaults, but he shows no sign of violent whim that pops into his head
changing his behavior. The team swears Background: As you can see from the
that he tests drug free. He openly laughs at equipment list above, Spanky has been
this and asks what they would do if he doing some shopping. He’s talked Harry
didn’t? Fire him? Plutzer, owner of Colossal Guns (see Page
Spanky has bought one of the 154) into selling him some very dangerous
biggest houses in the Stone Ridge gated and illegal weapons. Spanky says he
community, which has been the scene of doesn’t want them for any “sicko reasons,”
some very wild parties. There are rumors he just likes shooting stuff with them.
that an elephant was in some way violated Player Characters who try to arrest him, for
at one of them. It remains to be seen if his example.
new team can bring him to heel before he
gets himself sent back to prison. Until he An Adventure with the Bedlam
does, the stands at Maniac Park are packed Maniacs: Take Me Out to the Madhouse
for the first time in three years. It’s a warm spring day at Maniac Park, and
The Maniacs’ mascot, Marvin the Spanky Trombino is up to pitch. It’s the
Maniac (a loony wearing a straightjacket) middle of the eighth inning. The score is
has been awarded the prize for the most tied at three to three. The other team has
annoying mascot in the league for two years men on first and second base and they’re
running. He has also raised concerns from only halfway through the batting lineup.
mental health care advocates, as has the Can Spanky save the day?
fans’ signature cheer, the “Maniac Chop.” Suddenly, a voice screams out from
As of yet they have achieved little traction, behind the bleachers “Your hour has come,
Marvin the Maniac still capers gleefully on Trombino!”
the sidelines of every game and they still The fans all gasp and stare, as an
pass out cardboard meat-cleavers to the enraged animal trainer rides an elephant
fans for the Maniac Chop. onto the field. The beast appears to be
wearing some kind of gigantic hernia truss.
Lawrence “Spanky” Trombino Tears pour down the trainer’s face as he
PL: 9 screams “We’re gonna crush you, big man,
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3) for what you did to Peanut! Yer eyes have
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 16 (+3) gazed in wonder at their last dawn!”
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 9 The vengeance-crazed duo charge
Defense: 9 (3 if caught Flatfooted) the pitcher’s mound. To the crowd’s
Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 9 amazement, Spanky not only holds his
Reflexes Save: 9 Willpower Save: 0 ground, but starts taunting the elephant
Skills: Bluff 9 (+12), Intimidate 11 (+14), trainer. Can the PCs get down to the field in
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 6 (+8), Notice time to prevent a tragedy without revealing
8 (+8), Profession (baseball player) 12 their secret identities?
(+14), Ride 4 (+7), Search 4 (+4), Sense Things go very wrong if they don’t.
Motive 4 (+4), Stealth 3 (+6), Survival 8 Spanky waits until the elephant is close and
(+8) then throws a fastball straight into its
Feats: Accurate Attack, Assessment, hernia. Poor Peanut lets out a trumpet of
Connected, Dodge Focus 6, Endurance, pure agony and stumbles, throwing her
Improved Critical (with rifle), Improved trainer to the ground, where Spanky begins
Block, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple, to kick the crap out of him. If the PCs don’t

172
intervene, he’s likely to beat the guy to small market, so they decided to publish
death, while the crowd laughs and cheers them both under the Informer’s byline.
and does the Maniac Chop. Spanky may Because of some contractual obligations
even figure out some way to kill the they had to the Beacon’s former owners, it
elephant. And if he goes back to jail, still exists as a weekly supplement inside the
Bedlam’s morale might not recover. Informer. Mostly an editorial page, the
Beacon contains little but angry rants
against the Informer’s editorial policies.
They no longer have any actual staff or
offices, so they can’t really do much else.
The Informer’s staff has also been
reduced. They get all their national and
international news from the main office in
New York, and they no longer employ full-
time reporters. Everyone who writes a local
We have envisioned Bedlam as a smaller story or a column for them is a stringer—an
city in the shadow of a nearby metropolis. independent contractor who gets paid by
If that is the role you want it to play in your the piece.
campaign, then assume that Bedlam gets The Informer used to be known for
most of its television from its giant neighbor. its trashy, lurid, gossipy style of reporting,
The same is true for newspapers and radio but it has become much tamer in recent
stations. There are local papers and radio years and much less critical of the city
stations, but they have a hard time authorities. They still favor shocking
competing with the bigger market next headlines and gruesome crime stories, but
door. they no longer rail against local politicians or
do exposes on the city’s failing services.
The Informer’s political position is
vaguely right-wing, pro-war and anti-
affirmative action. They like Councilman Big
Andy Czernik a lot and always support his
There are two local newspapers in Bedlam policies. A typical subscriber to the Bedlam
but both are owned by distant media Informer is an older white male from a
conglomerates and both are struggling for working class background who lives in Stark
readership in a market dominated by the Hill or Greely Point and admires the Mafia.
city’s larger neighbor. As a result, one has a It’s published in a tabloid format (naturally)
small circulation and the other has a tiny and features at least four pages of color
one. photos per issue. Often these are gruesome
crime-scene pictures, although for some
reason they seldom report on Mob hits.
The Informer’s Managing Editor is
Until recently, there were two daily papers Buddy Dean, a smooth, handsome, insincere
and a weekly in Bedlam. The Informer used man who never yells at reporters or keeps
to be the smaller and trashier of the two his promises to them. He looks at himself in
daily newspapers, but the owners of the the mirror a lot, when he thinks no one is
Bedlam Beacon made some poor business watching.
decisions and got absorbed by a huge Their most prominent reporter is
national media giant. The Informer tried to currently Rona Romita, a loudmouthed hack
make a selling point out of the fact that it who is famous for aggressively pestering the
was the only locally owned news outlet in relatives of people who have died in tragic
the city, but within a few years it sold out to accidents. A skinny, leathery woman with
the same conglomerate. The distant expensive hair and cold little eyes, she
corporate headquarters in New York decided admits to being thirty-five but is in fact a
that two papers were too many for one decade older.

173
 are paying you way more for advertising
Buddy Dean space.
PL: 3 He would love to be able to break a
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) big national story that would get the
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) Informer lots of attention. But not if it
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 3 would annoy his advertisers.
Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 2 Buddy’s personal life is something of
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 3 a mystery. No one ever seems to see him
Willpower Save: 2 outside the office and no one is precisely
Skills: Bluff 8 (+10), Diplomacy 3 (+5), sure where he lives.
Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge (Popular
Culture) 6 (+7), Notice 4 (+6), Profession Rona Romita
(editor) 5 (+6), Sense Motive 5 (+7)
Feats: Attractive, Connected, Contacts,
Distract (Linked to Bluff), Fascinate (Linked
to Bluff)
Complications: Untrustworthy, insincere
and utterly devoid of professional ethics
Background: Buddy Dean is not your
friend. Older reporters always give this
warning to the new guys. It’s amazing how
many of them are fooled anyway. Buddy is
a charmer, friendly and warm. He’s vulgar if
he thinks you want him to be and refined if
he senses that’s what would put you at
ease. He always agrees with everything you
say. If you pitch him a story idea that he
doesn’t like, he’ll nod and tell you how great
PL: 4
it is and then he’ll forget to publish it. The
only way you can ever figure out what he’s Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
thinking is through his actions. And his Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 16 (+3)
actions reveal him to be a pretty ruthless Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 2
guy. Defense: 5 (2 if she is caught Flatfooted)
Buddy will print exactly what he Toughness Save: 2
thinks will make money, and does his best Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 4
to play his writers off against one another in Willpower Save: 2
pointless rivalries so that they won’t get Skills: Bluff 6 (+9), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
organized and demand a bigger share of the Intimidate 5 (+8), Knowledge (Popular
take. He screws the printers out of every Culture) 4 (+6), Notice 4 (+4), Profession
nickel he can, he outsources every job he (reporter) 5 (+7), Sense Motive 3 (+3),
can justify sending overseas. Stealth 3 (+5)
The Informer runs whatever stories Feats: Attractive, Distract (Linked to Bluff),
Buddy thinks will make his advertisers Dodge Focus 3, Startle, Taunt
happy. Because he’s aware that circulation Complications: Completely determined to
isn’t where you make your real money. You be a star
make the important revenue from Background: It’s tough being a plucky star
advertising, and you do that by telling reporter in a market as downscale as
people what their bosses want them to Bedlam. There’s only one newspaper,
hear. It almost doesn’t matter if your unless you count the “alternative” weekly
readers like or agree with anything you have rag, and they already have too many
to say. They’re only paying you a dollar stringers competing for their limited amount
each, while the people who employ them of newsprint.

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 Rona is constantly toiling away at
articles for national magazines, on every
Part of a Chicago-based chain of
subject from art history to video games, but
“alternative” weekly newspapers, the
she scores most consistently with the
Bedlam City Paper is the Informer’s only
Bedlam Informer. In order to survive, let
competitor. Distributed largely through
alone prosper, she has to write whatever
record stores and coffee shops, the City
will sell. It doesn’t matter if it’s true. It
Paper is free, supported entirely by
doesn’t matter if it hurts people. It doesn’t
advertising. It gets its columns and its
matter if it expresses a point of view that
cartoons from the home office in Chicago.
Rona herself disagrees with (although to be
In fact that’s where they do layout and print
fair, she doesn’t really have much point of
it, too. If you have a story or photos to
view.) The only factor is “will someone buy
submit, you send it to their PO box and a
this?” And this philosophy has guided her
remailing agent sends it straight to Chicago.
into becoming the closest thing Bedlam has
The City Paper employs no full-time
to a star reporter.
reporters. All the lead stories are written by
She has absolutely no objection to
stringers. In most cities these would be
using her good looks to promote her work,
largely enthusiastic young amateurs, but in
or to help her get a good interview. While
Bedlam a lot of professional journalists use
her willingness to do things other reporters
the City Paper as an outlet for stories that
won’t do has led her pretty far, she knows
the Informer would never publish. As a
that time is running out for her. She’s
result, it is feistier and more controversial
already in her mid forties and her looks
than most members of the “City Paper”
won’t last forever. She needs a big national
franchise. It’s a genuine muckraking
story and she needs it now. To this end,
journal, exposing crime and corruption in
she is going to try to get way too close to as
every corner of this unhappy little burg.
many supervillain battles as she can, taking
Because the paper is produced in
crazy risks in order to get the stories that no
Chicago, it’s impossible for the local mob
one else is able to.
families to lean on the publisher—the
If she encounters the PCs she will
Chicago outfit is unfriendly to both of
see them as a potential means to an end,
Bedlam’s Mafia families and won’t let them
and won’t mind trading them information for
operate on its turf. They can harass
access. But she won’t date them—Rona has
individual reporters, but a lot of them write
been linked romantically to a number of
under pseudonyms or anonymous bylines.
prominent Bedlam bachelors, but she
Anyway no one actually reads the City Paper
prefers to keep the name of her actual long-
apart from a few bitter students with too
time boyfriend a secret.
many facial piercings. Even they tend to
She’ll keep any deal she makes with
skip over the feature articles and go straight
the PCs for exactly as long as it seems
to “Zippy the Pinhead.”
worthwhile. It’s nearly as difficult to make
It’s kind of a shame that all of this
an enemy out of Rona as it is to make her a
brave reportage goes unheard by the public
reliable ally. She will do or say whatever is
at large. PCs may or may not know that the
expedient and has no time for grudges or
local left-wing record-shop rag is in fact a
for sentimental attachments.
great source of inside information.
Rona starves and vomits to keep
herself dangerously skinny, and it’s made
her skin get loose and sag. She has already
had some plastic surgery to correct this, but Most of Bedlam’s television comes from the
the results look weird and unnatural when bigger city nearby. They have no big
you see her in person. Some people say her network affiliates at all. But they do
cold little eyes look as though they were nonetheless have three locally produced
painted onto her head. But that’s not the channels and an unusually active and
plastic surgery. interesting Public Access cable station.
There is a scrappy little UHF channel, a VHF

175
station that buys most of its programming and no one can bear to tell him that it’s time
through syndication and a struggling PBS to quit.
channel that is forever begging for money.
Their call signs depend on whether you Channel 23 (WHUT or KRAK)
decide to locate Bedlam on the East Coast, Not as big or as well-funded as channel 13,
or somewhere West of the Mississippi. Channel 23 doesn’t have a studio of its own,
We’ve included two sets of call letters for and rents space from Channel 13 when it’s
each station. available. They broadcast off-brand music
videos for much of the day, along with
Channel 13 (WERD or KRUT) whatever cheesy kung-fu movies they can
Bedlam’s own VHF station, part of the new find for cheap. They have a small but
“Your Power Network” which a failing movie devoted following of kids who love bad
studio called “Power Pictures” is funding in a Shaw Brothers films from the 1970s.
last-gasp effort to diversify itself. “Your However, their one real claim to fame is the
Power Network” has about fifteen affiliates Saturday Afternoon Blood Feast. Hosted by
nationwide, and produces or buys some of the curvaceous Count Skankula (a former
the worst sitcoms ever made. They will stripper named Glenda Dumbrowski) it
probably go under in a couple of years, in features some of the most disgusting low-
which case Channel 13 will go back to budget horror movies you can see on
buying all its syndicated programming itself. broadcast television—barely edited down at
In the meantime, they have access to the all. But the real attraction is the lurid and
network’s four or five hours of daily cheesy Count Skankula herself, who has
programming and fill the rest of the air-time gotten carried away and let the audience
with infomercials and “classic” episodes of glimpse her surgically augmented assets
1970s game shows. They actually have a more than once. As Count Skankula herself
studio space just off downtown and produce often says (in her bad fake “Transylvanian”
their own local news program. Their news accent): “Thank goodness no one is actually
team is pathetically small and incompetent, watching this crap.”
with a reputation for putting cheerful,
positive spin on any hideous new disaster. Channel 64 (WKLM or KLAM)
In a risky effort to win over more Bedlam just barely still has a public
viewers, they have recently hired a famous television station. Supported largely by one
anchorman named Obediah Brick, whose or two major donors and produced by
violent temper and bottomless appetite for students for college credit, Channel 64
drugs have made him untouchable by any of exists in a constant state of fiscal crisis.
the major networks. A huge, athletic, angry They show big blocks of local advertising
man with a bristling moustache, he holds between programs and they run paid
Bedlam in open contempt and seldom infomercials for much of the day. And their
ventures out of his brand-new mansion in pledge drive never seems to end.
Stone Ridge to do anything but go to work Channel 64 does in fact have a
or (it is rumored) score dope. He doesn’t studio with a few small and shabby sets (the
even party locally—he goes to the bigger landlord of their building is one of the two
city nearby to get his kicks. anonymous local donors who keeps the
Channel 13 News is also the home station alive) and they produce some of the
of legendary local sportscaster Barry Bulger. worst children’s’ educational programs in the
One of Bedlam’s most beloved celebrities, country. Mostly they do music shows, since
Barry is a fat, white-haired old ruin with a that costs less money than science or
grotesquely misshapen nose. He’s reading—but of course they can’t afford the
completely and blatantly senile, but they rights to any decent songs. They have just
keep him on the air despite his weird enough resources to do one set of episodes
behavior and rambling, pointless per week, so they repeat each block of
commentary. He’s a local hero, after all, educational programming five times. This
would surely drive you mad if you watched

176
it every day. Fortunately, no one ever Feats: All-Out Attack, Attractive,
watches it at all. Chokehold, Connected, Defensive Attack,
Defensive Roll 2, Distract (Linked to Bluff),
Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate), Improved
Block, Improved Pin, Improved Trip, Second
Chance (Willpower Saves vs. fear-based
effects)
Background: Obediah Brick was made for
Obediah Brick
finer things than Bedlam and his scorn
shows. He was a serious journalist with a
national reputation and he worked on
stories that changed the world. He was one
of the first newscasters to tell America that
Saddam Hussein had the atomic bomb, that
New Orleans had been successfully
evacuated by FEMA and that American
troops were being welcomed as liberators by
the grateful Iraqis. He isn’t so much
concerned with whether or not these stories
were true as with the effect they had. He
was Obediah Brick and the world felt his
stamp.
Confront him with questions about
how many of his world-shaking stories were
gravely in error and he’ll shrug and say that
he just reads what’s on the teleprompter.
Persist and he’ll physically attack you.
Seemingly fearless, he has survived
broadcasting assignments in a lot of the
world’s most dangerous places and he has a
very high opinion of his own manly prowess.
He has gotten into public brawls on a
number of occasions and seems to
particularly hate nosy members of the press
taking his picture in public. This strikes
some people as ironic. He’s big and strong,
constantly works out and practices boxing,
but he’s no match for an average PC. Still if
PL: 4
you beat him up, he could pretty much
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) ensure that you get bad press coverage for
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3) a long time.
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 He claims to work hard and play
Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 4 (2 if hard—and it’s certainly true that he plays
caught Flatfooted) hard. After his cocaine addiction and violent
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 1 rages made him a pariah in the world of
Willpower Save: 0 network news, he was forced to look for
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Diplomacy 5 (+8), jobs in markets like Bedlam. They made
Drive 1 (+2), Gather Information 1 (+4), him a far more generous offer than they
Intimidate 8 (+11), Knowledge (Current could really afford. In fact he makes about
Events) 2 (+3), Knowledge (Popular as much now as he did when he worked for
Culture) 7 (+8), Notice 2 (+3), Profession the networks. He actually has far more
(newscaster) 6 (+7), Sense Motive 1 (+2), power here than he did when he was a part
Stealth 1 (+2) of the national press. To keep him at the

177
station, they would let him broadcast any he often blurts out bizarre nonsense or calls
story he wants. He never uses this things so completely wrong that he seems
privilege, however and seems content to go to be watching a different game entirely,
on reading the teleprompter forever. but his enthusiasm is still infectious.
Brick has no bias for or against Anyway most Bedlamites are glad just to
superheroes, unless his producer tells him have him around.
to. In fact he feels the same way about He’s a puffy old man with round
most things. He is pretty well devoid of cheeks, a wild mop of vividly white hair and
opinions on any of the most important a bulbous, cracked, misshapen red
topics of the day, (apart of course from his monstrosity of a nose. People don’t want to
own greatness) but if he’s told to act as look at his nose, but find they can’t look
though he has an opinion, he will. away.
People who have worked for Barry doesn’t have very good
Obediah Brick report that he is a demanding control of himself anymore and sometimes
boss, prone to throwing tantrums over small tries to kiss visiting female celebrities too
details and to hitting assistants. But it’s long and too hard. He also wets his pants
worth it to have a celebrity of his stature in when he gets really excited, but that’s
Bedlam, everyone hastily agrees. actually become part of his persona. “It’s
Brick has become the friend of going! It’s going! I wet my pants!”
fellow “bad boy” celebrity Spanky Trombino
(see Page 172), who arrived in Bedlam
under similar circumstances. They both
party pretty hard, and when they’re
together, anyone who gets in their way had Radio is doing better than television in this
better watch out. market. There are no major network
affiliates on Bedlam’s airwaves (apart from
Barry Bulger NPR), but plenty of little independent
PL: 0 stations. Because there is a bigger city
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: 10 (+0) Int: within FM radio range it’s hard for Bedlam’s
10 (+0) Wis: 6 (-2) Cha: 16 (+3) local FM stations to compete. But this has
Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 0 just led to a richer wealth of short-range AM
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 0 channels. There are also a couple of pirate
Fortitude Save: 0 Reflexes Save: -1 stations that the local authorities don’t seem
to be able to shut down. More on them
Willpower Save: -2
later.
Skills: Bluff 2 (+5), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+3), Notice
1 (-1), Perform (Oratory) 5 (+8), Profession
(sportscaster) 4 (+4), Sense Motive 1 (-1)
Feats: Fascinate (linked to Oratory), Inspire
WFVR or KFVR 98.7 (“The Fever”)
Background: This deeply confused but
Middle-American bar rock, served tepid. If
rather sweet old man has been Bedlam’s
you want to hear Journey, Kansas, or
most beloved sportscaster for decades and
Foreigner, this is the station for you. And
he’s not giving it up now that he’s
may God have mercy on your soul.
hopelessly senile. Nor is the city letting him
give it up. They need their celebrities
WFFL or KHUD 101.3 (“Radio 101”)
desperately.
Top-Forty pop station that also features
Baseball was always Barry’s favorite
Bedlam’s most popular call-in advice
game, and when a minor league team came
program: Doctor Freak. The good Doctor is
to Bedlam (the “Maniacs”, see Page 171) it
an angry, judgmental “Professor of Christian
brought him back to life. He had been
Studies” who berates and belittles most of
slipping into depression and it showed on
her callers. Her signature line is: “you sick
the air, but now he’s as lively and as wild as
freak!”
ever. He can’t keep track of the plays and

178
WULF or KBST 102.5 (“The Beast”) WXLX or KVGR 1066
“Hard rock” station that sometimes plays Easy listening for older listeners. The last
heavy metal. Home of Bedlam’s two most station in the Bedlam area to play Mitch
popular local DJs: shock-jock Dave “The Miller and his Orchestra.
Filthy Beast” Odnarski and “Vampire” Steve
Kravitz with the Late-Late-Late Show. WZRD or KLIP 1110
“Classic Rock” station. Officially it plays “all
WTRD or KRPP 103.8 the hits of the fifties, sixties, seventies,
Adult contemporary for all your easy eighties and nineties” but in fact it mostly
listening needs, soothing those worktime runs acid-addled late 60s psychedelia,
cares away with the gentle sounds of including stuff from all kinds of obscure Bay
Michael Bolton and Kenny G. Area bands like Moby Grape and The Liquid
Sofa-Bed. Late-night DJ Captain Plantastic
WUMP or KLUD 104.6 is so fuddled and out of it that many people
Bedlam’s most popular hip-hop and R&B tune in to his show just to hear what mixed-
Station. An ever-increasing amount of their up non-sequitur he’ll blurt out next. Few
time is given over to crunk, much to the people are aware that it’s an act—he’s really
distaste of some older residents of Dave Odnarski.
Wolverton.
WEZL or KRDD 1210
WFLP or KFLP 107.3 Another Christian station. This one largely
Christian rock station. Plays blander music runs talk shows and sermons. They
than AM 790 and isn’t as successful. It’s a sometimes broadcast Ross Bewley’s show
wholly owned subsidiary of the Abundant here.
Tabernacle Ministries (see Page 209) and
their pastor, Ross Bewley, does a three-hour WHCK or KRNK 1300
show every weekend and an hour each (“Your Lucky 13”)
weekday. The best-funded radio station in Another R&B and hip-hop station. This one
Bedlam, it has a gigantic transmitter and has almost entirely switched over to crunk.
comes in clear as a bell a hundred miles Late-Night DJ Leonora X seems to work
away. coded messages to Wolverton’s
gangbangers into her commentary,
functioning as a kind of underground
communications network for the gangs. No
one seems to know who she really is and
the station’s management isn’t telling.
WKLM or KLAM 880 Some people whisper that local
Bedlam’s NPR affiliate is on AM, much to gangster Lincoln Stone secretly owns Your
their chagrin. The sister station to TV’s Lucky 13. “The Stone” has been in prison
Channel 64, they are just as strapped for for years, but they say he still controls half
cash and just as slim on local programming. the vice in Wolverton. For more on the
AM 880 is produced by students at Bedlam Stone, see the section on organized crime in
Community College and it shows. Officially Bedlam (Page 231)
the one local classical station, it mostly plays
NPR talk and news shows. WANK or KNUT 1320
All talk-radio all the time. Features Rod
WADD or KRMY 790 Anger, Bedlam’s most popular right-wing
Christian rock station. This one plays radio talk-show host. Mr. Anger raves for
louder, harsher music than FM 107.3 and three solid hours a day about how anti-war
gets more listeners. People joke that AM activists should be executed as traitors and
790 plays music for skate punks with the black people shouldn’t be allowed to sit on
crucifixion tattooed on their chests. That’s juries and even more hateful things. His
certainly who they are aiming for.

179
crude impersonations of Jews and Asians One day he’ll tape a few weeks
have gotten him in trouble many times, but worth of one show under one name and the
he maintains a rabid local following next day he’ll tape a few weeks of another
nonetheless. show under another name. He’s psychedelic
groove master Captain Plantastic. He’s Latin
WLHS or KLHS 1390 Salsa Master Manny Ibarra. He’s even
Spanish language station. Popular in “Vampire Steve” Kravitz, despite the weird
Hardwick Park, it plays a lot of Honduran hours this forces him to keep.
folk music in addition to Latin pop hits and The life suits him. All he’s ever
older stuff like sambas and mambos. Dave wanted is to be a Rock-and-Roll DJ. Silly
Odnarski works here too, under the name and shallow, he has a lot of opinions that he
“Manny Ibarra.” hasn’t thought through and that he blurts
out on the air. Sometimes this gets him into
WDRK or KNRD 1460 trouble but more often it gets him listeners.
Bedlam Community College’s other radio He’s not exactly venal or
station. This one is intended for students ambitious—he isn’t making a lot of money
on campus, and it has a very weak, fuzzy and he seems uninterested in rising beyond
signal. Even though most students at BCCC his status as a local radio personality in a
are into the kind of generic rock they play crummy market. But he will ruthlessly
on “the Fever,” AM 1460 is the closest thing attempt to crush anyone who starts to horn
Bedlam has to an “alternative rock” station, in on his tiny niche of the world.
playing songs by depressed European bands In person he’s loud, manic and kind
with enormous hair. of obnoxious. Shorter and fatter than
everyone expects, he wears cowboy boots
and a graying ponytail and he thinks of
himself as a hipster. You won’t know why
they call him “the Filthy Beast” until you see
him eat. His table manners are a
little…undeveloped.
Dave “The Filthy Beast” Odnarski Dave hasn’t had a girlfriend in a
PL: 2 while, and while it doesn’t show much on
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+2) Con: 10 (+0) the surface, the loneliness is starting to eat
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) at him. Sometimes he looks at his wrinkled,
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 2 pudgy face in the mirror and he starts
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 0 crying, although he’s not sure why.
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2 He sometimes likes superheroes and
Willpower Save: 2 sometimes he doesn’t. When he does, he
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Diplomacy 5 (+7), can be a useful ally and sway public
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4 (+5), attention in their favor. When he doesn’t,
Perform (Comedy) 1 (+3), Perform (Oratory he’ll mock and taunt them on the air until he
4 (+6), Profession (radio DJ) 4 (+5), Sense gets distracted by something else and loses
Motive 1 (+1) interest.
Feats: Connected, Distract (Linked to Bluff),
Taunt Rod Anger
Complications: Overgrown man-child who PL: 3
secretly pines for his vanished youth Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 8 (-1)
Background: He’s the Filthy Beast on Your Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 16 (+3)
Morning Zoo and he’s half a dozen other Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 1
radio personalities as well. In a small Defense: 1 Toughness Save: -1
market like Bedlam one radio show isn’t Fortitude Save: -1 Reflexes Save: 2
enough to keep you alive without a day-job, Willpower Save: 0
so Dave Odnarski takes whatever Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Diplomacy 6 (+9),
opportunities he can find. Intimidate 6 (+9), Knowledge (Art) 6 (+8),

180
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 6 (+8), years ago, sending him on a series of angry
(Acting) 6 (+9), Perform (Oratory) 4 (+7), on-air rants about how the gay community
Profession (drama professor) 2 (+4), is destroying the country and how everyone
Profession (talk radio host) 8 (+10), Sense with the virus should be rounded up and put
Motive 4 (+4) in isolation camps and every other horrible,
Feats: Connected, Taunt, Wealth vicious homophobic thing he could think of.
Complications: Living a lie as hard as he It was very cathartic, and really helped him
can work out his grief. It may or may not have
Background: Bedlam’s most prominent inspired a group of high school kids from
and influential gay man is not Righteous Stark Hill to beat a gay man to death in the
Townsend, it’s Rod Anger, the city’s park, a week later. Perhaps the timing was
number-one right-wing talk-radio host. For a coincidence—he tries not to think about it.
three hours a day he spews out his hate- Not nearly as many people know
filled rants. He says that welfare mothers him as Trent Fetherton, drama critic and
should be sterilized, that African-Americans occasional reviewer for Channel 13 News,
shouldn’t be allowed to sit on juries, that but this is the closest character he plays on
global warming is a plot dreamed up by the air to his real personality. Smug, silly,
certain people in Hollywood to keep us tied opinionated and full of himself, but not evil
to Israel, and even more noxious things. It or crazed with hatred. He somehow
all has a frenzied stream-of-consciousness manages to see himself as Trent,
quality about it, because the thing that unsuccessful drama critic and man about
really concerns him most is the need to fill a town, rather than as Rod Anger. It helps
three-hour show with something. that Trent Fetherton is his real name.
Rod doesn’t really believe any of it
(although he is afraid of black people) and
sees himself as an entertainer. He has a
whole bunch of different jobs around
Bedlam, toiling away in community theater, Unlicensed stations come and go. Normally
doing summer stock work when it’s available they have a short range and are broadcast
and teaching courses in drama at Bedlam out of some malcontent’s basement until the
Community College. Rod Anger isn’t the cops or the FCC shut them down. The
only radio character he’s ever created, but penalties for being a pirate broadcaster
he’s the only one who ever brought him aren’t very severe, but they confiscate your
much recognition and the show is the main hardware, and most radio pirates can’t
thing that lets him pay his bills. afford to replace their gear.
A great plump goober of a man, Right now there are three illegal
he’s six foot five and weighs nearly 350 broadcasters in Bedlam: Captain Violent,
pounds, but he’s too soft and blubbery to White Apocalypse and Nine-Pound Balls.
look dangerous. He wears glasses and a Captain Violent is a teenaged loner
bow tie and has a beautiful high tenor voice. who broadcasts from his parents’ home in
Meet him when he’s out of character and Stone Ridge. A classic angry young twerp,
you will instantly know he’s a professor of he hates Stone Ridge, the private school he
drama. attends, his parents and the rest of the
He does a lot of damage in his radio world more or less equally. He calls his
persona, but he tries not to let it bother station “The Pro-Social Values Hour.”
him. It’s just a role he plays, and he’s just Stone Ridge has a very rigid set of
giving people what they want to hear. It’s policies about what kind of music is allowed
no more wrong to play a character like Rod inside its boundaries. Captain Violent has a
Anger on the radio than it is to play a villain huge contraband collection of unauthorized
like Iago or Captain Hook on stage. Or so songs and most of his listeners are Stone
he tells himself. Ridge teenagers who can’t hear this music
Presently single, his long-term any other way. In between songs, he
boyfriend died of HIV complications two complains about life, jocks, his parents and

181
urges his listeners to “smash stuff and hurt The Bedlam Museum
things.” This huge old Art Nouveau wedding cake of
The Stone Ridge Homeowners’ a building looks like it was constructed for a
Association is desperate to track down turn-of-the-century World’s Fair. Its bricks
Captain Violent and punish him. They seem were once a cheery red and it has brightly
positively obsessed with it and respond to colored mosaics on its walls. It would look
questions about Captain Violent from the downright jaunty if it weren’t covered in so
press with irrational, histrionic fury. They many years worth of grime.
may get some unexpected and extremely Most of the building was once
unwanted help. There is a supervillain Bedlam’s post office, although additions and
named “Captain Violent” (see Page 334) and extra wings have grown out of it at random
he isn’t pleased about some kid stealing his over the years. Formerly the Stark Museum
name. of Power and Industry, its grand halls were
White Apocalypse gets much less once filled with hulking 19th century
attention from the authorities that Captain machines—steam pumps and industrial drills
Violent, but you could argue that he’s far and dynamite layers and a locomotive or
more dangerous. He broadcasts from two. There are still a lot of these corroded
somewhere in the sprawling, crime-ridden old hulks taking up space in the display
warren of mobile home parks at Shady halls, for they are much too heavy to haul
Meadows. He’s the voice of Bedlam’s away.
skinhead community, and he seems to have When a city commission took the
much better equipment than Captain museum over from the ailing Stark
Violent—you can hear him all over Bedlam. Foundation, they expanded it into an art
It’s unclear which of Shady Meadows’ biker gallery and a museum of natural history as
gangs or skinhead groups supports White well. Science displays can be found in the
Apocalypse. He may in fact be independent wings and additions, art galleries are
from any of them. upstairs.
Nine-Pound Balls is very different One whole wing of the museum has
from either of them. Weird for its own sake, had to be closed for structural instability.
he broadcasts surreal, Dadaist rants from They use it to store broken furniture and
somewhere near the Bedlam Community boxes of old papers.
College campus, and may be a student. A The display areas are crowded,
typical Nine-Pound Balls program would dusty and old. None of the museum’s
consist of a lengthy diatribe (“Rental Cars collections are very good. Old mislabeled
are the Devil’s Tuna!”) followed by an dinosaurs stand in poses long known to be
“interview” with a sock puppet, followed by inaccurate. The hall of gems and minerals
the first few seconds of a George Michael proudly holds the world’s second-largest
song repeated over and over for an hour. cubic zirconium. The display on Early Man
Nine-Pound Balls is getting quite a following, still lists Zinjanthropus and only recently got
even though his range is so short, and he rid of Piltdown Man.
may soon be contemplating a podcast. They have a lot of interactive
displays meant to show how machines work,
almost all of which seem to be broken.
That’s certainly a good introduction to the
way things work in Bedlam!
These days the Museum is run by a
Bedlam has at least four galleries and
board of local philanthropists. Because the
museums, as well as a zoo. There may be
last curator objected to the kinds of exhibits
more little art galleries at the GM’s
they were bringing into the museum, they
discretion. We’ll start with the biggest—the
have appointed one of their own members
Bedlam Museum. It’s also the oldest.
to the position.

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 Grace Gibbling isn’t a scientist or a 3 (+5), Profession (foundation executive) 6
curator by profession, but she knows a lot (+7), Profession (museum curator) 2 (+3)
about marketing and has the right contacts Feats: Attractive, Connected, Fascinate
with the corporate foundations. The (linked to Intimidate), Skill Mastery (Bluff,
museum’s staff hate Chief Curator Gibbling, Intimidate, Knowledge [Business],
both for not being an academic and for her Profession [foundation executive])
condescending, insincere attitude. She Background: There are some people who
sounds like a parody of an obnoxious despite having good administrative skills
marketing executive when she speaks, even really shouldn’t be placed in management
in private. positions. Grace Gibbling is a talented
Because the museum’s own publicist and she’s great at making the kinds
holdings are so meager, Gibbling accepts or corporate and foundation contacts that a
any traveling exhibitions she can get ahold museum needs to survive. However, she
of, no matter how dubious their educational finds it so exciting to be able to hurt people
content, and she has aggressively sought that she can’t resist abusing her authority.
out corporate sponsorships of every type Some part of her knows it’s counter-
imaginable. productive, but she would actually rather
Toxicorp, the world’s largest mess with her underlings than get good
manufacturer of pesticides and other work out of them.
poisons, has sponsored their “Hall of And a museum is precisely the
Chemicals” which explains all the wonderful wrong place for somebody with her
things the good people at Toxicorp are problem. It’s full of science nerds—the very
doing to make a brighter future for people who rouse her predatory instincts the
everyone. Firestone has funded the Pavilion most. For a while her bullying actually
of Tires and the National Toast Council has worked, for it motivated people to avoid her
generously donated the Hall of Toast. Kids wrath by working harder. But as the
say that if you look carefully, you can find months have gone by it’s become
the one remaining bakelite handset in the increasingly clear to many of her staff that
Hall of Toast that still works, and if you here is no way to satisfy her, no “right
listen carefully after you press the big red answer” which would stop her from picking
button, you can still hear the faint, scratchy on you.
tape-recorded voice say “Toast is… our In her off-hours Grace attends
friend.” illegal bare-knuckled fighting events, dates
The museum is open Mondays successful young professionals like herself
through Fridays from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. and cruelly trains her neurotic little
Admission is $15.95 for adults, $7.95 for Chihuahua. She’s also fond of the
kids. nightclubs on Industrial Drive, even though
at age 29 she’s older than most of the
NPCS for the Bedlam Museum patrons.
Dozens of people work in the museum. You can tell whenever the Chief
Here are a few of the most prominent. Curator’s mother calls her at work. Grace
normally sounds cheerful, even when she’s
Chief Curator Grace Gibbling tormenting her staff. But when her mother
PL: 3 gets her on the phone her voice instantly
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3) turns into a furious hissing snarl.
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 1 Dr. Seymour Stoppleman, PhD
Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 3 PL: 5
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Diplomacy 5 (+7), Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0)
Intimidate 7 (+9), Languages (French, Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2
Mandarin), Knowledge (Business) 8 (+9), Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 8 (+9), Notice Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 0

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Willpower Save: 3 (Atlantis and Lemuria, for example, if they
Skills: Concentration 4 (+7), Diplomacy 3 exist in your campaign.)
(+3), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 8 (+11), Dr. Stoppleman lives alone in a
Knowledge (History) 10 (+14), Knowledge rundown apartment building on Rydell
(Philosophy and Theology) 8 (+12), Street in Greely Point. His apartment is
Languages 6 (Ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, cluttered with books and he has too many
French, German, Greek, Latin, Sumerian), cats. He keeps intending to go down to the
Notice 4 (+7), Profession (scholar) 5 (+8), adult book store and help himself to some
Sense Motive 2 (+5) naughty videos but he always chickens out.
Feats: Second Chance (With Failed Arcane
Lore Skill rolls), Skill Mastery (All three of his An Adventure in the Bedlam Museum
Knowledge skills and his Profession), Well- For more than fifty years, the mummy of
Informed Ptah Narthu-Tep has sat, miscataloged in a
Complications: No good at standing up for dusty side hall of the Bedlam Museum,
himself. Easily bullied by nearly anyone. dreaming darkly. He was the legendary Lost
Background: The Curator of Archaeology Pharaoh, whose name was stricken from
at the Bedlam Museum, he is the most every record of the third dynasty for his
senior member of the research staff and unthinkable crimes. No man could kill him,
answers directly to the Chief Curator. A so they mummified him alive.
plump, meek, grandfatherly old man with a For decades he has haunted the
shy smile, he is easily cowed by bullies and dreams of every curator who has run the
the curator has sensed this. She’s been museum, making helpful comments and
tormenting him about being a geek and a suggestions. He has been a guest in many
nerd, cutting him down and sniping at him different museums over the past hundred
whenever a chance presents itself. No one and fifty years and he knows a great deal
has done this to him since college and he about how they are run. Ptah Narthu-Tep is
doesn’t know how to react. He’s become a crotchety old creature who phrases most
her toady, desperate to please her, going of his suggestions as threats, but with a
along with her mockery in the hopes that it’s little effort most of the curators have been
all a game. This never worked in college able to get along with him and put his ideas
and it won’t work now. It just makes her to work.
more prone to pick on him. Unfortunately, Grace Gibbling, the
Stoppleman is a very competent new curator, has been ignoring his advice.
archeologist and knows a great deal about When he grew frustrated and started
ancient Egypt. He can even read hiero- making ominous remarks about a curse of a
glyphics. He should be the perfect person thousand scorpions, she had him moved to
for the PCs to go to for help if they find out the unused wing, facing a blank wall. She
about the impending crisis with the mummy has grown amused by his feeble efforts to
of Ptah Narthu-Tep, but he’s so completely send her nightmares and has begun
under Grace’s thumb that he could never taunting him, threatening to do terrible
risk defying her. Just thinking about her things to his helpless, inert body.
makes him wince. He never realized that he In a fury, he sends dreams to a
could both feel physically attracted to mystically inclined PC and begs them for
someone and fear and loathe them at the help against this awful woman. If they don’t
same time. do something soon, he’s going to start
On any topic but Ptah Narthu-Tep, invading the dreams of everyone in the city,
he is incredibly helpful, especially if one of clouding their slumber with horrors.
the PCs is an attractive young woman. He’s Grace doesn’t want a truce. She
the best archeologist in Bedlam and he enjoys pushing the old monster around and
knows all kinds of incredible things about scaring him. Anyway she can’t quite
ancient civilizations, including some cultures remember where in the dead wing she had
that most people don’t know ever existed him relocated, so it’s going to be hard for
her to have him moved back to his display

184
case. But if she gets him mad enough, Background: Very old and very evil, he’s
everyone will discover that he really is used to having minions carry out his every
capable of moving under his own power command. But they don’t anymore. In fact
when he gets sufficiently angry. In fact, they haven’t for a long, long time. This has
he’s still spry enough to go on a deadly made him feel lonely and useless. He used
rampage. The Curse of a Thousand to have ambitions of ruling the world and
Scorpions is real, too. calling down unclean gods from beyond time
and space to ravage the cosmos in the
Ptah Narthu-Tep, the Evil Mummy name of darkness. But none of it ever
happened.
These days his ambitions are
smaller. He wants a useful job, he wants
people to listen to him and show him a little
respect. For the past few decades he was
as near contentment as he had ever been in
his long and wretched existence.
He has had a lot of time to develop
the nightmares he uses to communicate
with the living and they are elaborate and
baroque. Hot desert sands, black pyramids
beneath a bloody moon, leering animal-
headed gods and waves of scorpions all
feature prominently.
If he throws a tantrum and starts
lurching around, he’ll attack anything and
anyone on his way to his intended target—
PL: 12 curator Gibbling and the board who
Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: n/a appointed her.
Int: 27 (+8) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) If he starts flooding Bedlam with
Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: nightmares instead, then in every terrifying
6 Toughness Save: 8 Impervious dream he sends, he’ll demand that the
Fortitude Save: n/a Reflexes Save: -1 curator speak with him—it’s like a grassroots
Willpower Save: 12 e-mail campaign, with a twist.
Skills: Intimidate 2 (+4), Knowledge Cross, crotchety and difficult to get
(Arcane Lore) 8 (+16), Knowledge (History) along with, prone to calling everyone fools
3 (+11), Notice 6 (+8), Profession (amateur and threatening them with curses, he will
museum administrator) 6 (+14), Profession listen to reason if you show him respect.
(evil mummy) 1 (+9), Profession (pharaoh)
12 (+20) The Lurman Gallery
Feats: Fearsome Presence 3, Master Plan, By appointment only, one can view the
Ritualist, Startle private art collection of the late Doctor
Powers: Comprehend (Languages), Phminster Lurman—the wealthy Bedlamite
Immunity 32 (Immune to all Fortitude who Lurman Avenue is named after. In his
effects, and to bullets and all stabbing later years Doctor Lurman took little interest
weapons), Magic (Effect: Illusions 12; in running his medical supply business and
Alternate Powers: Nauseate 12, Telepathy devoted himself almost exclusively to
12) Protection 8 (Extra: Impervious), collecting pornography.
Regeneration 5 (Resurrection; Flaw: Limited He accumulated a truly remarkable
[Does not work if he has been beheaded or set of oil paintings, statues, woodcuts and
incinerated or had his vital organs stolen]), watercolors. It’s one of the most
Super-Senses 3 (Acute Hearing Darkvision) outstanding collections of its kind. But his
Complications: Wants to be listened to tastes grew darker as his hobby deepened.
The outer layers of the Lurman Gallery are

185
startling to some viewers, but the inner it was indescribable. Instead of painting a
rooms are more than most visitors can bear. single coiled serpent over the fireplace, he
Here you find works by madmen and artists had slathered paint all across the leather
of the outré, many with no overtly walls and ceiling, serpents coiling, writhing,
pornographic themes. It seems that Doctor lashing over every surface in a lunatic frenzy
Lurman had found a more refined definition of scales. You could not tell where one left
of obscenity by then. off and the next began. And it gave the
The paintings of the infamous bizarre impression that it moved when you
Richard Upton Pickman can be found here, weren’t looking at it.
as can the prison artwork of “Cannibal Killer” Mr. Stark nearly bit the waxed tips
Harlan Wayne Fuchs. Worse, the gallery off his moustache with rage. He chased
holds many strange and horrifying statues Phipps around the house, intent on giving
by the enigmatic sculptor known only as him a horsewhipping. While Miss Quigley
“Lucifer Chicken 1.” Many of his laughed hysterically, Stark pursued the artist
nightmarish abstract forms seem to move as into the Serpent Room, lashing at him with
you walk around them. No one has ever a buggy whip. But the perspective in the
been able to explain precisely how Lucifer room had grown distorted and wrong and
Chicken 1 achieved this effect, or why his he flailed about blindly, unable to judge the
formless statues are so disturbing. There distance between himself and his quarry.
are many other works by less famous yet Miss Quigley said that she heard him
equally distressing artists. But the gallery’s bellowing with fury for some time, his voice
crowning glory is the Serpent Room. growing fainter and fainter, lost in the
The story of the Serpent Room depths of the Serpent Room. This
continues to appall and fascinate the public, continued, off and on, for a day or so, until
all these years after the events themselves. his voice faded entirely away. No trace of
Most visitors are amazed to learn that it is C. Morgan Stark or Forrest Howling Phipps
real. was ever seen again. They were the first to
Just before the First World War, the vanish in that room’s odd nooks and
story goes, G. Morgan Stark, the toy crannies, but not the last.
magnate, commissioned an artist named After his disappearance, Stark’s
Forrest Howling Phipps to paint an image of business empire fell prey to his arch-rival,
a serpent on one wall of his private study. Langhorne Greely, who took over his toy
Mr. Stark considered the serpent his factory and made it his own (in fact it’s still
personal motif, and was eager to show off the Greely Olde Tymme Toy Factory today.)
the room, recently refurbished with leather He took Miss Quigley, too.
walls and elegant fittings, to his new The Serpent Room is hard to find
mistress, Leonora Quigley. your way around. Some weird trick of
Phipps had a reputation as one of perspective makes its walls seem to bend at
the most troublesome and difficult of the unnatural angles and it’s easy to lose track
“New Artists.” A fiend for the occult and for of where the door is. There are strange
Picasso and for drugs, he was precisely the little nooks around the room that people
sort of dangerous young scoundrel whose sometimes discover by mistake and have
work would make an impression on a jaded difficulty getting out of. Sometimes they
modern girl like Miss Quigley. Phipps took open on deeper, stranger alcoves, some of
the commission, and Stark took Miss Quigley them surprisingly large. On four or five
on a tour of Europe while the artist went to occasions someone has wandered in too far
work. and never come out again.
When Mr. Stark returned, he found Dr. Lurman bought the Serpent
that Phipps had apparently gone mad. The Room when the Stark mansion came up for
house was full of freeloading Bohemian sale and he had the whole thing transported
scum, three of the servants were pregnant in its entirety to his own house. He seems
and the artist himself had descended into a to have spent hours in there, enjoying other
shambling morphine stupor and the room—

186
works from his collections, with no obvious the years. They call him the Lady-Killer,
ill effects. because he’s beaten his last three mates to
After his death, Dr. Lurman’s death (which is considerably more abnormal
foundation opened one wing of his house on for a gorilla than, for example, a human
Griswold Street (in Greely Point) as a public being.)
gallery. They don’t advertise and you have Whole generations of Bedlamites
to make an appointment with the docent to have made a sport out of taunting Gorgah
be admitted, but discerning aficionados find into a frenzy of rage. He hasn’t ripped his
there way there all the same. There is no way out of his cage and torn any of them
charge for admission and they are very limb-from-limb, yet.
accommodating about setting up visits at For some reason venomous snakes
unusual hours. keep disappearing from the Zoo’s reptile
house. Zoo officials are quick to scoff at the
The Bedlam Zoo suggestion that a gang of crooked
Bedlam isn’t large enough or rich enough to herpetologists is selling them off to drug
have a very big zoo, or a very good one. dealers as pets.
Yet it is becoming famous nonetheless. For
Bedlam’s zoo has the distinction of having NPCs for the Zoo
the highest rate of unexplained animal More people work at the zoo than we can
deaths in the country. But perhaps this is provide you with individual stats and
unfair. When you look at the zoo’s backgrounds for. Here are a few who are
miserable little concrete cages and bare iron likely to get involved in adventures, along
bars, it hardly seems inexplicable that so with a stat block for a generic zookeeper.
many of their animals die.
The Zoo’s Director, Professor Perkin Generic Zookeeper
Fowler, is not a very eloquent man, but he PL: 3
speaks passionately about conditions at his Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0)
zoo, saying “any animal lucky enough to live Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
in our zoo with the three meals a day that Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 0 Defense: 1
they get is, you know, he’s a lucky Toughness Save: 0 Fortitude Save: 0
#@%&in’ animal is what he is, gettin’ to Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 2
sleep inside and like that.” Skills: Bluff 5 (+5), Handle Animal 6 (+6)
Located between Ash Street and the Knowledge (Life Sciences) 5 (+7), Medicine
Country Club, it is a popular daytime haunt 3 (+5), Notice 5 (+7), Profession
for winos, junkies and elementary school (zookeeper) 3 (+5), Sense Motive 5 (+7)
tours. The Zoo’s hours are rather limited, Feats: Animal Empathy, Improved Grapple
partly for budgetary reasons but also to help Complications: Loves animals (or
keep homeless people from sleeping there. alternatively, hates animals—this is the
It’s open from 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Bedlam Zoo, after all)
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s
open from noon to four on Saturday. Dr. Skarman Slether
The zoo’s major attraction is a huge PL: 6
state-of-the-art penguin house, built with a Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 18 (+4)
grant from Amalgamated Munitions. Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 8 (-1)
Unfortunately, the grant money ran out Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
before they were able to acquire very many Toughness Save: 4 (10 vs. snake venom)
penguins and their colony seems to be dying Fortitude Save: 8 Reflexes Save: 3
off. Willpower Save: 4
Locals will tell you to skip the
Skills: Concentrate 5 (+8), Craft (chemical)
penguins. The real reason people go to the
6 (+9), Handle Animal 10 (+9), Knowledge
zoo is to see Gorgah—a gigantic old nine-
(Life Sciences) 9 (+12), Medicine 6 (+9),
hundred pound gorilla who has turned a
Notice 5 (+7), Profession (herpetologist) 9
little psychotic with rage and boredom over
(+12)

187
Feats: Animal Empathy, Skill Mastery Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
(Concentrate, Handle Animal, Knowledge Chokehold, Defensive Roll 2, Diehard,
[Life Sciences], Profession [herpetologist]), Fearsome Presence 4, Improved Grapple,
Well-Informed Improved Pin, Power Attack, Rage 3, Sneak
Powers: Protection 6 (Flaw: Limited Power Attack, Startle
[works only against the effects of snake Powers: Mind Shield 6 (his mind is a mass
venom]) of furious animal rage, difficult and
Background: Head of the Bedlam Zoo’s unpleasant to interact with)
herpetology department, old Doc Slether Complications: Crazy, full of anger, hates
has been bitten by more venomous snakes the universe, prone to psychotic rages
than any other human being alive. He’s lost Drawbacks: Disability (can’t talk)
track of the number of times he’s been Background: Gorgah slumps in his cage
envenomated, but it’s more than two and dreams of violence. His fur is grizzled
hundred. He’s developed such an incredible with white, his face is scarred, his features
resistance to snake venom that he was lined from a lifetime of hopeless rage and
actually able to survive the bite of the grief. Huge and hideously strong even for a
Western Taipan snake back in 1987—the gorilla, he has grown old and insane and
only time anyone has ever lived through it. very tired of life. He has one secret desire.
His fingers are stiff, knobby lumps of scar One single faint, mad hope that keeps him
tissue that barely look human any more, but from beating his head into the wall of his
he’s surprisingly deft and nimble with them. cage until he dies. But it’s too awful to
The venom has affected his metabolism in relate here. If the GM were to peek into the
other ways, too. He feels not the faintest section at the end of this book entitled
trace of arthritis, despite his age. He looks “horrible secrets” (on Page 369) they might
like a disheveled, poorly preserved sixty- learn something unexpected about the
year-old, but in fact he’s eighty-seven. He miserable old monster.
joined the zoo staff during World War Two.
The constant exposure to snake Adventure Seeds for Gorgah the Lady-
venom may have affected his brain, too. Killer
His behavior is odd and unemotional. He
speaks in a whispering monotone. 1) A crazed inventor runs amok with his new
While he is certainly creepy, there’s shrink-ray at the zoo, certain that this
no better expert on venomous snakes, demonstration will prove to the world that
should the PCs want to talk to one. He he isn’t crazy and that his theories were
particularly understands the effects of their right all along. But the ray malfunctions and
venom, since he’s experienced nearly every hits Gorgah, making him fifty feet tall. Fun
type of it. Never married, he is completely and hijinks ensue. Perhaps the ray’s effects
devoted to his snakes, and to his vast are reversible and perhaps they are not. If
collection of pornography. He hasn’t been not, the PCs have a brand-new recurrent
selling off either one to any drug dealers, supervillain to fight.
although we’re not sure we can say the
same for all his staff. 2) A gang from Hardwick Park gets into an
argument with the staff at the reptile
Gorgah house—it’s something to do with buying
PL: 8 venomous snakes. When they fail to get
Str: 26 (+8) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 22 (+6) satisfaction, the gang goes on a tear across
Int: 6 (-2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 7 (-2) the zoo, roughing up keepers and
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 5 frightening patrons. As they pass in front of
Defense: 6 Toughness Save: 6 Gorgah’s cage, the gorilla’s keeper attempts
Fortitude Save: 8 Reflexes Save: 2 to remonstrate with them and they decide
Willpower Save: 1 (7 vs. psychic attacks) to make an example out of him. They force
Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+10), Climb 5 (+13), the old man to his knees and begin to
Intimidate 10 (+8), Notice 3 (+4)

188
administer a beating. The PCs witness this Equipment: Huge pistol (4 Damage)
incident and no doubt try to intervene. Background: Vulgar, cruel and inarticulate,
Then, to everyone’s shock, Gorgah rips his Dr. Fowler may not know much about
way out of his cage and attacks the gang zoology or public relations, but he is great at
members. They gun him down and run raising funds from local businesses (a failing
away, (or perhaps the Player Characters zoo is a wonderful tax shelter and an
apprehend them.) Dying, the giant ape excellent way to keep certain kinds of
reaches out to his wounded keeper, and income off the books) and he has superb
gently clasps his hand. Then he tries to connections with some scary people in
wrench his arm off. For Gorgah long ago Africa who do semi-legal animal collecting.
decided that no one would kill his hated His staff fears and hates him for his
keeper but Gorgah himself. violent temper and threatening attitude.
The animals hate him for the very same
3) A group of sixth-grade girls from Stark reason. He isn’t above taunting them for
Hill decide they don’t like their classmate, laughs. He finds the sight of monkeys
Theresa Bucco. She’s too pretty and too trying frantically to brush hot cigar ashes
much of a goody-two-shoes and she won’t out of their fur to be particularly hilarious,
go with them to shoplift or help them beat so he’s always flicking his cigars at them.
up nerds and she never gets anything less Dr. Fowler is presently banned from
than an “A.” So on a field trip to the zoo, zoo property by a court order (he was
they tip her into Gorgah’s enclosure and making death threats against some of his
start trying to taunt the Lady-Killer into one employees) but the case is under appeal
of his rages. This creates a delicate and he continues to raise funds for the zoo
situation. Theresa’s leg is broken and she in the meantime.
can’t flee. Gorgah doesn’t actually want to
hurt her—he thinks she’s little and cute. But Another Adventure at the Zoo
he can feel the anger coming over him as
the other girls taunt him and he knows he
can only contain his rage for so long. If a
Player Character goes into his enclosure, he
will attack them, but it’s because he wants
them to render him unconscious. If they kill
him, they will become very unpopular in
Bedlam. He’s everyone’s favorite animal at
the zoo.

Professor Perkin Fowler

PL: 4
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 4
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 2
Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Intimidate 6 (+8),
Knowledge (Business) 3 (+3), Notice 4 (+4),
Profession (zoo curator) 2 (+2)
Feats: Benefit (wealth), Connected,
Contacts (among city government, the
business community, African dictators and
organized crime), Distract (Linked to
Intimidate), Taunt
Complications: Sadistic bully who enjoys Annoyed at his refusal to sell them any of
hurting animals and humiliating people his snakes, the Mara break in on Doctor

189
Slether late one evening and make their crack a wistful smile. This small, privately-
displeasure known. They break some of the run institution has been the favorite refuge
most evil-looking snakes they can find out of of three generations of Bedlam’s children.
their cases and force them to bite him, one The tiny zoo is funded entirely by donations,
after the other. on a small scrap of land in the middle of the
To their amazement, he’s incredibly city. It has rabbits, a couple of goats, a
resistant to the venom, so they break out myna bird, guinea pigs and even a tame
even more snakes and pump even more deer for kids to pet.
venom into him. In the end it takes the bite Various local businesses give what
of more than thirty of the world’s deadliest funds they can to keep the zoo in operation,
reptiles to make his heart stop beating. and when they can’t cover it, the gang
But then a funny thing happens. leader named Eentsy Z quietly covers the
After the Mara leave, and the police and shortfall. His only happy memories of
ambulance arrive, Doc Slether’s heart begins childhood were all at the Wolverton Petting
to slowly beat once more. He has survived. Zoo.
But while he is resting in the Luella Johnson is the volunteer who
hospital, he starts to change. Soon his puts in the most hours at the zoo. A fat,
wrinkled skin grows scaly and his teeth turn seemingly ageless woman with a high
into fangs. He has been transfigured in squeaky voice and a gentle smile, she is
some weird way by all the venom in his nearly as beloved as the zoo itself, and
system into something more than human— inextricably associated with it.
and less. He vanishes from the hospital,
and the last images of him on the security An Adventure at the Wolverton Petting
monitors look very strange indeed. Zoo
He now has the power to exert It could cause troubles for the zoo if it came
mental control over snakes and soon out that they were taking money from the
captains of the Mara are dying horrible gangs. But right now they have bigger
deaths, bitten by their own pets. But he is problems. The Mara have begun sneaking
not interested in revenge. That thought is over in the middle of the night and killing
far from his cold reptilian mind. Instead, he the animals. This may seem like sick, crazy
wants to liberate these snakes from their behavior, but in fact it’s a totally calculated
owners, who have been mistreating them. move. They are doing this to disrupt morale
The PCs may well get into a running and to make Eentsy Z look weak.
battle with him as he moves around Luella Johnson has a heart attack
Hardwick Park collecting snakes. The Mara’s when she walks in one morning and finds
mortal enemies in Wolverton may get wind the guinea pigs dead, their heads arranged
of what is going on and may actually send in a circle on the floor with insulting
gang members over into Hardwick Park to messages scrawled in Spanish all around
try and stop the PCs from interfering with them. No one knows if Miss Luella will live
Doc Slether’s rampage. If the PCs fail to or die herself.
stop him, or if they make peace with him, The next night the Mara torture the
Dr. Slether will make his way back to the myna bird to death, tape-record its dying
zoo, accompanied by his scaly little friends, agonies, and post them on You-Tube.
and try to resume his old job there. He The zoo has always tried hard to
can’t speak anymore, but he’s a more avoid getting entangled with any of the
competent herpetologist than ever, and neighborhood’s criminal enterprises, and
even Director Fowler is afraid to fire him. when Eentsy Z offers to protect them, he is
The Jigsaw Man swears revenge. angrily rebuffed. He has killed people for
showing him far less disrespect. Yet to
The Wolverton Petting Zoo everyone’s surprise he doesn’t harm any of
Ask even the most hardened Wolverton the zoo’s staff. Instead he posts guards at
street thug about the Petting Zoo on the zoo, and Miss Louella’s room in Bedlam
Darkwater Street and they will probably General Hospital (he has correctly surmised

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that the Mara will also consider her a
target.) His arch-rival, Chunk-Style of the
gang called the A’s, does the very same
thing and this causes some friction when
multiple groups of armed and dangerous
youths show up in the middle of the night to
protect the same targets.
The conflict over the Petting Zoo
could lead to serious warfare between the
Mara and Eentsy Z’s coalition. It’s a war
that Eentsy Z would probably lose, but for
once he feels too emotional to care. He
may however have the presence of mind to
ask the PCs for help. Even if he doesn’t,
they may find out about the situation on the
news—and what group of Player Characters
wouldn’t try to intervene?

The Naval Museum

When the Rook Island Naval Station got
converted into the new shipping terminal, You can have a pretty good time in Bedlam
the developers promised Bedlam that they after dark, if you’re not too choosy. Here’s
would preserve the beautiful old 19th a guide to the city’s nightlife.
century buildings and keep the site’s
“historic character” intact. This was almost Maxx
a total lie. But not completely. They left Down on the edge of the Meadows is
one building standing and they put a small Bedlam’s last heavy metal nightclub.
museum in it. Located in a huge blank rectangle of a
Located at the north end of Rook building, Maxx still books acts like Poison,
Island, the shabby little Naval Museum has Anthrax and WASP.
some plaques and models showing Rook Former angry young men with grey
Island as it used to be. There is also a in their mullets come from more than a
display on the history of Bedlam, which no hundred miles around to find the one place
one has bothered to edit the embarrassing where everybody still rocks out the way
parts out of. All the really sordid stuff from you’re supposed to. It’s also one of the few
the 18th and 19th century section of the spots you can go to hear guys complain that
“Timeline” on Page 24 can be found here. Grunge and that Seattle $#!+ are messing
Kept open only as part of a everything up—all these years after Grunge
contractual obligation (and so that the city has petered out to nothing.
can put phantom employees on its books More than one supervillain who
and spirit their wages away to unknown never outgrew the ‘80s has shown up at
parties), sometimes days go by without the Maxx. The crowd usually welcomes them
museum getting a single visitor. It’s like celebrities and so far there haven’t been
officially open from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM on any ugly incidents.
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The
bored interns from the Bedlam Historical
Society are always shocked to see a visitor.

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An Adventure at Maxx and shielding him with their bodies from the
Skid Row is playing at Maxx and every PCs. The band loves him too—just because
Sebastian Bach fan from here to Scranton is he’s no fan of theirs doesn’t mean they
lining up around the block. The supervillain aren’t fans of his, and they’ll actually invite
known as #@%&face has been sighted him up on stage with them.
twice in the Meadows prior to the event, Totally shocked by all the attention,
and PCs who do a little research on him #@%&face will decide that Skid Row is
(Gather Information Check vs. DC 20) can awesome after all, and he’ll behave himself
learn that while he is certainly a metalhead, for the rest of the concert, dancing with the
he hates Skid Row and thinks they stole crowd and basking in the attention. If the
Poison’s sound. PCs try to apprehend him, they’ll have a riot
If the PCs go poking around the on their hands. If only there were some
Meadows at the sites where he was spotted way to lure him outside…
(he bought some cigarettes at a gas station
and picked up a burger at Wunder-Chuk) The Circle Perk
they’ll find a piece of crudely painted graffiti In the late nineties, someone had the
on a wall behind Wunder-Chuk’s. It reads brilliant idea of marketing a chain of
“JSB Will Die Die Die!” “independent urban hipster” coffee shops.
Maxx’s owners are out of town, and One brand-identity challenge immediately
the club’s manager will not want to shut the presented itself. How do you market a
venue down—he doesn’t have the authority chain to people who hate the corporate
to do that without word from the owners, world?
who can’t be reached. The band is in They came up with the Circle Perk,
transit, running late and can’t be contacted a coffee shop with a late 1970s punk-rock
in time to warn them away. In fact they’ll theme. Pictures of Johnny Rotten and Joe
arrive at the gig just barely in time to go on, Strummer hang on the walls. Razor blades
and they won’t want to cancel their and safety pins decorate the bar. No
appearance at the last second on the PCs’ syringes though—that would be going too
unsupported word. Nor will the local far. The booths are upholstered in a
authorities want to intervene. In fact, leopard-print pattern. The wait-staff are
because this is the Meadows, there’s some encouraged to take the studs out of their
dispute as to who the local authorities even lips and noses and temporarily replace them
are. with safety pins. Their heavily sugared
The PCs are going to have to watch coffee drinks have names like “Boring
the crowd or watch the door—and watching Rubbish” and come in sizes like “Too Big”
the door might not do any good, since and “Sod Off.”
#@%&face can walk through walls. Most punk songs from the period
Almost midway through the show, a are too unseemly for their PA system, so
Player Character glimpses #@%&face in the instead they play music by New Wave bands
middle of the crowd, glaring at the stage. from a few years later (Bow Wow Wow is a
It’s tough to keep track of his movements perennial favorite, as are Adam Ant and Billy
through the jam-packed room and tougher Idol) and any songs by the Ramones that
still to get through the crowd to confront don’t involve hitting anyone with a bat or
him. He seems to be working his way up to sniffing glue.
the stage. The audience is packed in tight, Down near the Terminal Drive train
hundreds of potential hostages are all station, there is a small, struggling colony of
around. urban pioneers. This is the first wave of
At some point word will spread gentrification. The bohemians who move
through the crowd that #@%&face is here into bad neighborhoods for the low rent and
(particularly if the PCs shout out a warning make it hip enough for yuppies to come
or try to confront him.) The moment the squeeze them out. They have had a lot
crowd realizes that he’s in the club, they more difficulty getting established in Bedlam
give him a hero’s welcome, cheering wildly than in some other places, but they have

192
become deeply rooted enough to make the their access to the clubs, carefully doling
local Circle Perk into their own neighborhood introductions out as favors.
coffee house. They hold poetry slams every Security tends to be provided by off-
week and some of their own favorite bands duty Bedlam Police Officers. It pays much
have started to play there. better than being a cop.
If you would like to be snubbed on A typical club has a bar (sometimes
a Saturday night by people who think they hastily improvised), some slot machines, a
are cooler than you, there’s nowhere better space for a DJ or live band, one or more
than the Terminal Drive Circle Perk. dance floors, depending on how the space is
laid out, and a few tables for people to sit
Club Nowhere, Club Nothing, Club and talk. If they have more than one
Nada, No Such Club, etc… dancing area, then at least some of the
dance floors will have mini-bars of their
own. Invitations to some rooms are harder
to get than others. While you can probably
buy drugs and other illegal stuff anywhere in
the club, in the back rooms these things are
much more freely and openly available.
Wolverton’s underworld overlord
Rock Johnson (“the Rock”) owns most of
these enterprises and rumor has it that he
lives in one of them.

The Airport Inn

There is life beyond Branson, Missouri.
Bedlam’s Airport Inn looks like an odd place
for a music scene. Directly adjacent to the
Bedlam International Airport, this ten story
beige obelisk looks exactly like every other
mid-level airport hotel on earth. You could
spend an entire visit there without ever
going outside and without any way of
knowing whether you were in Bedlam or
Dubuque or Hong Kong.
Tacky, cheesy, boozed-out former
singing stars who have long since had to
Out on Industrial Drive, you can find illegal leave Vegas, Reno, Lake Tahoe, North
nightclubs in the run-down old factories and Vegas, Elko, the Indian casinos and Branson
warehouses. These places operate without Missouri sometimes find themselves with no
liquor licenses or regular visits from the options left but Bedlam’s Airport Inn. Its
Health Inspector. They do not cut patrons lounge has become the last refuge for
off at three drinks and they don’t close their musical acts that are unwelcome anywhere
doors at 2:00 AM like most of Bedlam’s bars. else on earth. A surprising number of one-
Nor do they check ID at the door. None of hit wonders you thought you’d forgotten
them have names, so people informally call have come to live in one or another of the
them things like “Club Nothing” or “The hotel’s hospitality suites and perform there
Nowhere Lounge.” No sign identifies a No- on weekday afternoons.
Such Club from the outside. Nor will they Unfortunately, rich young frat-boys
admit just anyone. Friends bring friends from Belchner College have discovered the
who they know can be trusted—which Airport Inn and have started to haunt the
makes it a real status symbol for a teenager lounge, heckling the performers, hassling
to get admitted. Cliques jealously guard the guests and getting fresh with the
waitresses.

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Classy All-Nude Girls Geech is a jolly, silly, gigantic
Aficionados of classy all-nude girls should be mountain of muscles with the mind of a
sure to check out this club in the Meadows. child. We have some stats and an
Not that it’s actually classy in any illustration for him on the next page. His
conventional sense of the word. Nor could mother took a lot of terrible drugs, his
very many of the wrinkled, sagging drunks father was her brother and her cousin, but
prancing around on the stage still all this seems inadequate to explain him.
reasonably be called “girls.” But they are He’s much stronger than a human being is
certainly nude, and the fact remains that supposed to be, and somewhat larger (7’9”
despite its sticky floors, $10 watered beer or so.) He could probably beat Gorgah in a
and the grime on the performers’ feet this is wrestling match. But not at an IQ test.
unquestionably the nicest strip club in He’s mild and gentle. The worst
Bedlam. you could say about him is that he’s
From the outside, Classy All-Nude completely obsessed with the Allman
Girls looks a lot like an abandoned Stuckeys Brothers (he has an encyclopedic knowledge
with its windows painted over. Inside, it’s of every gig they have ever played.) At
not quite as pleasant. least until he drinks. Once he gets
Please ignore the gentlemen from inebriated, Geech becomes a terrifying
the Gorganzua crime family who sometimes monster, insisting that everyone discuss the
gather in one of the booths to count money Allman Brothers with him, violently
and mutter grimly to one another. They disagreeing with everything they say about
really won’t like it if you look at them. the band, growing more and more savage
and vehement until he explodes in a
The Chinch Bug destructive rage. No one has yet died as a
To the West of Bedlam, on Highway 2, is a result of one of his rampages, but that’s an
desolate-looking truckstop where non- absolute miracle.
truckers feel instantly unwelcome. If you go Nobody knows what to do about it.
behind it, an unmarked trail leads up to an The owner has tried poisoning him and he’s
even less friendly place—the redneck bar been shot twice and it’s never had much
and grill known as the Chinch Bug. effect. People have talked about killing him
Part of the Chinch Bug is a double- in his sleep, but no one knows where he
wide trailer, the rest is a kind of crude sleeps.
wooden extension built on the back. The Geech doesn’t show up every night,
remains of another, burnt-out trailer sit next so he hasn’t quite chased everybody away
door. Appliances and rusted-out car chassis yet. And there are always a few truckers
litter the “parking lot” (a wide patch of bare who haven’t heard of Geech and still come
dirt.) stumbling into the Chinch Bug unawares.
People who find their way to the But business is on the brink of collapse—
Chinch Bug usually wonder why there aren’t even Delbert Graves and the Brotherhood
more Harley Davidsons parked outside. The Motorcycle Club have begun to fear and
truth is that bikers are afraid to go into the avoid the joint.
place. Geech has taken to muttering darkly
It was always dangerous—a spot for in his cups that people had better keep
mean, drunken farm hands to meet their showing up regular to talk about the Allman
crystal meth dealers and hold impromptu Brothers with him, or he’ll go hunt them
Klan meetings. The owner kept underage down in their homes.
girls in the back and some of them were
chained to their beds. But now it has
become the favorite haunt of the man-
monster known as Geech.

194
Geech Rumors about Club Death circulate
in whispers throughout Bedlam’s high
schools. Every kid in Stone Ridge is aching
to get in—it would be the ultimate social
coup.

The True Meaning of Christmas

Those who know where to go and who to
ask (Streetwise or Gather Information Check
vs. DC 15) will find that Bedlam has a whole
lot of secret underground Santa-Claus-
themed leather bars. Hidden in warehouses
or over rows of dead shops, these bars have
names like “The North Pole” or “Kris
Kringle’s Hidey Hole.” They’re the kinds of
places you can go to see big dudes dressed
like Santa whip guys dressed up as reindeer
and bellow “now dash away, dash away,
dash away all!” Joints where you can get a
tattoo of a burning tannenbaum on your
face at the bar and the jukebox always
PL: 10
seems to be playing “It’s a Holly Jolly
Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 14 (+2)
Christmas.”
Con: 18 (+4) Int: 4 (-3) Wis: 8 (-1)
The discering visitor to Bedlam will
Cha: 16 (+3) Initiative: 2
swiftly learn that if you know just who to
Attack Bonus: 10 Defense: 8
ask and how to talk to them (“Hey man, I
Toughness Save: 12 Fortitude Save: 10
want to learn the true meaning of X-Mas!” ),
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 3
it’s always the Most Wonderful Time of the
Skills: Intimidate 10 (+13) Year!
Feats: All-Out Attack, Fearsome Presence 2,
Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Power The Shadwell Drive Gentleman’s Club
Attack, Rage 2, Startle, Takedown Attack On Shadwell Drive in Bedlam’s worst and
Powers: Protection 6 most polluted neighborhood, a guy named
Complications: Obsessed with the Allman Jimmy Hoover has put his rusted-out van up
Brothers. Vicious drunk. Really, really on blocks and taped a sign to the windshield
dumb. that says “Shadwell Drive Gentleman’s
Club—Serious Drinkers Wanted.” A case of
Club Death warm beer and a lot of empties sit in the
Wolverton’s other kingpin, Lincoln Stone back. Membership is by invitation only.
(“the Stone”) is rumored to own an illegal
nightclub that’s much worse than any of the
Rock’s joints. A place called “Club Skull” or
“Club Death” where the craps tables are out
in the open and drug menus are posted over
the bar and snuff films play continuously on
video monitors. Supervillains sometimes
congregate there.

195
Some of Bedlam’s most notable eateries are Not quite fast food and not quite
listed here, in order from best to worst. The fine dining, it occupies a Fuddruckers kind of
GM is of course free to invent more. We place on the restaurant ladder. The
don’t have nearly enough room to list every host/greeter dresses like an arch-villain and
last place to eat in Bedlam. In any city this the wait staff and busboys dress like
size there are sure to be dozens. henchmen. In fact they call them
“Masterminds” and “Mooks” instead of
Ruth Christopher’s Chop House greeters and waiters.
(name suggested by John Polojac) The staff are instructed to talk like
A major national chain of high-end dining cackling villains (“and for the next stage of
facilities, the Chop House looks as clean, my fiendish plan, would you care for a
bland and generic as an airport Hilton—and diabolical item from our depraved dessert
it has nearly as much charm. menu?”) but most of them are too
Not technically located in Bedlam embarrassed by this to really put much
itself, the Stone Ridge gated community to effort into it.
the north of town has one of these Pneumatic supervillain robots like
establishments in its Community Center, evil versions of the ones in a Chuck-E-
surrounded by an acre or so of perfect, Cheese line the walls and sometimes utter
rolling green lawn. They reserve the right threats and soliloquies at the diners. Not
to refuse service to anyone, and they much though—they often break down and
rigorously exercise that right. are expensive to fix, so most of the time
If you are lucky enough to get to they are switched off.
eat there (reservations are often booked With three locations in Bedlam, Dr.
months in advance) you might well find Ghastly’s is desperately overextended and
yourself sitting next to such local celebrities will probably close soon. Always half-
as news anchor Obediah Brick, City empty, each location is ridiculously huge—
Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik or even they seem to have expected to make most
crime lord Leo “Young Junior” Gorganzua of their money through banquet rentals, but
himself. If you do, be sure to be prepared this isn’t working out either.
to pay $200 and up for your meal, and to For low employee morale and
watch yourself around any temperamental dysfunctional robots are the least of their
local celebrities you might find yourself worries. There are a lot of people who have
seated next to. Cameras are definitely a no- lost friends and relatives in supervillain
no at the Chop House, as Obediah Brick has attacks and they don’t like Dr. Ghastly’s at
taught more than one would-be amateur all. While there haven’t been any organized
paparazzi. protests, people regularly make ugly scenes
or vandalize the property. Worse, actual
Doctor Ghastly’s supervillains sometimes take umbrage at the
A supervillain theme restaurant where you way they are portrayed at Dr. Ghastly’s.
can get an Evil-Burger topped with Sinister There have been three supervillain attacks
Sauce (their name for salad dressing) on these restaurants in the past year alone
served to you by a bored, embarrassed and one of them was bloody—six people
teenager in a rayon costume. died. There are increasing calls to shut the

196
 chain down as a public menace. For The staff on the other end of the
now, the city government continues to intercom may have more attitude than Wally
subsidize Dr. Ghastly’s with leftover money Woodchuck himself. It used to be that high-
from the Redevelopment Commission. school kids worked at Wunder-Chuk, but
they cost too much and made too many
Wunder-Chuk demands, so a lot of the restaurant’s
This second-string fast-food restaurant has employees now come from an innovative
all but failed completely in most of America. prison work-release program, or from
Just occasionally you can find a dreary- mandatory drug rehab.
looking holdout in a tired, forgotten strip
mall on the edge of some little town. An Adventure at Wunder-Chuk
People just didn’t want to buy A safecracker named Arlo Gump leaves a
“Chukburgers” and “Groundhog Shakes” message for a PC. Meet him at the Wunder-
from staff dressed up in furry vests and hats Chuk on Moorcambe Drive. He wants to sell
with ears. Poor Wally Woodchuck, the out the supervillain who calls himself
franchise’s leering, sunglasses-wearing biker #@%&face. He offers few details, but in
rodent failed to inspire love—despite his mid fact he worked with #@%&face on a job
1990s makeover into a woodchuck with and earned his enmity over some pointless
“attitude.” little thing. Gump’s in fear of his life now
Yet the franchise is alive and well in and he wants to get #@%&face before
Bedlam, which boasts no less than fourteen #@%&face gets him.
Wunder-Chuks. Interestingly, the franchise When the PCs arrive, early in the
is owned by the same folks who own Pizza- morning, Gump is sitting in a corner booth,
Bucket, an equally unsuccessful national away from the windows. He tells the PCs to
chain, and most of the Wunder-Chuks in get him a cup of coffee, with three sugars.
Bedlam’s poorer neighborhoods are also And a Doublechukburger. He can’t talk
Pizza Buckets, allowing you to order items business without a Doublechukburger. But
from either menu and drastically increasing a loud, angry, red-faced businessman is
the odd of getting your order confused. ahead of them in line, yelling at somebody
Bedlam’s residents have never really named Stan on his cell phone. A big,
taken the concept of pizza served in a gawky, scared-looking teenager waits to
cardboard bucket to heart, but no one else take his order. “Number four super value-
has, either. To be fair, it’s more a glutinous chuk meal!” he snaps at the kid.
mass of fried dough and congealing melted The kid looks as if he wants to cry.
cheese than it is a pizza, anyway. “Sir, that comes with a complimentary side,
Teenagers love them, because they’re fun to and… and a drink. Wh-what side would you
throw at people, and can do a surprising like, sir?”
amount of damage when they’re really hot. The business guy keeps yelling at
In fact so many people have taken to calling Stan.
Pizza Buckets “Teenage Napalm” that this is “Sir?” the kid asks timorously “Sir,
usually the name you order them by (“hey um, I’m sorry but the computer won’t let
man, gimmie some napalm.”) ring you up until I know what side you
The drive-through is the most want, so…”
memorable and innovative part of the “Hang on, Stan.” The business-guy
Wunder-Chuk dining experience. You place wheels on the kid “Can’t you see I’m talking
your order with a grinning robotic wood- on the phone?!” He screams in a pop-eyed
chuck, which grimaces with “attitude” as rage. Tears start to leak down the kid’s
you tell it what you want to eat and try to cheeks as the business guy shouts. “Your
understand what your server is saying supervisor! Here! Now!!!”
through the tinny speaker. A lot of the Laughter, whoops and cheers erupt
drive-thru robots have been vandalized and throughout the restaurant.
some are missing eyes or heads.

197
“Man, you tell that dork!” somebody yells in There are two waitresses with a
admiration. single hideous beehive hairdo among them.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Big Zelda is silent and evil, while Little Zelda
Someone else shouts. is loud and evil. Big Zelda is as huge as an
A short, fat, African-American lady orca, while Little Zelda is as tiny as a viper.
(the supervisor) makes a placating gesture Neither one will serve you fast or get your
to the angry customer, then takes the kid order right.
over to one side and starts talking to him, Because there aren’t enough places
angrily and quietly as tears roll down his to eat downtown, a lot of office workers
face. have to resort to taking lunch at Bub’s,
“But if I lose my job they’ll send me grumbling about it for the rest of the
back to juvie,” he moans. She throws her afternoon.
hands up as if to ask whether or not that’s Late at night, scary guys with gold
her problem. chains and scars come in and hog the only
“Hey!” the business-guy yells booth, muttering in Sicilian. Sometimes
“Number four super value chuk-meal! they like to harass people they think don’t
Chop-chop!” belong there. One of them is Dapper Donny
The kid hangs his head and looks at Scarpia himself.
his feet, the ridiculous furry ears on his hat
bobbing as he cries. Then he grabs a The Omega Diner
cutting knife from somebody’s station, Despite conventional wisdom, the food at
vaults over the counter and seizes the the Omega Diner is actually worse than
business-guy. “I’m not going back to juvie!” Bub’s. Their unofficial motto is “Omega, the
He screams “They’ll do stuff to me!” He last place you’d want to eat.” All of the
holds the knife up to his hostage’s throat. letters in their sign have been smashed out
The business-guy spots the nearest by vandals, except for the Omega.
PC “Hey, super-f@&&*+!” He yells at them Run by immigrants from Chechnya,
“You’re getting me out of this without a none of whom speak much English, it serves
scratch, or you are in serious #@%&in’ a bizarre mixture of fried spaghetti dishes,
trouble!” meatball subs, burgers, strange Chechen
Arlo Gump wants no part of this. entrees and milkshakes, often with generous
He stands up and walks for the door, extra portions of hair.
shooting the PCs a look of baffled contempt. The owners don’t seem to have
And at that very moment, #@%&face quite figured out US cuisine, but since most
comes smashing through the window with of the food comes from rusty cans, it almost
murder on his mind. doesn’t matter. Not that most people come
here to eat, anyway. The jittery crack-
Bub’s fiends and nervous, twitchy-eyed gang
This little diner doesn’t look like much—just members sitting on the slashed-up stools
a cracked-up glass door in the side of an and uncomfortable chairs (or sometimes
ugly concrete building. There isn’t even a lying on the floor) are here to buy and sell
sign. A piece of paper taped over the door drugs, not to relish the dubious, hairy
has the word “Bub’s” on it. Yet the food milkshakes.
here is legendary. “Wherever you go, Any sort of behavior is acceptable in
whatever the food is like” people say “it the Omega Diner. Patrons can do anything
can’t possibly be as bad as Bub’s.” they like to one another or themselves. The
Look through the window behind staff never intervenes and never reports
the unclean counter and you can see the anything to the police. They may not know
manic depressive, stoop-shouldered short how. Yet they are themselves quick to
order cook smoking a cigarette as he anger and swiftly resort to violence if they
prepares your food. think a customer is insulting them.

198
 Sometimes it’s impossible to tell Plates may be triangular, or
what has set them off or what obscure amoeba-shaped, or the food may be served
taboo you’ve accidentally violated until they on antique mirrors, or just splatted down on
start shouting and stabbing you. the table with no plate at all (but only if
Don’t order the fish. While the staff Philmo really likes you.)
behind the counter barely speak English, if There is no menu. The Maitre D’
you ask any one of them for fish he will decides what dish you deserve. The waiters
scowl, lean forward and grunt “you want the are all either disdainful or awkwardly,
fresh fish, eh?” Whatever you reply he will fawningly obsequious and inappropriate
shake his head, grin unpleasantly and say (which is an ironic form of disdain.) Large,
“no, you are want the fresher fish I think.” burly men with beards, they all dress like
It doesn’t matter what you say next. He will Japanese schoolgirls, complete with pigtails.
chuckle, deep and ugly and then say “no, Screeching atonal music mixed in with the
no, you are want the freshest fish of all!” sounds of wounded animals completes your
and produce a smelly bucket full of live, dining pleasure.
wriggling eels from under the counter. Philmo’s strange travesty of a
“Which fish you want?” he will ask, restaurant has been every bit as successful
gesturing at the squirming, writhing as you might guess and the entire place is
creatures. half-deserted even on Saturday night. Yet
investors continue to throw money at it.
Scabies Weirdly, they’re right.
What is such a “difficult” nouvelle cuisine In about six months a reality TV
restaurant doing in Bedlam? It’s a long show based around Philmo’s bastard
story. stepchild of a project (called “Philmo’s
Maverick restauranteur Philmo (he Bastard Stepchild”) is going to take off.
has only one name, like Cher, or God, he Celebrities will start coming to Bedlam from
explains) had grown tired of New York, LA all across the globe and the “New Hatred”
and Dubai. In an attack of ennui he will spread around the world like…scabies.
pioneered the concept of the “New Hatred”
and announced that he would open a
restaurant based on the aesthetics of
absolute cruelty, with food too advanced for
anyone to ever understand, even Philmo
himself. And for the final touch of utter
degradation, he would open it in Bedlam.
Thus was born Scabies. Philmo’s revenge
upon the universe was now complete.
Located on the penthouse floor of
one of the downtown skyscrapers, it has
two bars, and a number of different
“Affliction Zones” (dining areas) each
devoted to a different theme (Psoriasis, the
works of Franz Kafka, “Echolalia” and others
less easily understood.) The décor varies
from Zone to Zone (each holds about five
weirdly-shaped asymmetrical tables and a
random assortment of painful, evil-looking
chairs.) But it’s always disturbing,
incomprehensible and above all, unclean.

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Nearly dead now, Bedlam’s music scene was don’t need to book local acts when they can
once thriving. In the 1920s this was one of still get WASP and the Scorpions.
the best places outside of Mississippi to hear Meanwhile, the Sons of Sewage
the Blues, although it has been unfairly soldier on. The members of the band own a
overlooked by many music historians. group house up in the Country Club and
During Prohibition it had a huge number of they play shows in their backyard for who-
speakeasies and its own distinctive style of ever wants to pay ten bucks for a place to
Jazz (best exemplified in the “Bedlam Rag” sit. Everyone still asks for their biggest hit:
that so many artists have since performed.) “I’m a Punk-Rock Mutha#@%&ah!!”
The Blues actually outlasted jazz in
Bedlam, and the tiny but revered Club Del Rock Hard and the Mighty Ones
Morocco continued to attract aging Bedlam’s most commercially successful band
bluesmen well into the 1950s. Howlin’ Wolf actually plays none of its own music. They
and Robert Johnson both played the Del strictly do covers, and although their range
Morocco. Now the club stands empty and is wide, it’s all firmly in the middle-of-the
boarded-up under a freeway overpass. No road. They can play a loose, flabby bar-rock
one but a few ancient folks in Wolverton rendition of everything from Louie Louie to
even seems to remember Bedlam’s blues Wooly Bully to 99 Red Balloons. But their
scene, yet no one ever writes any graffiti on real passion is for guitar-pop bands of the
the Del Morocco’s walls and no bums ever late seventies and early eighties. Foreigner,
sleep there. Journey, Styx, Loverboy and others too
Punk came late to Bedlam, and it awful to name.
was a peculiar species of the breed. While They’re the hardest working band in
for the most part the movement had already Bedlam, playing every last bar mitzvah,
metamorphosed into Hardcore by 1983, in wedding, corporate retreat and outdoor
Bedlam bands like the Vomit Comet and the festival they can find. As a result, turnover
Sons of Sewage were playing music that is high among band members and Rock
sounded like London punk from the late Hard himself (aka Vern Stazinsky) is quick to
1970s. And unlike anywhere else but fire his players at the first sign that they’re
Washington, DC, a lot of these bands were burning out or starting to overshadow him.
black.
When hip-hop swept over Bedlam DJ Supermax
like a juggernaut, a lot of its black punk acts Unlike a lot of gangster rappers, Supermax
got caught up in it, which led to a harsher, is a genuine street thug. He has actually
uglier, more humorous and less funk- lived the life he’s singing about. But he’s
influenced kind of sound which Bedlam is never been that great at expressing it. His
still known for today. The music you would lyrics are all stale clichés and his rhymes are
go to hear at one of the illegal clubs out on uninspired. There’s nothing about his work
Industrial Drive is usually a lot like trip-hop, that seems especially authentic or for that
slow and heavy (but danceable), with an matter any different from any other low-end
ugly, fuzzy, undercurrent of growling noises rapper. He doesn’t even have a good
and with rap lyrics shouted over the beat. It gimmick.
often uses electric guitars, with the Still, he was the closest thing
distortion turned way, way up. Bedlam had to a hip-hop star until about ten
There was a vigorous Heavy Metal years ago, when he got sent to prison for
scene in Bedlam in the ‘80s but it’s as dead aggravated manslaughter.
as the Del Morocco now. There is still one Now that he’s out, his raps aren’t
good venue left for hair metal bands—Maxx, just uninspired, they’re also ten years out of
out on the edge of the Meadows, but they date. And he refuses to get with the times,

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stubbornly insisting that he’s doing it the Thudhammur
right way and that all that Wu-Tang $#!+ is
messing everybody’s mind up. With no
national labels interested in his act, he
performs at block parties and local clubs and
sells his own CDs on the street. People buy
them, but mostly out of sympathy and
nostalgia.
His career as a gangster is more or
less over, too. The guys from his old set
have died or moved on, and Eentsy Z
doesn’t like him, so these days he earns his
living by pushing a mop.

Whispers from Uranus

Somewhere on beyond Emo lies a
depressed, big-haired, languid land where
Uranus softly whispers. You know as soon
as you look at them that at least one band
member believes himself to be the
reincarnation of some drug-addicted French
poet or other. You can hear their wispy,
elfin noodlings at the Circle Perk on
Terminal Drive. In fact it’s the only gig they
ever seem to be able to get. The manager Bedlam’s newest heavy metal act is an
apparently likes them, and may be dating authentic garage band, put together by a
their lead singer, a languid young beanpole teenage stoner named Jordan Glickstein.
named Rimbaud Dulac (his real name is Jordan is a Junior at Pennington High and
Mike Czenarik.) he founded the band so that he’d have an
Whispers from Uranus may be extracurricular activity on his college
about to hit it big. The word is that applications that would make him stand out.
Rimbaud may have briefly dated a producer But now that he’s gotten into the whole
with national connections and the band may business of arranging gigs and scheduling
be on its way out of Bedlam. the band’s activities, it totally consumes him
and he’s Thudhammur all the way.
Lou Ragusa Through chutzpah and determi-
Once a crooner who opened for the likes of nation he’s landed them gigs all over the
Mel Torme and Bobby Vinton, Lou Ragusa city, and a few of them pay more than tips.
was a minor member of the Rat Pack and He’s actually managed to alarm Rock Hard
was once allowed to hold Frank Sinatra’s and the Mighty Ones into threatening them
coat, while the Chairman of the Board took and telling them to stay away from bar
a leak on somebody’s car. mitzvahs—the bar mitzvahs in this town
Lou’s drug problem ended his career belong to Rock Hard.
in Vegas, Tahoe and eventually the Indian But despite Jordan’s tireless efforts
casinos, so these days he sings afternoon to promote his band there’s one small
shows at the Bedlam Airport Inn. Watresses problem with Thudhammur that he’s never
know to beware his roving hands and not to been able to fix—they suck. They stink so
mention his hideous toupee. badly, in fact, that almost no one would
Lou’s voice was always a little ever invite them back for a second gig.
fragile, and fifty years of total, absolute Perhaps more rehearsals would help, but
dissipation have left it a fractured, scraping then again, their absolute lack of talent
wreck, but his remaining fans don’t care. might still be an insurmountable barrier. At
the moment they have a bigger problem to

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worry about. Jordan lives in Stone Ridge Special Love
and heavy metal music is strictly against the John Love is an obnoxious Christian stage-
gated community’s rules. The neighborhood parent who home schools his ten mentally-
watch knows that someone on Jordan’s challenged kids in the trailer park at Shady
block has been playing heavy metal and Meadows. His wife is a worn-out wreck and
they’re trying to track down where the noise lacks the strength to oppose him on
is coming from. If they finger Jordan, his anything, so when he got it into his head
parents may be in a lot of trouble. that the family should become a band, she
raised only the feeblest concerns. So for
The <@~+s the past two years he has hectored and
browbeaten his ten little angels through
countless auditions and endless rehearsals
at home. They show up for every last talent
show and public festival in Bedlam.
A perfectionist, a control freak and a
manic depressive, John Love is difficult for
most people to be around for very long.
Once a venue gives in to his pressuring and
books him, John inevitably starts making all
kind of nitpicking demands and gets crazy if
they aren’t met. He also doesn’t want any
non-Christians to come into contact with his
kids, even briefly, and there are a whole
host of weird biblical taboos that he insists
on observing.
When all twelve members of the
family play at once, the result is a kind of
/ nervous, up-tempo pop sound, a bit like a
Best known for the song “Sniff my <@~+,” really messed-up Partridge Family. They’re
this group of angry young ladies is surprisingly competent musicians—much
determined to make post-punk safe for better than Thudhammur or the <@~+s.
grrrls, by screaming loud and throwing stuff However, ten instruments is way too many
at the audience. Their line-up changes a for any group to sound less than completely
lot, people drift in and out, so their sound irritating. Don’t try telling that to John Love.
changes, too. But it’s always loud, shrill and Don’t ask him why all ten of his children
poorly tuned. The <@~+s don’t care much have mental disabilities, either.
about their musicianship anyway. They
really just like to act outrageous and piss off The Sons of Sewage
the audience. They’ll do anything at all to Bedlam’s oldest punk band has given up on
provoke the crowd—it’s just not a good traditional success altogether. They no
night if it doesn’t end in violence. They longer have a label and produce their own
never seem to rehearse and they often audio cassettes when they feel like it
shown up late and drunk. (they’ve never gotten into making CDs.)
They used to play the Terminal The only venue they play is their back yard
Drive Circle Perk, but got kicked out for in the smogged-out neighborhood called the
being obscene and getting into fist-fights Country Club. You have to find out by word
with the patrons. They aren’t sure where of mouth when they’re going to play, but
they’re going to play next, but the band has they still get huge crowds in their back yard
always been more about hanging out and at every concert. People drink and make
being buddies than playing music, anyhow. noise and beat on cars and the party goes
They all live in a group-house near Terminal on for as long as it lasts.
Drive and pool their food stamps and the They haven’t updated their look or
money parents send from home. play list much in all the years they’ve been

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doing this and they still sound a lot like punk Mo and started working evictions cases for
in its earliest phase. Somewhere between the giant apartment management firm of
the Ramones and the Sex Pistols, with Drago and Grubb. For a long time $#!+-
maybe a bit of Iggy Pop. They wear their #@%& Records had a storefront office on
hair spiked and are clad in an assortment of Ash Street, but then Torchy the Firebug
hideous, tattered-up suits in eye-scorching burned it down (see Page 270 to learn more
colors. Some people compare them to about Bedlam’s most prolific arsonist.)
Green Day, which never fails to elicit a snarl These days the label operates out of
from lead singer Johnny Vomit. Mo Bosley’s basement in Wolverton. He
A lot of people are surprised to would dearly love to sign a new band.
learn that the Sons of Sewage are an Scumbag Records doesn’t even have
African-American band, but in Bedlam that a basement. It still exists mostly on paper
wasn’t so weird, at least in the early ‘80s. and in the mind of its impresario, a
Johnny Vomit must be past fifty now, but he disreputable would-be music producer and
says he’ll keep playing punk rock ‘til he dies. full-time criminal named Chuck Roast. He’s
got a lot of money saved up from various
Frisco Willie and the Railroad Choo- evil schemes and he’s looking for legitimacy.
Choo Fun Club A rap act might be the very thing for his
Who told Frisco Willie that he could sing? new label, but the African-American guys in
This strange, skinny old guy thinks he’s the Wolverton all hate him and there aren’t any
next Pete Seeger, bound for greatness in white rappers around who seem interested.
the folk music scene. He dresses like an He says he’s got some incredible new
engineer and howls out classic railroad project lined up, but he won’t say what it is.
songs in a reedy, tone-deaf voice. He’s Meanwhile, he’s been hiring homeless
incapable of staying on key or carrying a people to put posters up all over town
tune. advertising Scumbag records, and he calls
Some people say he’s astonishingly every radio show he can to promote it on
bad. Others say he’s flat-out Ed Wood crazy the air.
awful. But through dogged and delusional
persistence, he has managed to land gig A Local Music Personality: Gravy the
after gig on Bedlam’s local public television, Freak
teaching a whole generation of school PL: 2
children how to sing wildly off key. These Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 10 (+0)
days he has a whole band of equally Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2)
deluded and talentless performers backing Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
him up—although he might have done just Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2 (+0 if
as well recruiting actual hobos for his caught Flatfooted)
Railroad Choo-Choo Fun Club. At least they Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 3
might have done a better job playing the Willpower Save: 2
harmonica. Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Diplomacy 2 (+4),
Drive 1 (+2), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4
Local Labels (+5), Notice 4 (+4), Perform (Oratory) 3
Bedlam has two tiny, struggling record (+5), Profession (salesman) 5 (+6), Sense
labels, $#!+-#@%& Records and Scumbag Motive 2 (+2), Stealth 1 (+2)
Records. $#!+-#@%& has represented Background: This stringy, wild-eyed
Bedlam’s tiny punk community for decades, lunatic dresses up in a purple and green suit
off and on. They signed a couple of sludge- and sells bootleg tapes on streetcorners in
metal acts back when Bedlam had a scene Wolverton. Quite a showman, he holds
of its own, but these days they stay in forth loudly and at great length about his
business by issuing occasional CDs of older wares, making up rhymes and non-stop
material. They used to be run by Mo Bosley nutty jokes as he hawks his tapes. He
and his partner/girlfriend Staci Staples. records all the best stuff that the DJs in the
Then Staci got a law degree, broke up with illegal nightclubs out on Industrial Drive put

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together. But his real passion is the Sons of The lodge itself is a high, narrow
Sewage. Gravy the Freak has taped every building, detached from the row houses
last backyard performance they have ever around it. Made of weathered brown bricks,
put on, and he carries copies of the whole it’s clearly of 19th century construction and
collection around with him. resembles a small church or Masonic
Under his raving-mad demeanor temple. Unassuming though it looks, a
he’s a gentle soul and looks out for the kids great many of its members have gone on to
on his regular streetcorners. If a child is in prominent positions in Bedlam’s business
trouble he asks after them and lets their community—you’d be surprised if you ever
parents know. He’s also older than people got a look at their membership rolls as to
think. He looks and sounds like a badly- how many well-known Bedlamites are
preserved, leathery twenty-eight year old members. But of course they don’t make
who has spent too much time outside. But their rolls public.
in fact he’s forty. No sign advertises the building’s
function, but everyone seems to know what
it is. Older residents take off their hats as
they walk past the club, out of respect.

The Shadwell Drive Gentleman’s Club

See Page 195 to learn all about Bedlam’s
most exclusive social club. Few are ever
A number of social clubs cater to the asked to join.
interests of Bedlam’s more discerning
citizens. Here are a few of the most well
known.

The Country Club For the discriminating Bedlamite, the city

People are often surprised to learn that has always offered a few social clubs that
Bedlam’s Country Club still exists. The don’t advertise their existence to the public.
clubhouse and the putting greens are long Here are some of the most prominent.
since abandoned and dead, but the club
itself is still around on paper. Most of the Saturday Night Shots
members live in Stone Ridge. Horatio This adventurous group of students
Hoggard III, the club’s Acting President, communicates online and via text
claims that while their activities are on messaging. Most of them are members of
hiatus, they’ll find a new space eventually. frats and sororities at Belchner College (see
In the meantime he continues to collect the Page 141 for a description of this illustrious
club’s outrageously large membership fees. academic institution) but some are high
Most members are so afraid of being cut out school seniors who live in the Stone Ridge
of their social set that they continue to pay gated community. To join Saturday Night
him. But at the same time club morale has Shots, you have to be invited, and to be
sunk so low that members seldom even invited, you have to be rich, white and
mention the group’s existence. willing to take risks. They organize
impromptu social gatherings and parties at
The Calabria Workingmen’s Benevolent local bars and nightclubs. The illegal clubs
Association out on Industrial Drive are becoming their
This small fraternal lodge and social club favorite hangout.
has its headquarters on Lurman Avenue in If you read the messages they post
the Greely Point neighborhood. Most on their online forum or their text logs, you
members of this invitation-only social club will find that they largely consist of boasts
seem to be small businessmen from Greely about drunken savagery, comparisons of
Point’s Italian neighborhood. expensive toys that mummy and daddy
bought them and torrents of racial invective.

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They do not like or feel comfortable around city. Could it be something far more
the “Faceless Hordes” of non-white kids they sinister?
party with in the clubs, but they are thrilled
by getting to dance next to such awful Opus Ombra
people and perhaps stab them or have
casual sex with them.
A hint of violence is always lurking
just under the surface of Saturday Night
Shots. This club could easily turn to
entertainments like bum-fights or setting
homeless people on fire or vicious brawls
with the gangs. If they get around to
committing any serious crimes, they will all
back one another’s alibis and hire formidable
lawyers.

The Phantom Empire

Does the Phantom Empire still exist in some

form or another? Sammy “Snap Brim” Any pious weakling can follow God’s laws on
Hammer thought it did as late as the 1930s, Earth in hopes of eternal bliss. But only the
and that Lucius Hardwick remained its strong can do the Lord’s work with nothing
Emperor. If some vestige of the Empire still but an eternity of darkness for their reward.
survives today, then it has gone deep How noble it is to be damned in the service
underground. Instead of an organized of God. How true it is that Judas was the
militia of thugs, determined to chase greatest of the Lord’s disciples, for only he
Catholic immigrants out of Stark Hill, it was blessed with a chance to do God’s will,
would be a network of powerful old men, knowing that Hell awaited him for it. So say
working behind the scenes and guiding the tenets of the Opus Ombra. They do
Bedlam’s affairs from the shadows. If they God’s work in the shadows, they claim.
are real, then instead of having legions of They undertake the work that the blessed
hooded troublemakers they hire cannot. Excommunication was a small price
professionals when violence is required. But to pay compared to the infinite sorrows that
mostly they would exert influence behind await them on the other side of the grave,
the scenes. and they have embraced it gladly.
But this begs the question—what is Opus Ombra is either a secret,
their real agenda? It can’t have been fanatical subdivision of the Catholic
kicking the Irish out of Stark Hill. They organization called the “Doctrine of the
failed to do that, and if this were their sole Faith” (the branch of the Church that was in
purpose then they would have faded away former years called the Holy Inquisition) or
by now. It’s not acquiring wealth and else they are a fanatical cult founded in the
power. Their leaders were already some of 1850s by a mad monk called “Brother
the richest and most powerful men in the Belphigor.” It’s unclear to anyone which

205
they really are (and we’re leaving the truth stretches around the globe. In some major
of the matter up to the GM.) cities (Rome, for example) they have actual
They have, however, managed to monasteries where they train and meditate
master what they call the “Ars Ombra” and keep their volumes of arcane lore. This
pretty thoroughly. More than half of their is the kind of “Chapter House” that Bishop
agents can use at least some magic and Sloat (see Page 44) hopes to help them
they have a few PL 10 sorcerers in their found in Bedlam.
arsenal. Whether the organization is a giant
They are dedicated to stamping out international conspiracy with ties to the
every trace of the supernatural from the Vatican, or an isolated gang of lunatics with
world and they make no distinction between a hundred or so members we leave up to
benign and sinister forces. It’s all against the GM.
God’s law. So are the forces that they use
themselves, and they fully expect to spend Brother of the Opus Ombra
eternity in Hell for using them. PL: 6
Opinion is divided within the Order Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
about superhumans. Some of them have Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
powers that clearly come from Satan, Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2
everyone agrees on this. And it’s clear that Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2 (4 vs.
they all need to be killed, just to make sure Magical Attacks) Fortitude Save: 4
that the satanic ones are exterminated with Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 3 (+7
the rest of them. But there are two schools vs. magical attacks)
of thought about how urgent the problem is. Skills: Concentration 4 (+7), Diplomacy 4
Either superheroes need to become a major (+4), Gather Information 5 (+7), Intimidate
priority or they can wait their turn with the 5 (+7), Investigate 2 (+5), Knowledge
rest of the witches, heretics and (Arcane Lore) 8 (+11), Knowledge
abominations. (Philosophy and Theology) 6 (+9),
Opus Ombra has no compunctions Languages 4 (French, German, Greek and
about accidentally killing civilians, or Latin), Notice 4 (+7), Profession (priest or
murdering innocent people who’ve they’ve monk) 5 (+8), Sense Motive 2 (+5)
mistaken for witches, vampires, etc. If Feats: All-Out Attack, Critical Strike,
these innocents are good, then they will go Favored Opponent (Supernatural Monsters),
to Heaven. If they are bad (or if they are Fearless, Improved Critical (Pistol), Skill
not practicing Catholics) they will go to Hell, Mastery (All three Knowledge skills and his
where they belong. Either way God’s will is Profession)
done. For the same reason, they have no Complications: Fanatically determined to
problem with murdering witnesses to their eliminate magic from the world
crimes. Yet there are certain things they Powers: Astral Form 9 (Power Feats:
won’t do. They will not kill a human being Dimensional 3, his astral form can move to
without administering the Rite of Extreme any dimension in your campaign setting;
Unction over them. They will not attack a Flaw: Progression [takes five minutes of
human being on holy ground—which makes meditation to assume astral form]),
it possible to meet and negotiate with them Communicate 3 (Power Feat: Dimensional;
in Churches. Flaw: Only works on innately supernatural
A typical cell of the Opus Ombra will have beings), Device (Silver Dagger; Melee
between ten and twelve members. The Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra: Mighty), Force
individual cell members tend to be pretty Field 4 (Extra: Invisible effect; Flaws: Only
tough—PL 6-8. Some times, if they expect a protects him against supernatural attacks),
target to be especially tough, they will bring Neutralize (Magical Powers) 6, Mind Shield
in one or more PL 10 agents. Most cell 4, Summon 9 (Flaws: Attitude of summoned
members spend their time as house guests entities is Indifferent), Super-Senses 3
in one or another believer’s home. They (Awareness of Magical Powers, Detect
have a network of these safe houses that Magic, Detect Magically Invisible entities),

206
Telepathy 3 (Power Feat: Dimensional; uses a greek letter as a code-name (Pater
Flaw: Only works on innately supernatural Alpha, Pater Epsilon, etc.) Supposedly, no
beings that don’t have bodies) one in the Order knows their real names,
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 but in a group this close-knit that seems
Damage) unlikely.
Drawbacks: Action (takes 20 minutes to
use his Summoning power, 5 minutes to use Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars
Astral Form and 1 minute to use
Dimensional Movement) -6 pts.
Background: This is a typical Brother, but
there are some with much stranger abilities.
They’re all PL 6, but in addition to this basic-
model sorcerer they have a few telepaths
(Replace the Summoning, Super-Senses and
Communication with Telepathy and Mind
Control 6), and pyromancers (replace Astral
Projection, Communication and Summon
With either Blast 6 or Strike 6) and others.

Pater Ombra
PL: 10
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 16 (+3)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 8
Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 12 (2
without Force Field or Defensive Roll)
Fortitude Save: 10 Reflexes Save: 7 This was once Bedlam’s most exclusive
Willpower Save: 10 sorority, open only by invitation to girls from
Skills: Craft (Artistic) 7 (+11), Diplomacy 2 Bedlam’s very best families. They seem to
(+5), Intimidate 9 (+12), Investigate 3 have been founded in the wake of whatever
(+7), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 11 (+12), nameless tragedy forced the Bedlam Girls’
Knowledge (Philosophy and Theology) 6 Academy to close. That puts the date of
their founding at 1919 or 1920. People in
(+9), Languages 4 (French, German, Greek
and Latin), Notice 3 (+7), Spot +6, Stealth 7 Society were still whispering uneasily about
(+8), Sense Motive 2 (+6) the group as late as the mid 1930s. Do they
Feats: Artificier, Assessment, Defensive still exist, all these years later? There are
Roll 2, Fearsome Presence 4, Ritualist, conspiracy theorists who think so, and they
Powers: Device (Silver Dagger; Melee have all kinds of crazy ideas about what the
girls may have been up to.
Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra: Mighty), Magic
10 (Spells: Animation; Extras: Alternate The legend goes that some of the
Powers [Astral Form, Blast, ESP, Flight, girls who survived the incident at the
Force Field, Illusion, Mind Control, Neutralize Academy blamed their fathers and all of
Magical Powers, Summoning, Telepathy, Bedlam’s wealthy families for what had
Teleportation]), Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, occurred there. They decided to take their
revenge. Did they ever find the means to
Detect Magic, Detect Supernatural Entity)
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 achieve it? No one knows. But some
Damage) people point ominously to what became of
Background: If they need to call on them, the Bedlam Country Club and to the rich
the Order has a tiny handful of really families who used to live in the big houses
powerful sorcerers. Informally known as on Scarlett Hill, and wonder, is the
Sisterhood cackling in triumph out there
Pater Ombra (father of shadows), each is as
tough as a superhero. At least one of them somewhere?
is actually a woman. Every Pater Ombra

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 more forbidding than the rectory. Not many
people actually attend Mass at the
Cathedral—it largely serves the old Italian
neighborhood in Greely Point, and that
community is slowly dying off. Sloat himself
gives communion here, to the half-empty
nave.
There are persistent rumors that the
cathedral is the home of a grisly apparition
called the Bleeding Nun, but this is untrue.
Last year Bishop Sloat trapped and
destroyed the poor unhappy creature.

St. Anthony’s, St. Fabian’s, St.

Perpetua’s and St. Casimir’s
These four churches serve the spiritual
needs of Stark Hill. One large church could
probably work more efficiently than four
half-empty ones, but from time immemorial,
the Irish attend St. Anthony’s, the Italians
attend St. Fabian’s, the Poles attend St.
Casimir’s and the Croats attend St.
Perpetua’s. People from the wrong ethnic
group will swiftly be made to feel
uncomfortable if they show up at the wrong
A town like Bedlam needs a lot of religion— church. Stark Hill’s Catholics have learned
for the same reason that it needs a lot of to live next to one another, but it only goes
alcohol. Here’s your guide to some of its so far.
major churches. This is not a totally
comprehensive list. We’ve left plenty of St. Athol’s Basilica
room for other religious groups of the GM’s The fifth church in Stark Hill serves the
own design. neighborhood’s small Serbian community.
Despite its grand name, this is a tiny
Bedlam Cathedral Orthodox church, with a congregation of no
Located on Voight Street in Greely Point, more than two hundred people. Yet folks in
Bedlam Cathedral glowers down the hill at Stark Hill are forever grumbling about it,
the harbor. It’s old and in poor repair. The and about the Serbs. They just aren’t
Catholic Church is still pretty strong in Catholic and there’s no way around it. Who
Bedlam, but like all of its institutions they knows what evil stuff they get up to in that
are slipping into decline. Part of the transept church of theirs? They call it “Saint
has been closed off for structural instability, @$$#0!&’s” when they think the Serbs
so they use it to store old furniture. Because aren’t listening.
the cathedral was expanded and remodeled Father Radovan , who oversees St.
so many times in the 19th and early 20th Athol’s, is a violent-tempered old drunk who
centuries, there is some confusion over just has devoted himself to proving that the
how many rooms it has and there is no Serbian war atrocities in Bosnia never
completely reliable map of its lower floors. happened. But he is, his flock agrees,
The offices of the diocese are based better than no priest at all.
in the cathedral’s rectory, behind the main
building. It’s a high, narrow, forbidding St. Romuald’s
structure—a fitting lair for Bishop Lemuel Located on the verge between Hardwick
Sloat. From here Sloat runs the Church’s Park and downtown Bedlam, this Catholic
affairs in Bedlam. He’s a lot scarier and church is run by the huge and ferocious

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Father Miguel Zalamanca. Father Miguel is offers more singing and less shouting and
very tough in the confessional and seems rolling in the aisles. Less tolerance and
determined to root sin out of his flock. He’s brotherhood and more blood-and-thunder.
scared of the Mara, though and desperate to They’re the second largest church in
keep his church free of their influence, so Wolverton, and their minister, Cleveland
he’s careful never to speak out against the Wallace, is Willy Boggs’ rival. He has allied
gang in any of his sermons, and turns a his political fortunes with Righteous
deaf ear if any of his parishioners complain Townsend, which puts Mr. Townsend in an
about them. He doesn’t want his church to odd predicament.
end up like Our Lady of Xichumel. Anyway Reverend Wallace hates Reverend
it’s much easier to bully kids and little old Boggs because he tolerates gay people in
ladies than angry young men with guns. his congregation. A loud homophobe,
Reverend Wallace has dedicated himself to
Our Lady of Xichumel stamping homosexuality out of Bedlam’s
This beautiful, ornate church has become a black community. It’s the cornerstone of his
wholly owned subsidiary of the Mara and its ministry and the thing he talks about most
priest is one of their captains. His name is in his sermons. But Righteous Townsend is
Alfredo Guzman, but everybody calls him himself gay. He’s not exactly closeted—he
“Father Chuey.” You can find out a lot more just doesn’t talk about his orientation one
about him on Page 241. He uses his church way or the other. Councilman Townsend is
to host the Mara’s sinister rites and to store normally pretty ruthless, but his allegiance
stolen goods. In his sermons he tells his with Cleveland Wallace has begun to trouble
parishioners to pay their protection money him.
on time and not to squeal on the gangs. If
they confess to snitching, he sometimes Abundant Tabernacle Ministry
shoots them right there in the confessional. Part of a national franchise, Abundant
The church itself is falling apart from Tabernacle claims to be no denomination
neglect. but “Christian.” They answer to a distant
mega-church in Florida, but the local
The Good News Thunderous Hammer franchisee, the Reverend Ross Bewley, has a
Church of God in Christ lot of independence and can run his
The largest church in Wolverton is also one churches more or less the way he pleases.
of the neighborhood’s strongest institutions. Reverend Bewley is a plump, self-satisfied
They sponsor countless community little man with a weirdly effeminate manner.
programs and feed large numbers of people He also uses far too much hair cream.
through their food bank. The Reverend Instead of a single big church, they
Willy Boggs is their minister and he has have lots of little storefront operations
used this position to become a municipal scattered all over Bedlam, run by assistant
councilman and one of the most powerful pastors. Reverend Bewley visits them from
men in Bedlam (see Page 41.) time to time, but his biggest ministry is on
They have a giant worship center at the radio and on local television. He
the intersection of Larchmont Avenue and broadcasts a three-hour show every Sunday
Mortlake Drive, and smaller offices scattered on Channel 13 and does one-hour programs
around the city. The building looked shiny every other day of the week.
and new when it was built in 1975, but it’s He makes a lot of money from
starting to get a little dingy now. They have donations but even more comes from the
added lots of additions over the years, Abundant Tabernacle School (see Page 134)
spoiling its clean lines. and bible camps. They have just opened a
Christian Therapy Center to cure
True Word Baptist Church homosexual teenagers of their unclean
Baptists look down on the Church of God in impulses and this is bringing in a lot of
Christ and its ilk. For Wolverton’s stuffier revenue, too. Reverend Bewley takes a
residents, the True Word Baptist Church particular interest in this new project and

209
spends a lot of time offering patients his Someone has been attacking and
personal guidance and counsel. The main vandalizing Temple Beth-Israel. No one is
church in Florida sucks most of the sure who it could be, but the graffiti has
donations out of Bedlam, but there’s still been getting increasingly threatening and
enough left over for some youth outreach ominous. Perhaps they’ll have to move to
programs and for the Reverend to live in the Meadows soon.
one of the biggest mansions in Stone Ridge.
Bewley’s devoted wife, Dot, appears The Church of the All-Devouring
with him on stage and ministers to the Redeemer
faithful herself. She is as huge and
statuesque as her husband is tiny, and her
gigantic hair makes her look even bigger.
No matter how many times Reverend
Bewley gets arrested for soliciting male
prostitutes, she stands by his side and so
does his congregation. It’s happened three
times so far, for the Devil surely wishes to
crush the righteous Reverend Bewley with
his infernal lies. But the rock of his faith
stays firm. Every member of the
congregation knows better than to believe
these things could be true.
The Reverend Earl Hubbs, the
church’s distant leader, is a little annoyed by
Reverend Bewley’s indiscretions but he
sympathizes—Reverend Hubbs himself
knows only too well the Devil’s mischievous
tricks. Anyway Bewley is one of his best
money makers, so he’s not about to pull the
franchise out from under him.
There is a more radical group of
young Christian warriors within Abundant
Tabernacle, who have been talking about This strange backwoods cult is little-known
taking Direct Action against the unrighteous. in Bedlam, but it does have a few local
However, they have yet to successfully build adherents, most notably the head of the
any pipe bombs, so their crusade has not Special Assault Squad, Captain Elvis Aaron
yet gotten under way. Stokes. As its central tenet, they believe
that the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist is
Temple Beth-Israel blasphemous, for it posits that Man is fit to
A small synagogue with an elderly eat the flesh of Christ. Surely it is more
congregation, it’s still the largest Jewish fitting for Christ to dine on the flesh of men.
house of worship in Bedlam. Despite its They practice polygamy and force
name, this is actually a conservative their women to cover their hair outside and
synagogue (usually it’s only Reform enforce a host of other biblical rules. They
synagogues that use the term “temple”). It also kill unbelievers who have learned the
used to be located in a beautiful old building secrets of their faith. If any member of the
in Stark Hill, but it burned down too many church thinks they have met a heathen who
times, so the congregation has relocated to knows too much, they will notify the cult’s
an ugly brick structure just off Bedlam leaders back in Alabama. The elders will
Harbor. Despite the congregation’s efforts then send a member of their hardcore inner
to decorate the building, it still looks like a cadre up to assassinate the unclean one—
warehouse. usually by drowning them.

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 firm is under our protection—don’t steal
from them”.)
The only exceptions to this rule are
the desperate, drug addled street gangs of
the Country Club. No one has bothered to
take them over or bring them under their
wing—why go to the trouble? This means
that you might actually be able to hide out
from the Mob in the Country Club, even
though you still wouldn’t exactly be safe
there.
Bedlam has two Mafia families, the
While organized crime won’t play a role in Scarpias and the Gorganzuas. There used
every adventure, PCs who are based in to be three, but when Hardwick Park turned
Bedlam should probably have some vague into a Hispanic neighborhood, the Igglionis
idea of how it works. This will make the lost their power base and in their weakened
setting feel more three-dimensional and state they became easy prey for the
alive. But of course not everyone in Bedlam Scarpias, who killed their leaders and
knows precisely how the Mob operates. absorbed their soldiers. Both of the
Make the following information available to remaining families owe their loyalty to the
them only if they ask for it, and make big bosses in New York City, but are allowed
Streetwise Checks (vs. DC 15-20.) We have to run things in Bedlam without much
a section on Page 214 about how much of interference. They are not on good terms
this information is available at each DC. with the “Chicago Outfit” or most of the
This chapter gives you a broad other gangs of the Midwest, for reasons that
overview. We break things down in much are buried in the shadowy secret reaches of
greater detail in the next section, but read Mob history.
the overview first to keep it from getting The Scarpias are bigger and more
confusing. dangerous than the Gorganzuas, but aren’t
Here is the most basic and as wealthy. They are based in the working
important fact to remember about organized class neighborhood of Stark Hill, and have
crime in Bedlam. There are many criminal incorporated the local Irish and Polish gangs
gangs here, large and small, but they all into their structure. They control “Big Andy”
exist at the sufferance of the Mafia. The Czernik, the most powerful City Councilman
shadowy Honduran gang called the Mara, and take a bite of any and all trade that
the streetcorner gangstas in Wolverton, all comes in through Bedlam Harbor.
owe fealty to Don Scarpia or Don Unfortunately, the smaller harbor across the
Gorganzua. river at Greely Point is becoming more
The Mob doesn’t micro-manage the profitable, and it’s under the control of the
other gangs or tell them what to do—the smaller Gorganzua family. The Scarpias
Mara are free to go to war with Eentsy Z if would have long since crushed the
they want to. But they take a cut of Gorganzuas and taken it over, but the big
everyone’s income and they reserve the guys in New York have ordered them not to.
right to issue them an occasional order The current head of the Scarpia
(usually something like “find and kill such- crime family is “Dapper Donny” Scarpia, a
and-such a person” or “this construction slovenly fat man with a ragged beard who
dresses in stained tracksuits and frayed old
athletic clothes. Some mafia dons wear

211
thousand dollar Italian suits. But the most Gorganzuas run the harbor facilities at
expensive item of clothing Dapper Donny Greely Point, which are turning out to be a
owns is his nylon windbreaker jacket. It’s lot more profitable than Bedlam Harbor
charitable to call the thing growing on his itself. This has yet to make Dapper Donny
face a beard—it’s more like a collection of come wipe them out, but only because the
long stringy hairs that sprout from his big guys in New York have told him not to.
cheeks and chin in random clumps. He’s The Gorganzuas haven’t integrated
arguably the most powerful man in Bedlam, the Irish or Eastern European gangs into
but he looks like an aging street thug— their structure as well as the Scarpias.
which of course he is. Almost every one of their soldiers and
Dapper Donny rose through the “button men” are directly related to Leo or
ranks and he is still a little unpolished. To his daughter’s late husband, Rocco “The
be less polite about it, he is vulgar, coarse, Stick” Mazzarello. No one quite knows what
ugly and rude. He hates art and culture and happened to the skinny, shifty eyed, furtive
unlike many high-ranking Mafiosi he thinks little Stick, but everyone in the family thinks
opera is just so much noise. He still lives Tiny Tina beat him to death in one of her
with his mom in a run down bungalow in rages.
Stark Hill. All of this makes him incredibly Both families collect protection
popular with his men—he’s still one of the money and demand occasional favors from
guys, still in touch with the neighborhood, the street gangs in Hardwick Park and
doesn’t put on airs. Wolverton. These gangs have reached an
Dapper Donny loves pinball, and interesting stage in their development.
ancient video games like Asteroids and The Hispanic street gangs of
Lunar Lander (he has a whole philosophy of Hardwick Park have in recent years been
life based around Lunar Lander, which he united under the banner of a large
would be happy to share with anyone who Honduran group called the Mara. They have
asks.) No one is quite sure where his base a deeply sinister reputation. Everyone says
of operations is, but it’s widely suspected to the Mara are a national or even an
be an arcade in Stark Hill (the place has no international network, that they practice
name—the sign out front just says “Arcade”) black magic and drink the blood of their
where he plays pinball with the same crowd enemies. They are led by a shadowy figure
of parking lot thugs he’s been hanging out called the Jigsaw Man, whose body is
with since the 1960s. supposed to be covered with scars and who
The Gorganzuas keep a much lower studies the entrails of his rivals in order to
profile. Don Leopardo “Young Junior” divine the future.
Gorganzua lives in the exclusive gated This is partly true. Founded in
community of Stone Ridge, in a huge and Honduras, the Mara do have chapters
tasteless mansion. He never makes public scattered around ten or twelve cities in the
appearances and few people outside the US and Central America. They do have
Mob know what he actually looks like (he’s a contacts in the federal prison system who
skinny old man with a bitter look in his eye.) can do favors for them on the inside. But
He seldom leaves his house and leaves most they are far from an organized international
of his business arrangements to his network like the Mafia or the Triads. They
daughter, a 400 pound rhinoceros of a are a loosely organized federation of street
woman called “Tiny” Tina. gangs, held together by kinship and national
While Tiny Tina has a terrible identity. Not all of the chapters get along
temper, the crime family she runs tries to with one another and there are plenty of
kill as few people as possible and to operate cities where they have no presence at all.
as quietly as they can. They don’t interfere The chapter in Bedlam is about the biggest
with any of the Scarpias’ operations and and most powerful one in the network.
they don’t try to steal their turf. By and Their reputation for black magic has
large, they control the East side of the river been greatly exaggerated as well. The Mara
and the Scarpias control the West side. The do practice a kind of Honduran Santeria,

212
and their initiation rituals have a distinctly The Mara are expansionist by
religious/occult flavor. They relish their nature, and they do push against the gangs
scary reputation and try to play it up at of Wolverton from time to time, but they
every opportunity, talking about curses and don’t have the manpower or the community
black magic and human sacrifices in order to support required to run all of Wolverton’s
terrify their rivals. The Jigsaw Man has rackets in addition to their own, so they are
actually killed some of his rivals in ritualistic unlikely to launch an all-out assault on
human sacrifices, but he didn’t do it to Eentsy Z’s domain. The result is an uneasy,
appease any dark gods—he did it because never-ending stalemate with occasional
they were his enemies and he wanted to kill eruptions of violence. This state of affairs
them in as frightening a way as possible. suits Eentsy Z just fine.
Ultimately, the Mara are an organized crime Of course the youth gangs have
family with occult trappings, not a fanatical always been a training ground and talent
blood-drinking cult. pool for higher-level organized crime. While
Unless the GM decides otherwise. Eentsy Z may run most of the street level
Perhaps in your game world the Jigsaw Man drug-dealers in Wolverton, the high-end
really does have magical powers, or rackets (sports betting, prostitution, loan-
suddenly stumbles across a demonic sharking, illegal nightclubs and so forth) are
summoning that really works. The Mara run my two gentlemen named Rock Johnson
could make an interesting foe for a team of and Lincoln Stone. “The Rock and the
occult investigators. If you do use them Stone” as people call them, have quietly
that way, then you should also try to beef divided up Wolverton’s rackets between
up their arch-rivals—the African-American them for twenty years and more, with little
gangs of Wolverton. friction. Both of them pay a substantial cut
It used to be that the youth gangs of their profits to the Scarpia family.
in Wolverton went by the names of sports The Rock is a huge bald man with
teams, and showed their gang allegiance by deeply pitted skin who dresses as flashy as
wearing baseball hats and jackets with their possible and acts like a jovial grandfather
teams’ names on them. There are still a few when he isn’t having people killed. He lives
of these independent groups left (the “Os” over one of the illegal nightclubs he runs in
and the “A’s” and the “Ravens”) but most of a burnt-out factory on Industrial Drive.
the gangs have recently been united into a The Stone is a scowling, white-
confederation against the growing threat of bearded patriarch who is presently serving
the big Honduran gang called the Mara. two consecutive life sentences in state
The group that untied them is an prison, and runs his whole organization from
astonishingly savage pack of junior high- his cell. He’s as ferocious and threatening
school aged kids, under the leadership of a as the Rock is laid-back and cordial, but in
fifteen-year-old psychopath called “Eentsy fact they’re equally ruthless.
Z.” (younger brother of the late “Little Z”.) Both the Rock and the Stone are
Everyone is impressed by Eentsy Z’s inspired disturbed by how much power and prestige
brutality and wicked sense of humor. A guy Eentsy Z is accumulating, but they aren’t
that scary might be the very thing to fend sure what to do about it (the Scarpias don’t
off the Jigsaw Man. care, since he pays them his tithes like
Which brings us to the reason why everyone else.) Anyway he helps keep the
open warfare has never erupted between Mara at bay, and that has to be a good
the Mara and the Z. Eentsy Z knows that thing.
the moment the Mara get destroyed, the Too many of Bedlam’s cops owe
confederation he has put together will fall their loyalty to Dapper Donny or Leo
apart. He likes having power and doesn’t Gorganzua. But in addition to merely
want it to come to an end. Outright war crooked cops, there are at least two full-
with the Jigsaw Man has only two possible fledged criminal “crews” operating inside the
outcomes. Either Eentsy Z loses, or he Bedlam Police Department. They steal dope
wins, in which case he also loses. from the evidence room and sell it on the

213
street, they transport contraband in their others to name. It is also a notorious
squad cars, they run prostitutes and perform recruiting ground for supervillain henchmen.
the occasional contract killing. These are
independent groups—not officially a part of How Much Should a PC Know About
either of Bedlam’s Mafia families, but they Organized Crime in Bedlam?
owe fealty to either the Scarpias or the Of course, it’s up to you as to how
Gorganzuas and pay them a cut of their much information you want to give your
proceeds, just like all the other gangs in PCs. The following is intended as a helpful
Bedlam. guide—depart from it however you like.
The giant mobile home complex at Any cop or vigilante will know that
Shady Meadows is a wild card in Bedlam’s the Mob has an unhealthy amount of
underworlds politics. Most of the people influence over Bedlam and its politics and
who live there are impoverished Anglos. that there are large, well-organized
Biker gangs and crank labs are deeply dangerous gangs in Wolverton and Hardwick
entrenched in Shady Meadows. No single Park. Assume even the most naïve PC
faction dominates the place, which is prone knows that much.
to late night gun battles and general A Streetwise or Gather Information
mayhem. It’s much less quiet than Stark Check vs. DC 15 will reveal that Stark Hill
Hill or Wolverton. The police are in Shady and Greely Point are controlled by the Mafia
Meadows almost every night. and that they exert far too much influence
Dapper Donny wants the situation over the shipping operations at Bedlam
calmed down—it attracts far too much Harbor. It will also reveal that a Hispanic
attention. It has been so tough to control gang called the Mara has taken over
that he is in the process of making a gift of Hardwick Park and is uniting the gangs of
the turf to the Gorganzua Family. The shift Wolverton into a big coalition to resist them.
is causing even more chaos. It will also reveal that biker gangs run Shady
While no single group completely Meadows and that you can buy crank there.
dominates Shady Meadows, the biker gang A Streetwise or Gather Information
known as the Brotherhood seems to be the Check vs. DC 20 will reveal all of the
strongest force right now. They are one information listed in the section “Organized
small chapter of a national network, but Crime in Bedlam” on pages 211 to 215,
here in Bedlam they pay the Mafia a cut of minus the following: It won’t tell you that
all their proceeds. there is more than one Mafia family in
The Warlord of the Shady Meadows Bedlam, or anything about either family’s
chapter is Delbert Wayne Graves. Everyone internal politics. It won’t tell you that
just calls him Graves. He’s a skinny little Lincoln Stone is still running his organization
maniac with a drooping handlebar from behind bars. Instead it will suggest
moustache, who never takes off his that someone else is running his
reflective sunglasses. He doesn’t actually organization in his name until he gets out.
live in the trailer park—no one is sure where Perhaps most important of all, it won’t tell
he sleeps, but it’s probably one or another you that Dapper Donny is the head of a
farmhouse off in the woods. Graves is a mafia family. Instead he’ll appear to be the
scary guy, who talks little and has no really street-level guy who runs their operations in
close friends, but he’s reasonable in his Stark Hill for somebody else.
dealings with other criminals and won’t try A Streetwise or Gather Information
to rip off or wipe out groups that he knows Check vs. DC 25 reveals all the information
to be tougher than his own. listed in the section “Organized Crime in
For some reason Shady Meadows Bedlam” on pages 211 to 215. It will still
produces a lot of weird little gangs of crank take individual Streetwise or Gather
fiends who all dress up in costume around Information Checks vs. DC 20-30 to get
various oddball themes. It has seen gangs each piece of information listed under the
of mimes, gangs of faux beatniks, a gang expanded section “Organized Crime in More
that dressed like Santa Claus and too many Depth” on pages 216-266.

214
The PCs may not immediately come into reputation to turning the city authorities
conflict with the Mafia, even though they against them to having them killed. They
have a hand in so many of the things that would really prefer to fight superheroes by
are wrong with Bedlam. Most superheroes proxy, sending other superhumans to fight
spend a lot of their time focused on them, rather than watching their own
supervillains rather than organized crime. cousins and nephews get mowed down by
But it’s almost inevitable that the Player the capes. There is a long list of villains in
Characters will eventually shut down some the back of this book that they could hire,
criminal enterprise or other that the Scarpias one at a time or all at once, to start hitting
or the Gorganzuas are making money from. and harassing the Player Characters at every
When they do, the Mob’s response depends opportunity. To make it sinister and scary,
on the GM’s needs. You can have them the Mafia itself should remain a vague force
react swiftly and violently. Or they could in the background, striking from the
respond in some intermediate kind of way. shadows, insidious and hard to come to
They might try blackmailing the PCs into grips with.
leaving Bedlam, or have crooked cops frame If they do find themselves in a
them for a crime, or send one of their own direct conflict to the death with a superhero
superpowered allies around to warn the PCs team, one of the first things either Dapper
not to meddle in the Mob’s affairs, etc. Or Donny or Young Junior would do is to make
they might remain eerily silent, for now. themselves scarce. While Donny likes to run
If you aren’t ready to have the PCs his organization as directly as possible, there
face hordes of gun-toting goombahs, then is absolutely no reason why he couldn’t
there are all kinds of reasons why the Mafia continue to lead the group from anywhere in
might not come after them immediately. the United States. And Young Junior’s
The Capo who is making money from the organization has been on automatic pilot for
scam the PCs shut down might have bigger years. In the event of an all-out war with a
problems to worry about, or get killed over super-team, they will both become
some other matter before he has a chance maddeningly hard to find.
to react. The Mob might feel that the The Player Characters should not be
potential losses from a dust-up with a allowed to just walk up to the Don and kill
superhero team don’t equal the loss from him. That would break the atmosphere and
having one operation shut down. spoil the fun. Finding the head of the
However, either eventually or right Family should be difficult. And if they do kill
away, the Mob will probably decide to have a Don, or put him in prison, another one is
something done about the PCs. Their going to take over.
response could range from attacking their

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Here are more detailed breakdowns of the career as an Associate of a mob family, with
different factions in Bedlam’s criminal your own independent gang of crooks,
underworld. We’ll start with the biggest. without ever having to become a full-
fledged member.
Actual made men (“sgarrista” is the
term they use for “made men” or “wiseguys”
when no non-Sicilians are around) operate
in crews of ten to twenty. Each sgarrista
pays his captain (“caporegime”) a fixed
amount every month to remain a member in
good standing of the crew. Typically it’s five
thousand dollars. He can get that money
anyway he likes. Borrow it, steal it, run a
Some guys will tell you that “MAFIA” is legitimate business, mug old ladies—the
actually an acronym. It stands for “Morte only thing that matters is that each month
Alla Francia Italia Anela.” In English that the money is there. Each Capo, in turn, has
would be something like “Death to the to pay the head of the Borgatta (the “Don”)
French Cry the Italians” Like most a fixed amount each month. Usually it’s
organized groups of bandits, they originated twenty thousand dollars. Money always
as guerilla fighters—in this case to kick flows up, never down.
Napoleon out of Sicily. It has been a long, At the top of the pyramid sits the
long time since that goal was achieved, and Don, who almost never engages in any kind
yet the Mafia soldiers tirelessly on. of illegal activity himself. He doesn’t have
Both the Scarpia and Gorganzua to, with ten or so captains each paying him
families are very traditional Mafia twenty-thousand dollars a month!
organizations, and stick to the old ways The Don’s three closest advisors are
more closely than some. You absolutely normally the “capo bastone”, his most
need to be 100% Sicilian to gain prominent captain and second-in-command
membership to either one as a “made guy”, (sometimes called the “underboss”), his
although both have plenty of Associates and “contabile” or accountant, and his
“Button Men” working for them who aren’t “consigliere”, an older, retired mobster who
of Sicilian descent. acts as his advisor.
Both families (they call them Sometimes the real boss is officially
“Borgattas” in private) are organized the the organization’s capo bastone or
same way. It’s a lot like a franchise, or a consigliere. Mafiosi have tried all kinds of
multi-level marketing scheme. ways to conceal the chain of command. But
At the bottom of the pyramid are in Bedlam both Dons are who and what they
the Associates and “Button Men.” They call appear to be. Neither one really has an
them the “Piciotto” in private. These guys active consigliere. The Scarpia consigliere is
are connected to the Borgatta and operate Paulie Gambone, who has been hospitalized
with its limited protection, in exchange for for years and is nearly a vegetable, while
giving them a share of any money they the Gorganzuas haven’t gotten around to
make. Button Men are usually trying to appointing one—their Don is already the
work their way up the ladder and become oldest man in the organization.
“made men”—actual official members of the The rules of the Mafia are simple.
Borgatta. But many Associates have no Don’t steal from your boss. The penalty is
such ambitions. You can have a successful death. Don’t mess with a Made Man in any

216
way unless you yourself are a sgarrista. The Wifebeater (Dapper Donny is more resistant
penalty is death. Don’t fail to pay your to the idea of having super-guards, but in a
monthly dues. The penalty is death. Don’t crisis he might break down and hire one,
talk to the cops or betray the organization’s too.)
secrets. The penalty is death. Don’t There are plenty of other villains for
disobey or contradict your captain in any hire who either family might be able to get
way, even if you know what he is saying to in touch with. Feel free to use any from
be false or ill-informed. The penalty is your campaign or from Plain Brown Wrapper
death. Obey all orders, under penalty of— Games’ published collections of supervillains
well, you know. (the Bad Guys, More Bad Guys, 13 Shades
Why is the penalty for everything of Darkness, Another 13 Shades of
death? Because everyone in the Darkness, etc.) Just remember, they won’t
organization is a thief and no one can, by hire would-be world conquerors or villains
definition, be trusted. The only way of with strong affiliations to other organized
ensuring obedience is to immediately kill crime networks (the Russian mob, secret
anyone who starts to disobey. At least in martial arts brotherhoods, the Phantom
theory. In fact guys constantly disobey, Empire, etc.) Nor will they want to deal
screw up, and rip each other off anyway. with anyone who doesn’t have a proven
So a lot of them have to be killed. An older track record of working with the Mafia.
Mafiosi will typically have murdered as many
people as a really successful serial killer. The Scarpia Borgatta
The Scarpias are reigning power in
Superhuman Resources Available to Bedlam’s. If a nickel falls on their side of
the Bedlam Mob the river, they hear it. They are a large, old,
Apart from their two tame vigilantes, the aggressive family, which has been operating
Bedlam Mafia doesn’t have supervillains in in Bedlam since the early 20th century.
its ranks. Nor does either Dapper Donny or They have more than three hundred soldiers
Young Junior have superhuman bodyguards. presently, many of them former members of
It’s not safe having those guys around you. the defunct Igglioni Borgatta, which the
However, in any situation where Scarpias wiped out in 1995. They take a cut
superhumans, good or bad, started tearing out of the earnings of every organized crime
up their business and making life tough for group on their side of the river, from the
either family, they would immediately hire Mara to the Rock and the Stone to the biker
out-of-town super-muscle to deal with the gang called the Brotherhood. Only the
problem. “Invincible Ya-Ya Posse” and the tiny,
While both families sometimes hire fragmented gangs in the Country Club don’t
supervillains on a short-term basis, Donny owe them fealty, and that’s only because
Scarpia is more resistant to the idea than they don’t have anything that the Scarpias
Leo Gorganzua and less prone to calling in want.
the capes. Even though people inside the No one seems to be able to touch
family regard Young Junior as an old-time them on their home turf in Stark Hill. They
traditionalist, he is surprisingly quick to call have the whole neighborhood completely in
in super-guys if he thinks they’d be right for their grip and they appear to be able to
a job. As the leader of Bedlam’s underdog commit crimes with total impunity there.
crime family he has to make the most of Everyone within the family agrees
what advantages he can find, and that they owe their current success in large
supervillains are a great force multiplier. part to the responsible leadership of their
If they need the right kind of job current boss “Dapper Donny” Scarpia. A
done, they might call for Captain Condor or workaholic and something of a
the Brain-Raper or even Smashface. If micromanager, he takes a much more
Young Junior finds himself in serious need “hands on” approach to the family than a lot
of a superhuman bodyguard or two, he of Mafia Dons, and has never left the old
might hire $#!+face or Code Name: neighborhood in Stark Hill to move to the

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suburbs. His Underboss, “Joey Sideburns” continue indefinitely.
Medrano, is in prison, so Donny has more Meanwhile, their smaller rivals, the
contact with the street-level troops than Gorganzuas, are actually making more
most Mafia chieftains. money than ever from their relatively limited
Although he commands a lot of turf. Partly this is because they’ve been
loyalty from his men, Donny sometimes taking better care of it and partly because
worries about the former Igglioni soldiers in they got lucky enough to have Bedlam’s
his organization. He’s split them up into small airport on their side of the river, and
different crews and he’s been slowly it’s actually bringing new wealth into the
weeding out the ones he thinks might not city. The Scarpias are starting to take note,
be loyal, but he has been trying to conduct and to wonder if it’s time to renegotiate
this purge slowly and carefully to avoid a their agreement with the Gorganzuas—or
rebellion. just wipe them out. They have been
Much quicker to resort to violence instructed by the old Mafia overlords on the
than the Gorganzuas, the Scarpias are not New York Commission not to start any new
supposed to kill civilians, reporters or cops wars in Bedlam. But Donny is a resourceful
who aren’t crooked, but it’s hard to enforce guy, and he may yet think of a way around
this rule all the time. With other criminals it.
(or with anyone else foolish enough to get
involved with them) they have no scruples, The Murder Machine
mutilating or murdering anybody who shows The Scarpia family has set up a “Murder
them any resistance. Their empire was Machine” out near the Bedlam Airport. This
founded on blood and death and no one is a small warehouse where a specially
who does business with them is ever chosen crew kills people and dismembers
allowed to forget it. their bodies as cleanly as possible, leaving
But it’s not completely true to say that all no evidence behind.
their power comes from terror and murder. Hidden away behind a barbed wire
A lot of it comes from racism, too. They fence and a grungy little parking lot, the
draw their strength from the way they one-story warehouse is small and has no
dominate the Stark Hill neighborhood. And name. It looks like it could be a light
people in Stark Hill allow the Scarpias to lord industrial space or a storage building. Or it
it over the neighborhood because they keep could be deserted.
out black families. The interior looks like a run-down
The Scarpias’ Consigliere is Paulie office with some mismatched furniture for
Gambone, but he’s been in a coma for so the guys to sit around on and a TV set.
long that the family soldiers have taken to There is nothing on the walls and the floor is
calling him “Paulie the Corpse.” Donny concrete, covered with plastic sheeting. At
never got along with Paulie but he isn’t the back is a steel door. None of their
eager to find a replacement either. He visitors have ever come out from behind it
doesn’t like sharing authority with anyone. alive.
For many years, most of the To save on bullets and limit the
Scarpias’ business and legal affairs have forensic evidence, they normally kill victims
been handled by the firm of Cromlich, with a taser, a set of plastic hand-ties and a
Dooven, Dooven and Dahl. They treat their dry-cleaner’s bag. The procedure is simple.
attorneys pretty roughly and few die of The “meat” is escorted or dragged through
natural causes. the steel door into the long narrow corridor
Although they’re the strongest on the far side. Once they are in the
criminal network left in Bedlam, even the corridor, whoever is standing behind them
Scarpias are beginning to suffer from the stuns them with the taser, cuffs their hands
city’s economic decline. There just isn’t very behind them with the tie and slips the bag
much left to steal. They’re still strong and over their head.
dangerous now, but their revenues are If the meat takes too long to “cook”
down every year, and this trend can’t then they tase the victim again and use a

218
hammer to tap an icepick into the base of “Dapper Donny” Scarpia
his skull. Once the meat is cooked, they roll
it onto a dolly and take it to the room at the
end of the hall, which contains two
bathtubs, some cans of industrial solvent
and a lot of tools, used for removing teeth,
fingers and other identifying marks. Once
the meat has been processed, a tub full of
industrial solvent dissolves them further and
whatever is left of the remains gets packed
up in a plastic bag and shipped out to
wherever the Scarpias want it buried.
It takes a while to process someone
in the machine, and it’s not really practical
to use it if for really large-scale executions—
there’s only so much meat they can handle
in a given amount of time. But if a single
person needs to disappear, the Murder
Machine is the Scarpia Borgatta’s best way
of doing it. The machine has only been in
operation for a few years, but it has already
processed a whole lot of meat.

The Graveyard
Back in the mid 1990s, the Scarpias
annihilated their arch-rivals, the Igglioni
family. They killed all their leaders and
loyalists in a single night. And of course PL: 6
that’s far too much meat for the Murder
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3)
Machine to be able to handle in one gulp.
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
They’ve carried out other mass executions
Initiative: 5 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
since, although nothing on that scale.
Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 6
Where has all that meat gone?
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6
The answer is one of the Scarpia
Borgatta’s mostly closely guarded secrets. Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Diplomacy 3 (+5),
We have a suggestion for the GM on Page Gather Information 7 (+9), Intimidate 10
383, but it’s not the only possibility. They (+12), Knowledge (Business) 5 (+8),
may even have more than one graveyard. Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+4), Knowledge
Donny keeps meaning to dig his (Streetwise) 8 (+11), Notice 6 (+8),
graveyard(s) up and run the meat through Profession (mafiosi) 6 (+9), Search 3 (+5),
the Murder Machine, but other stuff keeps Stealth 5 (+5)
getting in the way and anyhow there’s Feats: All-Out Attack, Benefit (Mob Boss),
always a backlog of meat to be processed. Defensive Attack, Connected, Contacts,
Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Fascinate
Important Members of the Scarpia (Linked to Intimidate), Improved Grapple,
Borgatta Improved Pin, Inspire, Leadership, Master
On the following pages we have stats and Plan, Skill Mastery (Gather Information,
background information for some of the Intimidate, Knowledge [Streetwise],
most prominent members of the family. It’s Profession [Mafiosi]), Sneak Attack 2,
far from a complete list, so feel free to add Startle, Wealth
more. There are at least ten Captains Equipment: Pocketknife (Melee Weapon,
serving under Dapper Donny and we’ve only does 6 Damage in Dapper Donny’s expert
detailed two of them. hand, but only on targets who don’t have
more than 2 Impervious Toughness)

219
Background: People who know Dapper unmoved. So does art. Extremely crude in
Donny say that there are only six topics of his personal habits, he has nothing but
conversation that interest him: Money. contempt for high culture.
Power. How to get more money. How to By staying a part of his community
get more power. Who might be trying to and having daily contact with his street-level
take money or power away from him. And troops, he has become immensely popular.
Pinball. His vulgar crudity helps him here, too. He
That’s a pretty accurate description, knows everything that’s happening in his
except that he doesn’t really talk much turf, he lives the same way his guys do and
about pinball. Donny has worked long and he’s still one of them. Local people can
hard to become Bedlam’s criminal overlord come to him directly with their concerns and
and he’s working hard to hang on to it. He he knows at once what they are talking
puts in a lot of hours running his various about. He sees, hears and knows
scams and business concerns, and he has everything that is happening in Stark Hill.
no time to think or worry about anything Like a lot of Mafia chieftains, he
else. As a result, he doesn’t look or sound keeps himself carefully isolated from his
much like the gangsters you see in the money. He’s officially unemployed. All of
movies. He makes no effort to be funny his holdings are in his mom’s name, or his
and never seems to tell a joke. He doesn’t little sister’s name, or the name of one or
have time to watch TV and he doesn’t know another of his cousins. Donny hasn’t signed
anything about what’s on it. He doesn’t get a check in years. He has no Social Security
any pop-culture references you might make number.
and he’s not interested in them. Paranoid about security, he never
Occasionally you might hear him make some speaks on the phone, under any
general observation about life, and he has a circumstances. The feds have had his
whole philosophy based on the game Lunar mom’s line tapped for years, but all they
Lander that he’d be happy to share if he’s in ever hear is her gossiping with her friends
a good mood, but for the most part he’s and complaining about her infirmities. He
strictly business. His guys say he’s a does all his business in person, either in the
workaholic, but they say it with admiration. arcade or in his car or in some sleazy diner
He plays a lot of pinball and ancient or other. Most of all he likes to take walks
video games (Space Invaders, Asteroids and with his underlings and talk business while
above all Lunar Lander) to blow off steam, they’re strolling around.
but he does it while he’s conducting A very smart psychopath, Donny is
business and he’s thinking about business totally ruthless but completely reasonable.
the whole time. Constantly guarded, If you can show him why it would be to his
watchful and calculating, his deeply sunken advantage to cooperate with you, he will
eyes bore right into you as he speaks. listen. He’ll be willing to work with you until
Donny hangs around the same the exact moment when it makes more
arcade with the same crowd of hoods as he sense to screw you over.
did when he was a teenager. Uninterested He looks like a slob. His hair is a
in the finer things money can buy, he still wooly, tangled mass of curls that comes
dresses in jeans and his old windbreaker almost to his shoulders. Overweight and
jacket, when he isn’t lounging around the cursed with a receding chin, he barely
house in a track suit. He lives with his mom shows any detectable jaw line. He has a
in her row-house. While he could easily sort of thin, straggly beard but most of it
afford a mansion and thousand dollar suits, bristles out of his neck. Despite fifty years
he has never seen any good reason to buy of constant effort, he has failed to grow a
them. convincing moustache. His eyes lurk in
Unlike a lot of Mafiosi, he doesn’t deep pits to either side of his beaky nose,
particularly like Sinatra or Tony Bennett or watchful and calculating.
for that matter opera. Music leaves him

220
Dandy Joe Slorkin Improved Grapple, Improved Overrun,
Improved Pin, Improved Trip, Move-By
Action, Power Attack, Quick-Draw, Startle,
Taunt
Equipment: Huge Knife (Melee Weapon, 4
Damage)
Background: One of Donny’s favorite
assassins, Luca Stegnetti isn’t yet a “made
guy” but he’ll be one soon at the rate he’s
going. He’s also the Scarpias’ court jester, a
crazy, funny, fast-talking lunatic who’s
constantly mugging for attention and saying
outrageous stuff. And stabbing people. In
fact his penchant for stabbing people is
actually what’s holding him back from
becoming a full-fledged member of the
organization. He’s perhaps a little too eager
to get stabby.
Nobody knows it yet, but Luca is in
fact a superhuman. The stat block above
describes him before he discovers his
powers. For a much more detailed
background entry on Stabbo the Clown, look
under his description in the section on
One of Donny’s best money-makers isn’t a Supervillains, (Page 294.) There’s a picture,
Made Guy at all. He’s an Associate who too.
happens to run the toughest high school in
Bedlam. Dandy Joe controls all the drug “Dracula Jack” Gagliano
trade and other criminal activity at Grissom PL: 4
High, while maintaining the illusion that he’s Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
a tough-as-nails, law-and-order principal. Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
The press loves him and his “take no Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
prisoners” approach to school discipline. For Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3
a detailed description of Dandy Joe, along Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5
with a stat block, see Page 136 under the Skills: Bluff 1 (+3), Gather Information 3
entry on Bedlam’s schools. (+5), Intimidate 7 (+9), Knowledge
(Business) 4 (+4), Knowledge (Civics) 2
Luca Stegnetti, aka “Stabbo the (+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 7 (+7), Notice
Clown” 3 (+5), Profession (mobster) 5 (+5)
PL: 4 Feats: All-Out Attack, Benefit (Mafia Capo),
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3) Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Fearless,
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) Quick-Draw, Rage 2, Second Chance (to
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 resist Mind Control), Startle
Toughness Save: 4 (3 if caught Equipment: Sawed-off Shotgun (Ranged
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Weapon, 4 Damage)
Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3 Background: One of Dapper Donny’s most
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Intimidate 3 (+5), feared Captains, Dracula Jack oversees the
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4 (+5), “Murder Machine” which the Scarpias use to
Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+4), Notice 3 make people disappear. No one outside
(+3), Perform (Comedy) 4 (+6), Profession Dapper Donne’s inner circle is exactly sure
(mobster) 1 (+3) where this kill-center is located. They
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, murder and dismember people there and
Connected, Defensive Roll 1, Fearless, dispose of their remains in tiny pieces (see

221
Page 218.) The whole process has been Background: For along time the biggest
turned into an assembly line and they can thorn in Dapper Donny Scarpia’s side was
convert a living man into an unrecognizable his father’s lifelong friend Paulie Gambone.
pile of meat in less than three hours. Paulie was the old man’s mentor and his
Overseeing an operation of this Consigliore. He advised old Mr. Scarpia on
nature requires a special type of guy, and nearly everything and everyone expected
that’s Dracula Jack. He pitches in with the Donny to take his advice, too. And nothing
actual work, eating pizza while he cuts Donny ever did was good enough for him.
corpses apart. Sometimes he sleeps in the Paulie strongly opposed going to
kill-room, surrounded by processed human war with the Igglioni family in 1995 and
parts. These things don’t bother him at all— made his views known to the rest of the
hence his name. organization—a serious breach of protocol.
He’s an angry, skinny old man with Yet having him killed for it would have been
thick white hair that he combs straight back, an even more serious breach of protocol.
a widow’s peak and bulging hyperthyroid Wiping out the Igglionis was the
eyes that don’t point in the same direction. best move Donny ever made and it
It’s weird talking to him and watching those cemented his position as the most powerful
froggy eyes fail to look at you. Always Mafiosi in Bedlam. Paulie became sullen
snarling, sneering or scowling, he’s a little and withdrawn after that, and still kept
out of it and a little crazy. Sometimes he insisting that it had been the wrong thing to
seems not to have understood what you do. Then he had a stroke. And then
have said to him. He has been known to another one.
take mortal offense over tiny things. While At present Paulie resides in the very
he is prone to having his bodyguards chop best room at Our Lady of Sorrow Hospital in
body parts off of people who offend him, he Stark Hill. Dapper Donny pretends that the
kills them just as often. His habit of flying old man still talks to him sometimes and
off the handle and murdering people causes that he still takes his advice. In fact Paulie
Dapper Donny some concern. The hasn’t spoken a word in years. Donny
Gaglianos are an important part of his makes sure he gets the best possible care,
network and he can’t offend them by having for he isn’t eager to appoint a new
their pop killed, so he has put Jack in a Consigliore. They’re more trouble than
position where the old maniac can murder they’re worth.
as many people as he wants. Maybe that’ll Word has leaked out about the old
help him get it out of his system. So far Jack man’s condition. Now everyone calls him
shows no sign of slowing down. If anything, “Paulie the Corpse” or “Paulie the
he’s getting crazier. Vegetable” whenever they think Donny isn’t
listening.
Paul Gambone, aka “Paulie the Corpse”
aka “Paulie the Vegetable” Giuseppe Medrano, aka “Joey
PL: 0 Sideburns”
Str: 6 (-2) Dex: 0 (n/a) Con: 2 (-3) PL: 5
Int: 0 (n/a) Wis: 0 (n/a) Cha: 0 (n/a) Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Initiative: n/a Attack Bonus: n/a Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 15 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 1 Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 5
Fortitude Save: -3 Reflexes Save: n/a Toughness Save: 5 (2 if caught
Willpower Save: n/a Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes
Skills: Profession (brain-dead hospice Save: 3 Willpower Save: 5
patient) 0 (+0) Skills: Bluff 6 (+8), Gather Information 5
Feats: Benefit (dying mob boss, gets best (+7), Intimidate 6 (+8), Knowledge
possible medical care), Connected (Business) 6 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 2
Equipment: Automatic Bed, Life Support (+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 7 (+9), Notice
Machine, Feeding Tube 5 (+7), Profession (mobster) 5 (+7)

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Feats: All-Out Attack, Benefit (Mafia Capo), Joey has a wife back in Bedlam and
Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Defensive three sons, but he was never home even
Roll 3, Fearless, Improved Grapple, before he went to prison and he isn’t very
Improved Pin, Startle close to any of them. They don’t bother to
Equipment: Shank (Melee Weapon, 3 visit him at Bald Knob, and he doesn’t mind.
Damage) In fact he wouldn’t have time to see them
Background: The Scarpia Underboss, and even if they wanted to visit.
Dapper Donny’s second in command. He’s
been in prison for a while, which The Gorganzua Borgatta
complicates his position in the family. He Much quieter, more cautious and low-key
can’t run things the way an Underboss is than the Scarpias, you could almost forget
supposed to from behind bars, but he’s too that the Gorganzuas’ fortune is built on
valuable for Donny to demote him or pick blood and bones. But not for long.
somebody else. They don’t have nearly the same
No one would ever dare tell Joey amount of influence with Bedlam’s police
Sideburns that his haircut is out of fashion. and civic authorities as the Scarpias, so they
But in fact, his look hasn’t changed since have to operate with a lot more discretion.
1978, when he first became a full-fledged They never assassinate anyone unless they
Mafioso. He’s been way too focused on feel they have to, and then never without
being a gangster to pay much attention to the approval of the Don. Of course it’s easy
men’s fashion since then. He still wears the to get his approval—he no longer cares very
enormous sideburns that he grew back in much about the family or its business.
the disco era, and they look especially silly As Don Leo grows more distant and
on his round, wide face. But no one is remote from the family’s affairs, up in his
brave enough to tell him this, and anyway mansion in Stone Ridge, his daughter,
he probably doesn’t care. “Tiny” Tina Gorganzua has come to be the
People say he’s a workaholic, a one- leading power in the family. This is pretty
man crime wave, constantly orchestrating a unusual for the Mob. Power really should
dozen or so schemes at once. When he got devolve on Leo’s son, but he’s a weak,
sent to Bald Knob Penitentiary for thirty unstable, trigger-happy lunatic and can’t be
years without parole, some of the guys trusted, so Tina has had to fill the role,
thought it would finally give Joey time to assisted by the family’s redoubtable lawyer,
relax, but in fact he works harder than ever. Frankie Baranzanno.
He’s got a whole prison to run now. Tina has an awful temper and has
The Bedlam Mafia’s man inside the broken the rule about unauthorized
state prison system, he’s truly a power to be assassinations more than once. Still, the
reckoned with in the joint and he can get family has managed to keep a low profile in
more or less anything he wants. The only spite of her explosive rages and her older
prison overlord who equals his power is brother’s crazy antics.
Lincoln Stone, and he works with Joey most The Gorganzuas control organized
of the time, rather than wasting all the crime on the west side of the river (if you
energy required to oppose him. are using the map of Bedlam right side up.)
Joey has no conscience, no scruples They don’t have much competition in Greely
and no time to waste as he tirelessly plugs Point, where they’ve been entrenched for
away at his job. He’s abrupt, impatient, and many generations. The small Italian
prone to interrupting people, but seldom neighborhood around Lurman Avenue is
gets mad. When he’s angry, it’s a cold kind their main base of support. Like Stark Hill,
of angry. the neighborhood is in decay. Nearly all of
If the PCs remove Donny Scarpia the street gangs they used to recruit new
from power, Joey Sideburns will take the members from have vanished and it’s
whole operation over, and he’s actually safer unclear where their next generation of
from them in prison than Donny was in soldiers supposed to come from.
Stark Hill.

223
 The wide-open, sprawling about what a bum the dead guy was and
neighborhood called the Meadows is a major how much he deserved to die. Sometimes,
source of their revenue, but they have never for laughs, they bring the victim’s wife and
precisely worked out whether they or the kids in to say goodbye to him. Har-har!
Scarpias own it, and their rivals from across Young Junior never turns up at
the river are starting to move in. This these events himself, but he’s proud of
causes them a lot of concern. If war erupts, them. Dapper Donny would never let his
they’ll lose—they just don’t have enough guys have fun like that, he’s quick to point
soldiers. They’ve also been deriving a lot of out. It’s all work work work with that guy.
income through smuggling and theft at
Bedlam’s airport, and while they’ve been Important Members of the Gorganzua
trying to conceal how much money this is Borgatta
really making them, it’s only a matter of As with the Scarpias, we want to give you
time before the Scarpias find out and decide plenty of room to add your own Mafiosi, so
to take it away. we’ve barely detailed any of the Captains
Both families have been instructed who serve under Young Junior. The listings
by the New York Commission to divide their on the following pages detail the family’s
turf equitably and not to war with each leadership (apart from Frankie Baranzanno,
other, But the Commission itself is growing the family lawyer, who we have described
weaker these days and it’s harder for it to on Page 159) but there’s a lot of extra room
enforce its edicts. Even though they are for you to fill in.
making a lot of money, morale in the family
is fairly low. Everybody’s getting older, Don Leo “Young Junior” Gorganzua
everybody expects the Scarpias to come kill
them all, everybody worries about Leo’s son
“Little Junior” and the heat he’s sure to
bring down on them. But no one knows
what to do.
When the Gorganzuas do have to
kill somebody, they always make sure to
make them vanish completely—they don’t
leave mutilated bodies around to send a
message. They have an ingenious method
for disposing of unwanted bodies. See
below.

Tranquil Repose
When Young Junior says “it’s your funeral”
he really means it. The Gorganzuas own a
big funeral parlor in Greely Point called
“Tranquil Repose,” which has more
crematory ovens in its basement then you’d
expect for a place this size. They dispose of
corpses here, although they don’t have the
capacity to do more than a few at a time.
Only on special occasions does
anyone go into the flames alive. When
someone has annoyed the leadership PL: 5
enough, the Gorganzuas may actually hold a Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1)
mock funeral for the doomed man, who lies Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
gagged and sobbing in his casket while Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 Defense: 4
people laugh and drink and tell jokes. Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 3
Sometimes they get up and make speeches Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 3

224
Skills: Bluff 4 (+6), Gather Information 3 using a stolen credit card. The food just
(+5), Intimidate 6 (+8), Knowledge tastes better to him if it’s stolen.
(Business) 7 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 2 For the most part he stays in his
(+3), Knowledge (Current Events) 4 (+5), giant, ugly house in the gated Stone Ridge
Knowledge (History) 3 (+4), Knowledge community and spends little time on the
(Streetwise) 6 (+7), Knowledge (Tactics) 3 streets of his old neighborhood in Greely
(+4), Notice 3 (+5), Profession (mob boss) Point. People think he does this to stay
4 (+5) aloof and mysterious, but in fact he does it
Feats: Accurate Attack, Benefit (Mafia Don), because he no longer cares very much
Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Improved about what happens to the neighborhood,
Aim, Startle, Taunt, Wealth He lets Tiny Tina run the family, for the
Equipment: Huge Pistol (Ranged Weapon, most part, but she still answers to him
4 Damage), big ugly house, giant mountain whenever he feels like exerting himself.
of cash. Unlike Dapper Donny, Leo takes a
Background: His grandfather’s name was keen interest in the world around him and
Leopardo and so was his father’s. That loves documentaries on history—particularly
makes him “Young Junior” even though Old the history of World War Two.
Junior has been dead for decades. His fat Cantankerous and aggressive, he
and useless son Leo is “Little Junior.” loves to pick arguments with people and is
Young Junior is a man with a lot of capable of turning almost any conversation
regrets. There’s all kinds of stuff he could into a fight. This makes his underlings even
have stolen, all kinds of big scores he could more anxious to deal with Tiny Tina rather
have made, but his family didn’t have the than the boss himself, despite her uncertain
manpower or firepower to do it. His biggest temper. It seems odd to a lot of people that
rivals, the Igglioni Family, collapsed and fell a man with no conscience should have so
into disarray and he was unable to capitalize many regrets.
on it. The Scarpias muscled him out of it,
just like they always seem to muscle him “Tiny” Tina Gorganzua
out of everything. These days the
smuggling operations at Greely Point and
the Bedlam Airport are doing a lot better
than anyone expected, but Young Junior is
sure the Scarpias will take that away from
him, too. What can he do? There are more
of them.
These days he’s rather spend his
time watching the History Channel than
running the family anyway. All that
gangster stuff’s a load of crap—but then so
is everything else.
Cranky, vicious, mean and old,
Young Junior is still a scoundrel, through-
and-through, and still personally dangerous.
He never goes anywhere unarmed and he
has a violent temper. Over the years he has
killed more than twenty people and he
thinks nothing of it at all. Not only is he still PL: 5
a killer, but he’s also still a thief. Being a Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: 16 (+3)
criminal and a rascal is in his nature. If he Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
can see a way to get out of paying a fifty- Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 5
cent parking meter, he’ll do it. He still Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 3
shoplifts whenever he gets the chance and Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes Save: 0
he never dines in a restaurant unless he’s Willpower Save: 3

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Skills: Bluff 3 (+3), Gather Information 5 lost control and made mistakes on occasion.
(+5), Intimidate 8 (+8), Knowledge But not like the kind of mistakes her useless
(Business) 6 (+7), Knowledge (Civics) 1 brother Leo has made.
(+2), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+6), Notice She is a good tactician, if not a
3 (+5), Profession (mobster) 6 (+7), Search great one, and she’s determined to make a
3 (+5) success out of the family business,
Feats: All-Out Attack, Benefit (Mafia enfeebled though the Gorganzuas are these
Princess), Connected, Contacts, Diehard, days. She lives in the old Italian
Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate), Improved neighborhood in Greely Point, on Moon
Grapple, Improved Pin, Leadership, Rage 2, Avenue. She also spends a lot of time at
Startle, Wealth her father’s house in the Stone Ridge gated
Complications: Explosive temper, hates community, learning the old man’s secrets
faithless men and taking down his instructions.
Drawbacks: Disabled (Hugely obese, They say that Tiny Tina can smother
moves at half normal speed, cannot run) a man to death in the folds of her flesh, and
Background: In most mafia families, it that she has done this on occasion to
would be unthinkable for a woman to inherit henchmen who have failed her. She neither
the role of Don. But Tiny Tina’s brother confirms nor denies this rumor. She does
“Little Junior” is such an absolutely useless however get really mad if anyone mentions
clown that she has had to step into the role it in front of her.
of heiress and de-facto Underboss.
A nervous woman, she copes with Leo “Little Junior” Gorganzua
her many anxieties by shouting, throwing
tantrums and stuffing her face. She’s a
sloppy eater with the table manners of a
rampaging Hun, and always seems to have
food on her face and on her expensive,
tasteless clothes. Everything about her is
grandiose and immense. She has “big hair”
like few people have seen since the 1990s.
She wears screamingly bright colors and she
talks very loud, with great sweeping
gestures that make her outsized jewelry
clank and jangle. She likes guys a lot, the
smaller and more waif-like the better. But
she has been without a regular boyfriend for
a while. The love of her life was a skinny,
buck-toothed chinless little guy named
Rocco “The Stick” Mazzarello, but he
disappeared a couple of years ago.
Everybody always assumed that he was
either dating her to get closer to her dad, or
that she was somehow blackmailing him into
being her boyfriend. They whisper behind
her back that she must have killed him in
PL: 3
one of her temper tantrums. Maybe she
figured out that he wasn’t really into her? Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 12 (+1)
While she does have a violent Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 10 (+0)
temper, Tina tries hard not to kill anybody Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 3 vs. his
unless it really has to be done. The Favored Opponents, 1 vs. everybody else
Gorganzuas have survived by being low-key Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 1
and killing as few people as possible, and Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 0
she understands this policy. Still, she has Willpower Save: -1

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Skills: Bluff 3 (+3), Escape Artist 3 (+3), none of the other capos give him any
Intimidate 3 (+3), Knowledge (Business) 1 respect. Little Junior actually has a fairly
(+2), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+5), large crew, but they’re all either ambitious
Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Notice 3 climbers who are trying to get closer to the
(+2), Profession (mobster) 1 (+2) Boss through his son, or hopeless, useless
Feats: All-Out Attack, Connected, Contacts, losers like Little Junior himself. So they’re
Favored Opponent (people who have a either fundamentally disloyal, or can’t be
lower PL than he does), Sneak Attack 2, trusted to go across the street by
Taunt, Wealth themselves without screwing it up.
Background: A constant screw-up, weak
and unstable, if Little Junior weren’t Don
Leopardo’s son he would have long since
been buried in an unmarked grave. Not that
he isn’t violent. In fact when he’s depressed
he’s downright bloodthirsty. But that’s part
of the problem. He’s totally unpredictable
and badly out of control.
In person he’s a big fat middle-aged
guy with an untidy mop of curly hair that
never behaves no matter what he does to it.
He always seems to be sweating and his
skin looks shiny and wet. He cries and
laughs really easily, sometimes at once.
Little Junior sometimes picks fights
with people for no reason and kills or maims
them. He also gives people outlandish gifts
for no reason. He’ll decide that someone is
his best buddy, chum around with them
constantly, taking their advice and imitating
their mannerisms, making an absolute
overbearing pest of himself, then he’ll
suddenly weary of their company and have
them beaten up or worse. Right now,
outlaw biker Bruno “Pookie” Mordella is in
the process of becoming his new best pal.
A chronic and compulsive gambler,
Little Junior makes stupid bets, plays cards
badly and then tries to cover his losses by
killing the guys he owes money to. He’s
also really jealous, and he’ll get fixated on
other peoples’ success and try to do them
harm.
Right now one of the Scarpia
Family’s associates, “Dandy Joe” Slorkin, is
the object of his jealous hatred. Little Junior
doesn’t think it’s fair that somebody who
isn’t even Sicilian should have risen so far so
fast, while he, who should have everything
by right, gets sidelined by his pop. He’s
positively obsessed with Dandy Joe and
looking hard for a way to hurt him.
Wile he is technically a “Made Guy”
it’s only because he’s the boss’ son and

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 may have less guys, they can call more of
them up quickly and direct them at a single
target.
While their habit of wearing sports-
team clothes as a means of gang
This federation of African-American gangs identification used to throw off the cops and
doesn’t really have a name. The gangs school authorities, they’ve long since
themselves are all named after sports cracked the code, so these days they don’t
teams, and wear the teams’ hats and wear their colors as openly. The only
insignia as their gang colors. Eentsy Z certain way to identify a member’s gang and
himself is a Devil Ray. set is by their tattoos. While the coalition
The way in which you wear your doesn’t really have an official name or a
colors also provides coded information about specific tag, some members have taken to
you. If for example your cap-brim is turned writing a stylized “Z” or the number 26 in
to the left, it means that they are here strategic spots to warn the Mara away from
unofficially, on their own business. If the their turf. Some of them (especially Eentsy
cap is turned to the right, it means they are Z’s own Devil Rays) have taken to calling
here on official gang business. the coalition “the Last of the Last” because
Most street gangs in Wolverton are Z is the last letter of the alphabet.
really coalitions. It’s a feudal arrangement. They hate the letter “M” and will
Each gang will be comprised of a number of always replace it with either a 3 (an M
different “sets” of small groups of friends, turned on its side) or a “W” (an M turned
that all owe fealty (in theory) to a single upside down.) While they have no official
Warlord or President. So for example, hand-sign, some members have taken to
Eentsy Z’s old gang, the Devil-Rays, is made signaling by drawing a “Z” in the air with
up of smaller groups like the Stone Killah one finger.
Devil Rays, the Notorious Mortlake Devil
Rays, Lucifer’s Own Devil Rays, the Eentsy Z
Larchmont Avenue Devil Rays and others.
A gang member’s first loyalty is
often to their set, not their President. The
individual sets aren’t necessarily all located
in one area—often they’re spread around
and interpenetrate other gangs’ territories.
The sets in a gang don’t always get along
with one another, either. And sometimes a
whole set will switch its affiliation to another
gang (in fact that’s how the infamous
nation-wide gang called the Bloods got
founded, when some renegade sets of the
Crips in Compton broke away and made
common cause with their enemies.)
Eentsy Z’s group is therefore really
a coalition of coalitions. They’re big. He
can call on more than thirty sets and has
well over three-hundred troops. Most of the
individual sets are loyal to the common
cause (the Mara are pretty scary) but it’s
hard for Eentsy Z to bring force rapidly to PL: 6
bear on a target when he has to talk to all Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 17 (+3) Con: 14 (+2)
the individual presidents and have them Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
each call up their individual sets. The Mara Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 5
are way better organized, and while they Defense: 7 Toughness Save: 6 (2 if

228
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 flamethrower. In fact he more sort of loves
Reflexes Save: 7 Willpower Save: 3 (6 how afraid everyone gets when they see
vs. magical attacks) him do it. People will do all kinds of stuff to
Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+9), Bluff 6 (+9), avoid having him use the flamethrower on
Climb 4 (+4), Diplomacy 1 (+4), Escape them. And it’s very important to have a way
Artist 4 (+7), Gather Information 2 (+3), to make people fear him more than the
Intimidate 6 (+9), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 Mara.
(+7), Notice 4 (+7), Profession (street thug)
4 (+6), Stealth 6 (+9) Eentsy-Z’s Soldiers
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, PL: 2
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 4, Elusive Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Target, Evasion 2, Improved Block, Fearless, Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 10 (+0)
Grappling Finesse, Instant Up, Leadership, Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2
Power Attack, Sneak Attack, Startle, Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2
Takedown Attack, Taunt, Weapon Break Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 0
Equipment: Sword (Melee Weapon; 4 Willpower Save: 0
Damage if cold, 6 Damage if hot), Skills: Gather Information 2 (+2),
Flamethrower (Ranged Weapon; 6 Damage) Intimidate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4
Background: By the time he was in fifth (+4), Notice 2 (+3), Profession (street thug)
grade, Eentsy Z had killed more people that 4 (+4), Stealth 3 (+4)
either of his older brothers. By now he has Feats: All-Out Attack, Sneak Attack, Startle
personally executed at least twelve and Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
possibly a lot more. He likes to kill people Damage), Beeper
for trivial reasons (stepping on his perfect
white tennis shoes, cutting him off in traffic,
interrupting him while talking on the phone)
but only because it makes him look crazy There are still at least three independent
and dangerous. He’s not the kill-crazed street gangs who have for one reason or
homicidal psychopath he pretends to be. In another refused to join Eentsy Z’s coalition.
fact he’s totally in control of himself. They are the “A”s, the “O”s, and the
Human life doesn’t mean a thing to him, one secretive Ravens. Like all of Wolverton’s
way or another, so he doesn’t really take gangs, they are named after sports teams
any pleasure in killing people. He only does and they wear the caps and sometimes the
it if he thinks he can gain some advantage jerseys of those teams to identify
by it. Of course “looking scary and tough” is themselves.
an advantage, so no one around him is ever In order for the GM to have a gang
exactly safe. of his or her own to detail, we aren’t going
He has somehow managed to to provide any information about the Os,
construct an improvised, short-range apart from the fact that they are less
flamethrower out of a blowtorch, and numerous than the Ravens or the As. We’re
constantly wears it on his back. He also also going to leave the size of the three
carries a faux-Japanese sword that he gangs a little less than totally precise, so
boosted from a martial arts shop when he that the GM can have them able to provide
was six. He lugs the sword around partly however much cannon fodder seems
for sentimental reasons—it’s the first thing drastically appropriate for a scene.
he ever saw in a shop window and wanted
badly enough to steal. But he also carries it
because people are scared to death of the
weapon. Sometimes he heats it up with his
flamethrower and does terrible things to
people with the glowing hot blade.
It would be a mistake to say that he The third largest criminal group in
loves setting guys on fire with his Wolverton, bigger than any single gang in

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Eentsy Z’s coalition. They hate the Mara, calls it his “mobile command center” and he
who impinge directly on their territory up by seldom gets out of it, conducting all his
Ellmore Avenue and they are aggressive in business while in motion.
keeping them out of their turf. Their leader, Someone has been trying to kill
Chunk-Style, is charismatic, resourceful and Chunk-Style over the past few months. He’s
a solid tactician. They seem like ideal allies been shot at six times in public places,
for the coalition. But Eentsy Z killed Chunk- always from a distance. No shooter has
Style’s younger brother in a playground ever been caught. Is the Mara trying to do
dispute over a game of freeze-tag, and away with him? Is it Eentsy Z? Is it
Chunk-Style has sworn revenge. This was someone else?
Eentsy Z’s first kill and Chunk-Style has
waited nine years for the boy to get old Chunk-Style
enough to pay for his crime. He’s not about PL: 4
to give up his vengeance now. Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
While the As are more than willing Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
to fight the Mara, they’re badly Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4
outnumbered and suffer from a shortage of Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 4 (2 if
firearms. Eentsy Z has been using his caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4
influence with the Rock to choke off the A’s Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 4
supply of guns, in hopes of forcing them to Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Diplomacy 4 (+6),
join him. Gather Information 5 (+7), Intimidate 4
The As have about six loyal “sets” (+6), Knowledge (Business) 1 (+2),
(the Ellmore A’s, the Insane Killah A’s, the Knowledge (Streetwise) 7 (+8), Notice 6
Larchmont A’s, the Skull Mafia A’s, the Trey (+8), Perform (Dance) 4 (+6), Profession
Bleeker A’s, and the South Ellmore A’s) who (street thug) 4 (+4), Search 4 (+6), Stealth
Chunk-Style can always count on, and 3 (+3)
another two who are less reliable (the Feats: Connected, Defensive Roll 2, Distract
“Original A’s” and the Playa’ Dog A’s.) This (Linked to Perform), Elusive Target, Evasion,
gives him maybe a hundred troops, plus a Instant Up, Leadership
lot of hangers-on who like the A’s parties Equipment: Mac 10 Machine Pistol
but wouldn’t take a bullet for them. (Ranged Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra:
Because they hate Eentsy Z’s group, Autofire), Huge Car, Cell Phone
the A’s never use the letter Z, and will try to Background: Everyone is shocked at what
replace any word that contains a “Z” with a great dancer Chunk-Style is. He’s
one that rhymes with it. Their usual symbol incredibly light on his feet for such a
is an “A” or the number 1. Their hand- massive guy, and an elusive target in
signal is either the index finger touching the combat. He’s also extremely cautious, and
pinky (this looks a little like an “A”) or one very good at sensing danger. This trait
index finger upraised. This last gesture continues to keep him alive.
makes Eentsy Z call them “nosepickers”, and Chunk-Style never looks scared. He
the insult hurts, so they don’t use it as much scowls a lot and does a good job of looking
anymore. like a threat (his massive bulk helps) but he
Because Eentsy Z’s coalition is keeps his many anxieties on the inside.
starting to be known as the “Last of the He still weeps for his little brother,
Last”, the A’s sometimes refer to themselves and even though some part of him knows
as the “First of the First.” it’s foolish, he’ll do anything, make any
The A’s have three primary safe sacrifice, to bring down Eentsy Z. His troops
houses, all of them single-family bungalows haven’t figured this out yet, which is a good
that look no different from the homes thing for him. If they do, they’re sure to
around them. Chunk-Style lives out of the start wondering if they’re really willing to be
back of his SUV—an older model Cadillac sacrificed for his personal crusade.
Escalade with badly scratched-up doors. He

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 moon over it. 23 is of course the number of
the letter “R.” It also has some interesting
meanings in the Cabala.
The Ravens (or the Darkwater Ravens”)
were formed as a kind of mutual defense
society for kids who felt pressured to join
other gangs (especially the A’s, who had a
number of sets on Darkwater Street.) A
gang for kids who didn’t want to join any
gangs, they had no leaders at first. They
accepted boys and girls alike and banded
together to repel outsiders, but were For decades, the serious rackets in
uninterested in grabbing turf or selling dope. Wolverton have been divided up between
Then Lawanda Corby showed up. Rock Johnson and Lincoln Stone. The street
She was Melvin Hampton’s girlfriend. No gangs used to be recruiting pools for them,
one knew precisely what school she went to the same way the gangs of Stark Hill feed
or who her parents were, but she was the Mafia’s hunger for new talent.
beautiful and fascinating. She seldom spoke They also used to rely heavily on them for
and sometimes said strange things that manpower and muscle. They supplied the
made no sense, or that made people run gangs with drugs and guns and (most
screaming for no obvious reason. important of all) the promise of upward
Someone murdered Melvin last year mobility, and in exchange the kids did favors
and Lawanda grew deeply morose. Most of for them. These favors included acts of
the remaining gang members were violence, and it was cheaper to let the kids
completely obsessed with her by then, and kill their enemies for nothing than it was to
her single-minded pursuit of Melvin’s killers hire full-time thugs. Perhaps they came to
has only made them more fanatically rely on the gangs just a little too much.
dedicated to her now. Now that Eentsy Z has united so
These days the Ravens are a sort of many of Wolverton’s gangs under one
personality cult surrounding Lawanda Corby. banner, he has gained a lot more bargaining
They are both more and less organized than power, although he doesn’t seem to realize
the other gangs. All one giant set, they all it yet. And to the amazement of
act in concert, but they don’t have any Wolverton’s aging criminal overlords, he has
official rules or any grand plan of action, so many troops that they might not actually
apart from avenging Melvin and worshipping be able to take him, if they had to.
Lawanda. Relatively small, they don’t have Both Rock Johnson and Lincoln Stone have
a lot of weapons, but they do have fanatical crews of their own, made up of battle-
devotion to their cause and to one another. scarred older guys with names like Red
These kids would strap on suicide bombs for Deuce and Minnesota Jones, but they don’t
Lawanda if she asked them. She may ask have a huge amount of manpower. They
soon. take a cut of the profits from pimps and
Eentsy Z didn’t pressure the Ravens fences and in that sense their circle of
very hard to get them to join up. They’ve influence is pretty wide. However, it’s all
always stuck to themselves–that’s what de-centralized, and their inner cadre of
they’re all about. And anyway he doesn’t enforcers isn’t very large. Each of them has
trust Lawanda. maybe sixty guys at most—though all of
The Ravens use the team colors, them are tough old veterans.
purple and black. Their hand-signal looks Neither the Rock nor the Stone
like fingers walking, pointed down (sort of knows quite what to do about this situation,
like a capitol “R”) but they seldom use it, so for now they do nothing and hope Eentsy
since most members know one another by Z takes a while to figure out his own
sight. Their tags include a raven or a strength. Or that the Mara keep him busy.
stylized “23”, and a five pointed star with a

231
 Below we have stat blocks and though it would scrape and gash you if you
background material for Rock Johnson, brushed up against him, like the skin of a
Lincoln Stone and some of the most shark. This too is an apt comparison.
prominent members of their respective A grinning, easygoing, jovial giant of
crews. a man—everyone is always totally shocked
when he kills them. Friendly, congenial and
Rock Johnson polite without fail, he always, always smiles.
He’ll smile when he kills you, he’ll smile if
you defeat him, and he’ll ask if you’d like
another slice of cornbread. As he likes to
say, he’s everybody’s friend, but friendship
only runs so deep.
A cheerful liar, he never keeps his
word and he betrays his allies the moment
it’s to his advantage. He holds no grudges
and he keeps no promises. Everything is all
just business to him. Beat him with style
and he’ll actually be amused, rather than
vengeful.
No one really knows where the Rock
lives. If he wants to talk to you, he’ll have
you sent for, but he’ll always meet you at
one of his businesses. A nightclub or a pool
hall or a chop shop or a warehouse full of
stolen goods. They say he lives over one of
the illegal nightclubs that he runs, but these
places change location so frequently that
PL: 6 this doesn’t really narrow it down too much.
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3) Lincoln Stone
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 6
Defense: 6 (2 without body armor)
Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6
Skills: Bluff 7 (+10), Diplomacy 5 (+8),
Gather Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 4
(+7), Knowledge (Business) 3 (+5),
Knowledge (Streetwise) 8 (+10), Notice 6
(+8), Profession (criminal overlord) 7 (+9),
Sense Motive 6 (+9), Stealth 3 (+5)
Feats: Assessment, Connected, Contacts,
Distract (Linked to Bluff), Power Attack, Skill
Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather
Information, Sense Motive), Startle,
Takedown Attack, Wealth
Equipment: Concealed Body Armor (6
Protection), Cane (Melee Weapon; 4
Damage), Pistol (Ranged Weapon; 4
Damage)
Background: They call him the Rock, and PL: 6
he does in fact resemble a rock, all hairless
Str: 17 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
and pitted and huge. His skin looks as
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)

232
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 6 knows where to find the Stone, he says, but
Defense: 6 (2 if caught Flatfooted) nobody wants to. Not his four ex-wives, not
Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught his seven kids and none of his sixteen
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 grandchildren. Only Jackie Jones (see Page
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6 167) seems to be able to tolerate his
Skills: Craft (Mechanical) 3 (+5), Gather company. If you meet him, you’ll see why.
Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 7 (+10),
Knowledge (Streetwise) 9 (+11), Notice 6 Johnny DeWinters
(+8), Profession (criminal overlord) 4 (+6), PL: 7
Sense Motive 6 (+9), Stealth 5 (+7) Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 18 (+4)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Assessment, Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Defensive Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 7 Melee, 4
Roll 4, Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Ranged
Dodge Focus 4, Improved Disarm, Improved Defense: 7 (2 if caught Flatfooted)
Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Toughness Save: 7 (4 if caught
Improved Trip, Power Attack, Startle, Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 7
Takedown Attack Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 5
Equipment: Homemade Knife (Melee Skills: Intimidate 9 (+10), Knowledge
Weapon, 4 Damage) (Streetwise) 7 (+7), Notice 3 (+3),
Background: They call him the Stone and Profession (gangster) 5 (+5), Sense Motive
he does in fact resemble a stone, all gray 6 (+6)
and cold and hard. He is old now, but he Feats: Assessment, Attack Focus 3 (Melee),
hasn’t exactly mellowed with the years. Chokehold, Connected, Contacts, Defensive
With his huge muscles, long white Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Distract (Linked to
beard and glaring eyes, he looks like an Old Intimidate), Dodge Focus 5, Improved
Testament prophet, or perhaps like a Disarm, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
wrathful God. He has scowled so long and Improved Pin, Improved Trip, Instant Up,
so hard at the world that his brows are Move-By Action, Power Attack, Startle,
crinkled in a permanent frown. He probably Takedown Attack, Weapon Bind, Weapon
couldn’t stop scowling if he wanted to, but Break
he never wants to. Background: Former heavyweight boxing
Despite all the terrible things that he champion turned mob enforcer, he prefers
has done, he was condemned to live out his to be called “the baddest mother#@%&er in
life behind bars for a crime he swears he did the universe.” In a universe without
not commit—his brother’s murder. And to superheroes, that might actually be true.
be truthful, family is very important to him. He’s Lincoln Stone’s most visible presence in
It’s perhaps the one thing he believes in. the neighborhood, regulating rackets and
The Stone is loyal, in a way that the collecting on debts. They send DeWinters
Rock is not. If he gives his word, he will when they need to scare the crap out of
keep it no matter what the cost to himself or someone and he does this without having to
anyone else. This is not always a good try very hard.
thing. When he gives his word, he’s usually His reputation alone is enough to do
swearing revenge on someone. His grudges that. He killed three men in the ring, and
run long and deep. If you were his brother the third one he bit to death when it
or his friend he’d defend you to the death, became clear that he would lose the fight.
but his brother is dead and the Stone is He did some time for that last one and in
nobody’s friend. the joint he hooked up with Lincoln Stone.
Despite having been incarcerated in Now that he’s back outside DeWinters can’t
Bald Knob Penitentiary for years, he has no get a job in the world of boxing, but finds to
difficulty running his organization from his surprise that he prefers being a thug
behind bars and he still knows everything even more. It’s way more fun to hit people
that happens in Wolverton. Not that people who can’t fight back.
come visit him very much. Everybody

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 He’s a gigantic bald guy, as big as a Background: One of Rock Johnson’s chief
football player, with a shaved head, a lieutenants, everyone calls him “Six Degrees
goatee, sunglasses and a gold hoop earring. Kelvin” because he seems to know every
He wears a thousand dollar handmade last person in Wolverton—and because he’s
leather coat with the emblem of the Chicago so cold. “DeWinters is cold” they say, “but
Bulls on the back. He speaks with a lisp, not like Six Degrees Kelvin.” He’s the guy
and sometimes stutters. Beware him when Rock Johnson sends to deal directly with the
he starts stuttering. It means he’s losing his gangs, so a certain cool is required of him.
temper. They’re all a little in awe of his quiet
DeWinters is totally cold-blooded, menace.
capable of any crime, but he’s also He’s a tall, dark-skinned man, built
impulsive, prone to take offense over tiny like a basketball player, with close cropped
things and to fits of open-handed hair and a faint, distant smile. He dresses
generosity. If he sees a group of kids sitting elegantly, with a long black overcoat and
on the curb in front of an arcade, he might Armani suits. For some reason he wears
scream at them to get the hell out of his spats. Every time you see him he seems to
way, or he might dig a bunch of quarters be wearing a different pair of designer
from his pocket and tell them to go play sunglasses. Underneath, his eyes are a
video games. If an old lady tells him that startling blue. No one knows where he
the landlord is going to throw her out on the lives—like the Rock himself, he comes and
street, he might go beat the landlord up, or goes.
he might give her the rent money on the Immune to fear, compassion or
spot, or he might throw her out on the guilt, he has a wicked, low-key sense of
street himself, through the nearest window. humor and always seems faintly amused.
His voice is deep, but quiet and he picks his
Kelvin Jones words carefully. Some people say Kelvin
PL: 6 lives by his own personal code of honor.
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2) That’s not true, not even remotely, but he is
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3) extremely reasonable, and he never takes
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 6 insults personally—a dead man can say
Defense: 6 (3 if caught Flatfooted) whatever he pleases.
Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught It is said that Kelvin Jones has some
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 kind of serious beef with Detective Johnny
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6 Valentine (see Page 80) but if that’s true he
Skills: Bluff 6 (+9), Diplomacy 6 (+9), gives no visible sign of it. A patient man, he
Escape Artist 5 (+8), Gather Information 7 is always prepared to wait for revenge.
(+10), Intimidate 6 (+9), Knowledge They also say that he’s Jackie Jones’ ex-
(Streetwise) 7 (+10), Knowledge (Theology husband and the father of at least one of
and Philosophy) 3 (+6), Notice 7 (+10), her daughters. She denies this and says the
Profession (criminal) 5 (+8), Sense Motive 7 name is a coincidence. A lot of folks are
(+10), Sleight of Hand 5 (+8), Stealth 5 named Jones, she says. When asked about
(+8) it, Kelvin just smiles.
Feats: Assessment, Connected, Contacts,
Defensive Roll 4, Dodge Focus 3, Distract Elwood “Big Daddy” Grimes
(Linked to Bluff), Elusive Target, Evasion 2, PL: 4
Fascinate (Linked to Bluff), Fearless, Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Improved Aim, Improved Critical (with Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3)
Pistol), Sneak Attack, Startle, Takedown Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4
Attack Defense: 4 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
Equipment: Silenced Pistol (Ranged Toughness Save: 4 (2 if caught
Weapon, 3 Damage), Straight Razor (Melee Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4
Weapon, 3 Damage) Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 4
Skills: Bluff 6 (+9), Diplomacy 6 (+9),

234
Gather Information 5 (+8), Intimidate 4 strongest ally is a brilliant young hooligan he
(+7), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+7), Notice recruited in prison, named Justice Jackson.
5 (+7), Perform (Oratory) 6 (+9), Profession Justice is his acolyte, his prodigy, the son he
(criminal) 4 (+5), Sense Motive 4 (+5), never had (well, actually he has four sons,
Stealth 3 (+4) but they hate him and never come to visit.)
Feats: Assessment, Connected, Contacts, Justice is incredibly loyal to Big
Defensive Roll 2, Dodge Focus 3, Distract Daddy, but it doesn’t go both ways. He’d
(Linked to Perform), Fascinate (Linked to cheerfully sacrifice his prodigy if it gained
Perform), Sneak Attack, Startle him a moment’s advantage, but for now the
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 boy is far too useful.
Damage), Knife (Melee Weapon, 3 Damage)
Background: Big Daddy has the voice of a Justice Jackson, aka Justice Grimes,
preacher, the eyes of a martyr and the soul aka Big Daddy Junior
of a hungry python. Stringy, ropy and long,
everything he says sounds like a scriptural
quotation, as spoken by an eloquent
barracuda. He speaks long and passionately
about the need to keep kids off the street,
to give them a chance to aspire, to pick the
path of the righteous. Then he beckons
them into the Wolverton Community Center,
where he sells them drugs and stolen guns
and sometimes executes them. Under his
stern moral guidance, the Community
Center has flourished, offering midnight
basketball, self-improvement courses and
heroin to those who attend. And sometimes
death, but only if they owe Big Daddy
money.
“Aspire,” says the sign over the
door. He’s fond of pointing to it, for it’s his
favorite word. And he does indeed have
aspirations. He will explain to anyone who
listens that he knows the temptations of the
street. He dealt drugs and did unrighteous
things once. He still does, of course, but he
usually leaves that part out.
His aspirations have carried him a
long way, from low-level street dealer to
PL: 4
one of Rock Johnson’s most important
henchmen, entrusted with the Community Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 12 (+1)
Center itself. Lincoln Stone’s men often Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
stop by to chat, or to pick up shipments of Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 3
drugs, as does Eentsy Z. “Six Degrees” Defense: 5 (3 if caught Flatfooted)
Kelvin appears from time to time. Cops Toughness Save: 4 (2 if caught
from the local precinct also come by to give Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4
talks and to get to know the kids and Big Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 4
Daddy is strengthening his ties to them as Skills: Bluff 4 (+7), Diplomacy 6 (+8),
well. Gather Information 2 (+4), Intimidate 4
An interesting kind of hypocrite, he (+6), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy)
won’t stop his patter about striving, aspiring 1 (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+5),
and uplifting himself even while he’s selling Notice 6 (+8), Perform (Oratory) 5 (+7),
drugs or having somebody killed. His Profession (criminal) 4 (+6), Sense Motive 4

235
(+5), Stealth 3 (+6) run the Wolverton Community Center as
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Defensive Roll their own personal fiefdom under the distant
2, Dodge Focus 3, Distract (Linked to but watchful eye of Lincoln Stone.
Perform), Instant Up, Interpose, Move-By Handsome, dark-skinned and small
Action, Quick-Draw for his age, Justice isn’t bulky but he’s wiry
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 3 and as quick as a snake. He often speaks in
Damage) rhyme.
Background: A lot of kids dream of getting Justice’s experiences have made
out of Wolverton by becoming athletes or him bitter, angry, and increased his sense of
criminals. Justice Jackson actually tried narcissism. He’s an eloquent speaker, but
poetry instead. This worked even less well don’t let it fool you. He’s boiling with rage
than you’d expect. behind his smile. The fact that he can’t
A talented fifteen-year-old writer, seem to write poetry anymore just makes it
the darling of every English teacher he ever worse.
had, Justice dreamed of becoming the next Justice has never committed an act
Langston Hughes. Although he was big and of violence against a woman or a child, but
strong enough to be an athlete, he avoided that’s mostly because Big Daddy has never
team sports as carefully as he avoided the asked him to. He’d do anything at all for his
gangs, focusing all his efforts on writing. surrogate father and he’d rationalize it
The results were promising, if overwrought. afterwards, but he’d find harming an
The kind of stuff a talented adolescent innocent to be pretty distasteful. He would
would be expected to write. His poems never take a hostage to save his own life or
were largely polemics about how tough freedom, but he might do it to save Big
things were in Wolverton—gangster rap with Daddy.
a more complicated rhyme scheme.
He submitted a bunch of them in Coffin and Toombs
person to his school’s literary magazine. As PL: 7 (both share the same stat block)
he handed them to the editor, he Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2)
impulsively said “you better be careful, Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0)
there’s a bomb in there.” Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 9 with ranged
He meant that his poetry was weapons, 6 with Melee Weapons
explosive, but the cops didn’t care. And he Defense: 6 Toughness Save: 2
was unlucky enough to draw Judge Barry Fortitude Save: 7 Reflexes Save: 7
Krummel, aka “Barry the Hammer” (you can Willpower Save: 7
find out more about him on Page 97.) Tried Skills: Craft (Chemical) 5 (+7), Craft
as an adult for making a bomb threat, he (Electronics) 5 (+7), Craft (Mechanical) 5
was not allowed to tell the jury that he had (+7), Craft (Structural) 5 (+7), Disable
meant the word “bomb” purely as a Device 3 (+6), Disguise 5 (+5), Escape
metaphor. Judge Krummel held that the Artist 4 (+7), Gather Information 6 (+6),
only thing at issue was whether or not Intimidate 3 (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 6
Justice had uttered the offending words. (+8), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy)
Sent to Bald Knob Penitentiary, Justice 3 (+5) [Note: only Toombs has this skill],
endured a lot of horror and misery over the Notice 8 (+11), Profession (criminal) 5 (+7),
next two years. He joined Lincoln Stone’s Search 6 (+9), Sense Motive 7 (+10),
prison gang purely for survival and soon Stealth 9 (+12)
learned how to defend himself. Feats: Assessment, Connected, Contacts,
His prison mentor was Elwood “Big Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Improved Aim,
Daddy” Grimes, and the two of them were Improved Critical (with Pistol), Quick-Draw,
released at around the same date. Justice’s Skill Mastery (Stealth), Sneak Attack, Startle,
father wanted nothing more to do with him, Takedown Attack
so Elwood became his dad. He’s totally Equipment: Silenced Pistol (Ranged
dedicated to the man and often gives his Weapon, 4 Damage)
last name as “Grimes.” The two of them

236
Background: Leroy Coffin and Wallace poster of Martin Luther King on his wall.
“Silky” Toombs are getting old, but they’re Coffin, on the other hand, takes no interest
still Wolverton’s premier hit men. They in anything but shooting pool, playing with
normally work as a pair, but they take on his grandkids and killing people.
independent work as well. Both will Both men love pool and are
freelance out to either the Rock or the diabolically good at it. That’s usually where
Stone, but they won’t kill members of either you’ll find them if you need them for a job.
one’s inner circle without explicit permission Shooting pool and talking quietly in some
from both of them. It could cause hard smoky little basement dive. Their aim never
feelings if they knocked over a man’s fails.
drinking buddies without asking him first.
Everybody in the neighborhood has
heard of these guys, but no one seems to
know what they look like. That’s by design,
as Toombs would say. They are both
careful, cautious men who know that in their
profession staying a shadow is an important
part of staying alive. They strike from
behind, in the dark, when you aren’t
expecting it. Usually even the target never
sees them. And unless they’ve been asked
to send a message, they either disappear
the mark or they make it look like a robbery.
They take particular pride in their ability to
stage accidents, but neither the Rock nor
the Stone likes their enemies to die in fake
accidents. They want their fellow denizens
of the underworld to know it’s a murder and
heed the warning. While this is
disappointing, both Coffin and Toombs take
it all in stride, as they do most of life’s
disappointments.
They aren’t related, but they look Everyone fears the Mara. But while they
almost identical, and they have the same work really hard to keep up their sinister
stats. Skinny older guys with shaved heads, reputation, a lot of it is just for show. They
black leather jackets and fedoras, an don’t always, for example, cut the heads off
indefinable air of menace surrounds them their enemies’ children, but they have done
both. Their faces look quiet, watchful, it enough times to make everyone think
guarded and blank. People tend to fall they might.
silent when either one of them walks into a Like the gangs of Wolverton, the
room, without being sure why. Mara are organized into “sets” or smaller
Their personalities and backgrounds gangs. Unlike the sets that comprise
are actually rather different. Leroy Coffin is Wolverton’s gangs, these are not semi-
from Chicago, where he has a wife, six kids autonomous groups. Every last member
and ten grandchildren. He lives a double owes personal loyalty directly to the Jigsaw
life, and tells his family that he works as a Man and the Mara as a whole, not to their
tramp electrician when he isn’t around. individual set. When the Mara need to
Silky is from the deep woods of attack a target, every team’s leader gets a
Georgia. A lifelong bachelor, he lives alone page on their beeper and they immediately
with his books. Coffin likes to poke fun at mobilize as one force. Most gang leaders
his “ignorant countrified ways” but in fact only dream of being able to do that.
Toombs is the deep thinker of the two. He The Latin Aces have been absorbed
reads Plato and Thomas Paine and has a by the Mara and they have been allowed to

237
keep their gang colors, but they are being Xango) or a bloody-mouthed angel they call
allowed to live on probation, and they obey “Madre de Sangre”, who seems to be their
the Jigsaw Man as completely as any of the version of the Virgin Mary.
other sets. Yet the individual sets inside the Whether or not the Jigsaw Man has
Aces do still get into fights with one another actual superhuman powers depends on how
over old grudges and drug turf. That’s a big big a threat you would like to make him,
part of what makes Lucius Hardwick and on how prominent you want the war
Memorial Park so dangerous. between the gangs of Wolverton and
Associate members of the gang are Hardwick Park to be. With this in mind,
knows as Xangadors, team leaders are we’ve given you two different versions of
called Brujo Boys or Witch-Boys. Their the Jigsaw Man—one with powers and one
leader’s official title is the Bababruja, or the without.
Rey des Brujas, but everyone just calls him For a “big finish” ending, the Jigsaw
“the Jigsaw Man” or “Him.” No one knows Man might wind up calling down the power
his name. There are no photographs of of Xango, transforming himself into a living
him. They say his face does not come out god just in time for the Player Characters to
in pictures. kick down his door and fight him. We’ve
Unlike Voodoo, Macumba or given you stats for the living incarnation of
Candomble, the version of Santeria that the Xango, just in case. Please remember that
Mara practice is more influenced by Central Xango is too strong for a human body to
American Indian beliefs than by African contain for very long, and anyone who
tribal religions, although they have gathered undergoes the transformation is on a suicide
in bits and pieces from all kinds of different run. To give the Jigsaw Man henchmen
occult traditions. They sacrifice blood and who measure up, assume that the vast
booze and pain to the Santos (sometimes majority of his troops are just gang kids, but
they call them Orishas or Nomnos) and hold give him an inner circle of Witch-Boys who
rituals at certain phases of the moon. are more formidable. We’ve included two
Chief among their Santos is Xango, versions of his core group, with two sets of
lord of fire and steel. He is the Santo de stats. One has magic powers, one does not.
Guerro who offers victory in war and Even if the Mara have access to real
protection from bullets. magic, it’s probably better for dramatic
The Mara’s gang symbols are also purposes if their powers are limited to
the symbols of their religion. A black casting elaborate rituals, or to techniques
rooster, a crucified dog, the cross with the that don’t have visible effects. So, for
letter “M” superimposed, the number seven. example, they might have a ritual that
Their most common symbol is three sticks grants them some points of Protection from
bound together in a shape like an asterisk. bullets, but it wouldn’t make them glow or
No one outside the group knows what this make bullets visibly change course to avoid
means. Their members frequently have the them. Instead of having the ability to shoot
images of saints tattooed across their lightning bolts or breathe flame, they should
bodies, along with the number seven and/or whisper prayers over their guns that make
crucified dogs. Sometimes they call their them do more damage. The Jigsaw Man
inner cadre the “Sangre Seven.” himself might have the ability to make his
Their hand-sign is made with seven enemies fall down and die just by looking at
fingers. Hold up five fingers on one hand them, but even this is pushing it a little.
and two fingers on the other, then cross one
hand over the other, with the two fingers in
front. They also sometimes use the Seven
of Spades as a symbol, or the letter X (for

238
Generic Chollo Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll 2,
Dodge Focus 4, Power Attack, Sneak Attack,
Startle
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
Damage) or Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
Damage), Cell Phone
Background: To become a member of the
Jigsaw Man’s inner circle, you have to prove
yourself many times in combat. Each of the
Brujo Boys is a veteran of countless fights.
They claim to be fanatically loyal to the
Jigsaw Man, but it would be more accurate
to describe them as being really scared of
him.

Brujo Boy (With Magic Powers)

PL: 5
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5
PL: 2 Defense: 5 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) Toughness Save: 5 Fortitude Save: 5
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0) Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2 (5
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2 vs. mental attacks)
Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2 Skills: Craft (Chemical) 6 (+6), Drive 2
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 0 (+3), Gather Information 4 (+6), Intimidate
Willpower Save: 0 5 (+7), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 3 (+3),
Skills: Drive 2 (+3), Gather Information 2 Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+6), Languages
(+2), Intimidate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Arcane 2 (English, Spanish), Notice 3 (+5),
Lore) 1 (+1), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 Profession (street thug) 6 (+6), Stealth 6
(+4), Languages 2 (English, Spanish), (+7)
Notice 2 (+2), Profession (street thug) 4 Feats: All-Out Attack, Artificier, Dodge
(+4), Stealth 4 (+5) Focus 4, Power Attack, Ritualist, Sneak
Feats: All-Out Attack, Sneak Attack, Startle Attack, Startle
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3 Powers: Magic 5 (Effect: Nullify [Magic
Damage) or Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4 Powers] 6; Power Feats: Alternate Powers
Damage), Cell Phone [Boost, ESP, Immunity to Projectile
Weapons]), Mind Shield 3, Protection 3
Brujo Boy (Low-Powered Version) Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
PL: 4 Damage) or Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) Damage), Cell Phone
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) Complications: Will never use his Ritualist
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 or Artificier feat for improvised on-the-spot
Defense: 4 (1 if caught Flatfooted) effects. Only uses them in lengthy rituals.
Toughness Save: 4 (2 if Caught Background: Despite being more powerful,
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 these Brujo Boys are even more afraid of
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2 the Jigsaw Man than his mundane
Skills: Drive 2 (+3), Gather Information 4 henchmen, since they have a better
(+6), Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge (Arcane understanding of what he can do to them.
Lore) 3 (+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 They normally use their “Artificer” feat to
(+6), Languages 2 (English, Spanish), make magical potions and powders, which is
Notice 3 (+5), Profession (street thug) 6 why they have the skill “Craft (Chemical.)”
(+6), Stealth 6 (+7)

239
The Jigsaw Man (Without The Jigsaw Man (With Powers)
Superpowers) PL: 8
Str: 15 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3)
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 17 (+3)
Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 8
Defense: 8 Toughness Save: 8 (3 if
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 10
Skills: Bluff 3 (+6), Craft (Chemical) 6
(+8), Gather Information 8 (+11),
Intimidate 10 (+13), Knowledge (Arcane
Lore) 9 (+11), Knowledge (Life Sciences) 3
(+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 10 (+12),
Languages 3 (Garifuna, English, Spanish),
Medicine 1 (+5), Notice 8 (+12), Perform
(Dance) 6 (+9), Profession (street thug) 5
(+7), Search 3 (+7), Stealth 6 (+9),
Survival 6 (+10)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Artificier, Connected,
Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 5,
Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Dodge Focus
5, Evasion 2, Fascinate (Linked to
PL: 7 Intimidate), Improved Initiative, Ritualist,
Sneak Attack, Startle, Track
Str: 15 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 16 (+3)
Powers: Magic 8 (Effect: Nullify [Magic
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 17 (+3)
Powers] 8; Power Feats: Alternate Powers
Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 7
[Boost, ESP, Immunity to Projectile
Defense: 7 (3 if caught Flatfooted)
Weapons]), Super-Senses 6 (Danger Sense,
Toughness Save: 7 (3 if caught
Low-Light Vision, Precognition)
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 Reflexes
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
Save: 7 Willpower Save: 9
Damage), Uzi (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage;
Skills: Bluff 3 (+6), Craft (Chemical) 6
Extra: Autofire), Cell Phone
(+8), Gather Information 8 (+11),
Background: The GM has some choices to
Intimidate 10 (+13), Knowledge (Arcane
make with the Jigsaw Man. He is either a
Lore) 5 (+7), Knowledge (Life Sciences) 3
charlatan with no real magic powers, or an
(+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 10 (+12),
actual sorcerer. We’ve provided you with
Languages 3 (Garifuna, English, Spanish),
two sets of stats for him, so you can have it
Medicine 1 (+5), Notice 8 (+12), Perform
either way.
(Dance) 6 (+9), Profession (street thug) 5
Whichever he is, the Jigsaw Man’s
(+7), Search 3 (+7), Stealth 6 (+9),
background remains much the same. And
Survival 6 (+10)
even if he doesn’t have magical powers, he’s
Feats: All-Out Attack, Connected, Contacts,
plenty scary enough.
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 4, Distract
Born, like the Mara, in the steaming
(Linked to Intimidate), Dodge Focus 4,
jungles of Honduras, he’s a member of a
Evasion 2, Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate),
little-known ethnicity called the Garifuna.
Improved Initiative, Improved Pin, Improved
They’re partly the descendants of African
Trip, Power Attack, Sneak Attack, Startle,
slaves from the Caribbean and partly
Track, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon Bind,
descended from the last vestiges of the
Weapon Break
Caribbean’s indigenous population. They
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
live deep in the swamp along Honduras’ wild
Damage), Uzi (Ranged Weapon, 5 Damage;
northern coast and have little contact with
Extra: Autofire), Cell Phone
the world. They’ve handed down some
strange traditions from Africa, mixed in with

240
some stranger ones from their Indian Complications: Won’t live more than half
ancestors. an hour but intends to put as much whomp
The Jigsaw Man is light-skinned for on the Player Characters as he can in that
a Garifuna but very dark for a Honduran. time
People used to have difficulty determining Background: If you want a big finish to a
his ethnicity, even before he picked up all long campaign against the Mara, perhaps
the disfiguring facial scars. He didn’t get his the Jigsaw Man transforms himself into the
scars in a single episode. They accumulated living incarnation of the great god Xango (or
over time, in fights and accidents and at least his own twisted version of it) just as
sacrifices to his weird dark gods. the Player Characters kick down his door.
His name, should anyone ever learn He won’t live long like this—blood is already
it, is Ysidro Azul. He hasn’t used it in years. pouring out of his mouth, ears and eyes.
The Jigsaw Man tells himself that he And no man can bear the power of Xango
isn’t really a torture-crazed psychopath. He for more than thirty minutes or so. But he’ll
does terrible things to his enemies and their survive long enough to give the PCs one hell
families because it makes people fear him, of a fight.
and fear is strength. He’s fooling himself.
In fact he revels in carnage and horror. The “Father Chuey”
only thing that keeps him from stalking PL: 6
people at random or going berserk in public Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2)
is that he already gets enough savagery to Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3)
slake his blood thirst on the job. Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 6
Being feared, being respected and Defense: 6 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
being a successful gangster are actually Toughness Save: 6 (2 if Caught
more important to him than his own life, as Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5
anyone who comes up against him in a fight Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2
will swiftly learn. If he found a way to go Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
out in a blaze of glory, he would pick it over Gather Information 6 (+9), Intimidate 5
being taken alive. A lot of gangsters say (+8), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 3 (+4),
that about themselves, but he actually Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Knowledge
means it. (Theology and Philosophy) 1 (+2),
For some reason he takes giving his Languages 2 (English, Latin, Spanish),
word really seriously. If he makes a Notice 5 (+7), Perform (Oratory) 3 (+6),
promise he will keep it. For this reason, he Profession (priest) 2 (+3), Stealth 6 (+9)
never makes them. Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold,
Defensive Roll 4, Distract (Linked to Bluff),
Xango Dodge Focus 3, Improved Initiative, Move-
PL: 13 By Action, Quick-Draw, Sneak Attack,
Str: 46 /20 (+18/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) Startle, Taunt
Con: 44/20 (+17/+5) Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 Equipment: Twin Pistols (Ranged Weapon,
(+0) Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 4 Damage), Clerical Robes
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 Background: Our Lady of Xichumel is one
Toughness Save: 17 (12 Impervious) of Hardwick Park’s biggest churches. It’s in
Fortitude Save: 15 Reflexes Save: 10 pretty poor repair, but it’s popular with
Willpower Save: 6 young people. This is largely because of its
Skills: None! Xango needs no puny skills. hip young priest, Father Alfredo Guzman.
Feats: Improved Grapple, Move-By Action, Everyone calls him “Father Chuey.”
Power Attack, Takedown Attack He’s an important member of the
Powers: Enhanced Strength 26, Impervious Mara and uses his church to store drugs and
Toughness 4, Protection (Extra: Impervious) stolen goods for them. The little old ladies
6, Super-Strength 8 (Power Feats: of the neighborhood are bewildered to hear
Shockwave, Thunderclap) him say that they must be good and pay the
Mara their protection money on time, or he

241
won’t give them Holy Communion and they’ll
go to Hell. But they obey him anyway. He’s
their priest, after all.
A grinning, tattooed psychopath
with a ponytail and a lot of gold teeth, he
has something like the status of a Brujo Boy
within the organization, although he has no
official rank. When he gives orders,
everyone knows to obey him.
Popular with young boys because
he’s lenient about handing out penance, you
can tell him almost anything in the
confessional booth without shocking him.
But if you confess to snitching on the Mara,
he may just execute you right there on the
spot, without even leaving the booth.
He’s a little forgetful about doctrinal
matters, particularly when he’s stoned, and
his answers to most religious questions are
often hilariously slapdash. Frankly he has
more urgent things to worry about than the
nature of the Trinity or the Doctrine of
Miraculous Transfiguration.
Sometimes he holds midnight
services for private gatherings. These
services are usually sit-down meetings for
the Mara, complete with weird and unsavory
rites. Everyone in the neighborhood knows
to stay far away from Our Lady of Xichumel
on these nights.

Primarily a Mexican and Puerto Rican Gang,

they used to be the second largest group in
The Mara have Hardwick Park clamped Hardwick Park. They made common cause
down pretty tightly. The Jigsaw Man has with the Mara against the Reyes, back when
much tighter control over his turf than, for the Jigsaw Man was still a rising power. He
example, Eentsy Z. But there are two other executed most of their leaders anyway and
gangs that share Hardwick Park with him. put the rest in mortal fear of him.
The Latin Aces, who are effectively his They fit right into his system of
vassals, and the tiny, crazy girl-gang called captains, but he lets them wear their old
Los Furies, which is completely independent, gang colors. This helps keep Mexican and
and which he is about to crush. Puerto Rican kids from going out and
There may also be a few scattered forming their own new gangs to oppose
remnants of the neighborhood’s older gangs him. They can join the Latin Aces instead
like the Reyes and the Chosen Few, nursing and have his support instead of his enmity.
their wounds and plotting revenge. They Most of the older members of the
probably won’t survive long enough to get gang are pretty subdued these days.
it. The Jigsaw Man is committed to They’ve all seen the Mara do unspeakable
eliminating every last trace of resistance to things to guys who opposed them—and to
his grip on the neighborhood. Just because their families. They have been allowed to
he has his rivals on their knees doesn’t live on probation and they are frequently
mean that he’s forgotten about them or that reminded of this fact. Going to them for
he’s going to let them live. protection from the Mara will not work. In

242
fact they are frantically eager to show their gain a little more power and respect. Here
loyalty to their new boss. was a major criminal enterprise they could
Unable to take their frustrations out really participate in.
on the Mara, the individual sets in the Aces It was only a matter of time before
have begun to turn on one another over old they started to assert themselves, and the
feuds and turf. The Jigsaw Man doesn’t resulting backlash was brutal. Quite a few
care, and may be encouraging this pointless girls died or got beaten up in the purges
self-destructive warfare. that followed. One of them, Lupe “Dead-
Their symbol is an Ace of Spades Girl” Zamora, lived through a near fatal
with two crossed daggers plunging through stabbing and decided to take revenge on
it. Their colors are black and red. the men who had injured her. These days,
Sometimes they tag street corners with an Dead-Girl Zamora leads a breakaway faction
“A” superimposed over an “X.” These days of “Eightball Chicks” who call themselves
they always put a squiggly little “M” on top, Los Furies.
like a crown. This signifies their subjugation They are pledged to defending their
by the Mara. Their hand-signal is an upright sisters and any other woman who comes to
palm with crossed fingers in front of it (this them for help. Anyone who joins must
sort of resembles a spade with crossed renounce all ties to men, to their families, to
daggers) or an upraised thumb, with the God and to anyone outside the sisterhood.
fingers extended perpendicular to the wrist. Their purpose is to protect one another and
This looks sort of like an axe (“AX”.) the rest of their gender. At first revenge on
Every night, each of the surviving the Mara was not one of their objectives—
three captains of the Aces has to call a even Dead-Girl didn’t want to do anything
certain number, and whisper “thank you” that would give the Jigsaw Man an excuse
into the silence. They all live haunted by to wipe them out. But now their sisters
the knowledge that the Mara are probably have been turning up with their heads cut
going to kill them off anyway. off and it’s clear that the Mara intend to kill
them all anyway, just because they set a
bad example. So they’ve decided—what the
hell, they may as well go on the offensive
and die fighting.
The Furies have always had a cash-
flow problem. They sometimes assault men
who have abused women and take their
money, they have held up a few small
businesses owned by men who they believe
are abusers but they don’t have a steady
supply of drugs or weapons to sell, Some of
them work minimum wage day jobs and
they try to steal as much food as they need.
Still, if the Mara don’t execute them all, the
lack of funds and ammunition will surely
cripple them before long. Without telling
Dead-Girl Zamora, a small group of the girls
Most of the Latin girl-gangs in Hardwick are about to start robbing banks to provide
Park are adjuncts to male gangs. They have more funds. But even this won’t work out
never had any real independence. The girls right. The average take from a bank
hide stolen goods, help cut drugs, shoplift robbery is only about two-thousand dollars.
food for the gang and put out for any At present, the Furies control three
member who tells them to. They don’t have safe houses, scattered around Hardwick
any power of their own at all. But when Park. They have about twenty
credit card fraud became a major source of dependants—women who have come to
income for the Mara their girls started to them for protection—some of them have

243
brought their kids. That’s a lot of mouths to Feverishly loyal to the gang, they are always
feed. trying to outdo one another and they can
Dead-Girl’s best friend, Mouse, has become extremely dangerous when in a
the keys to a small warehouse space in group. Morale is very high among rank-and-
Greely Point, and the gang may relocate file members of the gang, despite their
over there if things get really desperate. impending doom.

Generic Member of Los Furies Dead-Girl

PL: 4
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3)
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4
Defense: 5 Toughness Save: 2
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 5
Willpower Save: 4
PL: 2 Skills: Bluff 2 (+5), Computers 2 (+5),
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) Diplomacy 3 (+6), Disable Device 1 (+4),
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) Escape Artist 2 (+5), Gather Information 3
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 2 (+6), Intimidate 2 (+5), Knowledge
Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2 (Streetwise) 2 (+5),Knowledge (Business) 2
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2 (+5), Languages 2 (English, Spanish),
Willpower Save: 1 Notice 4 (+6), Profession (street thug) 2
Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Climb 2 (+2), (+5), Stealth 4 (+7)
Diplomacy 1 (+2), Escape Artist 2 (+4), Feats: All-Out Attack, Elusive Target,
Gather Information 2 (+3), Intimidate 2 Inspire, Leadership, Quick-Draw, Sneak
(+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Attack, Taunt
Languages 2 (English, Spanish), Notice 3 Equipment: Great Big Pistol (Ranged
(+4), Profession (street thug) 3 (+4), Weapon, 4 Damage)
Stealth 4 (+6) Complications: Can’t resist helping
Feats: All-Out Attack, Attractive, Sneak anyone in trouble
Attack, Startle Background: Small but noisy, Dead-Girl is
Complications: Willing to die for her intensely charismatic in a fast-talking, jittery
sisters in the gang kind of way. She’s eighteen, but she has
Equipment: Stick or knife (both are Melee lived pretty rough since she was twelve and
Weapons that do 3 Damage) or Pistol looks a lot older. These days she dyes her
(Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) hair pink and her skin is unusually pale.
Background: Somewhere between thirteen Most people don’t know she’s Hispanic until
and twenty years old, she’s likely to have they hear her speak.
seen a lot more horror and death than you Dead-Girl has a teenager’s sense of
would ever expect from such a young girl. outraged justice and is constantly trying to

244
help people. Often this gets her into Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 3
trouble. She does not trust men and does Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 4
not like Anglos very much. Willpower Save: 4
She’s Salvadoran by birth. Her Skills: Bluff 2 (+2), Intimidate 2 (+2),
father still lives and works in Hardwick Park. Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+4), Languages
He’s an unreliable booze-hound and wants 2 (English, Spanish), Medicine 2 (+5),
nothing more to do with his crazy, Notice 4 (+7), Profession (street thug) 4
troublesome little girl. Her mother died of (+4), Search 3 (+6), Stealth 4 (+5)
alcoholism some years ago, but she was a Feats: Accurate Attack, Improved Aim,
sweet woman even when drunk and Dead- Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Girl spent a lot of her time caring for her. Improved Overrun, Improved Pin, Interpose,
Dead-Girl took up with a gang called Sneak Attack
the Latin Aces before they got absorbed into Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
the Mara. She was always too smart and Damage)
outspoken for them and got hit a lot. When Complications: Completely devoted to
some of the girls started asserting Dead-Girl
themselves more last year, the Mara Background: A big, strong, quiet girl,
decided to make an example out of her. Mouse has been Dead-Girl’s protector since
She hides her facial scars under her hair but kindergarten. She has always been
her emotional ones are a lot more difficult to fascinated by and in awe of her hyperactive
conceal. little friend. An athlete, Mouse avoided the
gangs and drifted apart from Dead-Girl
Mouse when she vanished into that world.
Then Dead-Girl turned up mutilated
and dying on her doorstep. Mouse knew a
lot about first aid and helped her as much
as she could. Then she sat beside Dead-
Girl’s bed in the hospital every day. Mouse
got kicked off the basketball team and lost
her chance at an athletic scholarship by
spending all her time with Dead-Girl in the
hospital and missing practice. She doesn’t
really care that she threw away her one
ticket out of Hardwick Park for Dead-Girl. In
fact she feels terrible for having wanted to
leave. She abandoned Dead-Girl when she
most needed support—or that’s the way it
seems to Mouse. Maybe she can make up
for it by dying with her.
Mouse stands just over six feet tall
PL: 4 and looks like an athlete. She’s pretty, but
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3) looks intimidating. She seldom speaks,
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 10 (+0) except to whisper in Dead-Girl’s ear.
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4

245
Lucia “One-Eye” Cortez After they beat her up, they used
her left eye as an ashtray, sliced off her
mom’s head and left. It wasn’t long before
she decided to take revenge on all men
everywhere. She has joined Los Furies in
order to get her chance.
One of the gang’s most enthusiastic
combatants, she is always the first to
suggest going on the attack and she always
leads the charge. She’s also their best
accountant and has been made club
treasurer. She sometimes takes
unnecessary risks and she always goes out
of her way to hurt men. Dead-Girl likes her,
but is a little afraid of her. Mouse thinks
she’s trouble.
For her part, One-Eye Cortez envies
PL: 4 the close relationship between Mouse and
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2) Dead-Girl and subtly tries to undermine it—
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) so far without success. She is at the center
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 of the group of girls who have decided to go
Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 2 rob banks, for she knows and worries more
Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes Save: 4 about the group’s financial difficulties than
Willpower Save: 4 anyone.
Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Climb 2 (+2), It would be pretty dumb for her to
Diplomacy 1 (+2), Escape Artist 2 (+4), participate in bank robberies herself. She
Gather Information 2 (+3), Intimidate 5 looks way too distinctive. One-Eye has a
(+6), Knowledge (Business) 3 (+5), black eyepatch and wears her hair long and
Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+6), Languages straight. She likes to dress up as a
2 (English, Spanish), Notice 3 (+4), revolutionary and often wears camouflage
Profession (street thug) 4 (+4), Stealth 5 or long black overcoats with red turtlenecks.
(+8) She is never seen without her black cap.
Feats: All-Out Attack, Attractive, Move-By She carries a shotgun, although that’s not
Action, Sneak Attack, Startle such a good weapon for somebody with
Complications: Mistrusts men. Can’t almost no peripheral vision to have.
cooperate with them. One Eye has two little sisters in the
Equipment: Stick or knife (both are Melee foster care system somewhere. She hopes
Weapons that do 3 Damage) or Pistol they’ll be safe from the Mara there. If the
(Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage) Jigsaw Man finds them, he will most
Drawbacks: Disabled (has one eye, makes certainly try to use them against her.
all Notice Checks for anything on her left
side at a -4)
Background: As the Mara put their
cigarettes out on her eyeball, Lucia Cortez The venerable “youth clubs” of Stark Hill
stopped trusting men for good. She had have been running street level rackets for
been one of a group of girls who ran credit fifty years and more. They are and have
card scams for the Jigsaw Man and who had always been the primary recruiting ground
started to assert their independence a little for the Bedlam Mob.
more. She wasn’t really a ringleader, but It used to be that there were five
she had an exceptional head for numbers, gangs, arranged in a loose confederation
so the Mara assumed that she must have against the black gangs of Wolverton. They
been one of the ones causing all the trouble were the Half Moons, the Coronets, the
and they made a special example out of her. West Viscounts, the Overlord Viscounts and

246
the Dukes. Now, as Stark Hill decays and pummeled to a bloody pulp by everyone
their numbers dwindle, they have present. After their ceremonial beating,
reorganized into three gangs, the Coronets, they are given their new club jacket.
the Viscounts and the Dukes. The Scarpia crime family recruits
The Half Moons committed some soldiers from their ranks—particularly
crime so terrible that they were disbanded Dapper Donny’s old gang the Coronets, but
and wiped out, never to be spoken of again, they stay aloof from gang affairs. They
while the Overlord Viscounts slipped into sometimes ask individual members for
such decay that their remaining members favors, and since everyone knows that doing
got absorbed by the Coronets. favors for Dapper Donny is the right way to
Their whole rationale for existing is become a Made Guy, most are eager to
to keep black kids out of the neighborhood, comply. After a young man has proved
but in recent years as Bedlam’s Hispanic himself on a few missions, then they may
population has grown they have grown check his background to make sure he is
more and more hostile to the Spanish gangs completely Sicilian and that there is no stain
of Hardwick Park. on his family history, and if what they find
The exact size of each gang looks good, they’ll bring him on board as a
fluctuates, but the Viscounts are always the “Button Man” and give him a chance to earn
biggest, about twice the size of the Coronets his way into the family itself.
and three times as large as the Dukes. All You do not have to be Sicilian to
these gangs are decades old—their new join one of Stark Hill’s youth gangs. Just
tags overlap older, fading versions of the white and Catholic. While only Sicilian kids
same graffiti that may have adorned the have been asked to formally join the Mafia,
same crumbling walls since the 1950s. plenty of Polish, Irish and Czech guys go on
Stark Hill’s gangs have long, proud to become mob associates—among them
and elaborate rituals for initiations, City Councilman Big Andy Czernik.
expulsions and for conducting official club Stark Hill’s Youth Clubs do not
business. All three are structured much the usually carry heavy firearms, but they all
same way. A President oversees everything, have arsenals that they can draw on if they
and is officially the leader, but is often a have to. Their usual weapons are the
figurehead for the Secretary of War, who is switchblade knife and the baseball bat, but
in charge of all matters pertaining to the if they need to face down (for example) the
club’s defense. There is also usually a Mara, they will break out the Uzis and AK-
Treasurer who is in charge of the club’s 47s.
finances. Answering directly to the Each of the three gangs has its own
President and the Secretary of War are the Girls’ Auxiliary—comprised of girlfriends and
various Block Captains, each of whom has a camp followers who hide stolen goods,
group of boys under their direct control. shoplift and serve the troops in other ways.
The individual Block Captains You can usually identify a Stark Hill gang girl
sometimes grow strong enough to have by her brightly colored silk scarf. Only the
gang-names and colors of their own, which really bold ones wear actual gang jackets—it
they wear on top of their main gang colors. can make you a target for cops and rival
So, for example, the Skulls are a subdivision gangs. These girl-gangs are completely
of the Dukes. They wear black satin under the thumb of their male counterparts
windbreaker jackets with red trim and a gold and have no real independence.
crown on the back, just like all members of
the Dukes, but they also wear pins or Generic Stark Hill Gang Member
bandannas or sometimes t-shirts with skulls PL: 2
on them. Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Initiation into one of these gangs Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
involves an all-night ritual in which the Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 3 Melee, 2
initiate is blindfolded, made to answer a lot Ranged Defense: 1 Toughness Save: 2
of cryptic sounding questions, and then Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2

247
Willpower Save: 2 Irish, Polish or Italian. No Hispanics or
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Craft (Mechanical or African-Americans are ever allowed to join
Structural) 2 (+2), Drive 2 (+3), Gather as full-time partners. Most of them are
Information 1 (+4), Intimidate 3 (+4), former members of the Viscounts street
Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+4), Notice 2 gang in Stark Hill. They run any number of
(+2), Stealth 1 (+2) illegal operations, from prostitution to
Feats: Connected, Attack Focus (Melee), smuggling to murder, but their main
Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Startle function is as enforcers for the Scarpia
Equipment: Tire Iron or Switchblade Crime family, and as the family’s eyes and
(Melee Weapon, 2 Damage) ears within the Bedlam Police.
They have contacts in every division
of the Police Department, as well as
corrections, the sheriff’s office and the state
police. These contacts are willing to provide
them with information or to look the other
way, but they usually can’t be called on to
commit serious crimes themselves. The
core members of the crew, on the other
hand, are up for anything.
About half of them are patrolmen
and half are detectives—including one of the
detectives in Internal Affairs. At least five of
their hardcore members are part of the
SWAT tactical team and all of them can get
their hands on heavy military hardware if
While quite a few Bedlam cops are dirty, they have to. They do not, as of yet, have
willing to break the law or run errands for any core members in the Special Operations
the Mafia on an ad-hoc basis, there are two Squad, but they would love to expand their
actual criminal “crews” within the Bedlam influence there. They have exceptionally
City Police, who make a full-time living out good relations with Stark Hill’s masked
of crime. They transport dope and other vigilante, the Hammer of Justice.
contraband in their squad cars, help fence
stolen goods, steal valuables from the
homes of crime victims, and carry out
contract murders for whoever can pay them.
They are in effect fully functioning They say that only one percent of the bikers
“associate” crews of the Bedlam Mafia. in America are actual criminals. So outlaw
The first crew is based out of the gangs like the Brotherhood proudly call
Second Precinct (which includes the Stark themselves “One-Percenters.” The Brothers
Hill neighborhood) and is run by hero cop themselves are more like half-percenters—
“Big Chuck” O’Ryan and his brothers, Pat even for outlaw bikers they are unusually
and Mack. savage and violent.
We’re going to leave the second It is one of the Brotherhood’s many
crew completely undefined, so that the GM rules that members of the club cannot have
can have one in reserve if every member of straight jobs. They must support
the first crew gets put away. They might be themselves entirely through crime. Mostly
loyal to the Scarpias or the Gorganzuas, they do this by selling and manufacturing
they might be based in any one of the crank, but they also mug people who stray
precincts, or scattered throughout the onto their turf, carry out contract killings (at
system. Whoever they are, the O’Ryan Boys four-hundred dollars per murder, their rates
don’t know them. are extremely reasonable) and sometimes
There are roughly twenty members individual members rob banks. They
of the O’Ryan Boys’ crew. All of them are occasionally extort protection money from

248
the other residents of the Shady Meadows trying to find a cheap acid that will liquefy
Mobile Home Park, but not in an organized human flesh (so far with no success). The
way. Anyway most folks in the giant trailer Chop Shop isn’t anywhere near as efficient
park don’t have much money to take. as the Scarpia crime family’s “Murder
On occasion the Brotherhood tears Machine” and if he has any neighbors they
into Bedlam and causes some havoc, but would already be complaining about the
they never range north of the Country Club noise and stink. Graves hasn’t figured out
or Ash Street. The Scarpia crime family what to do with the bodies one he’s taken
sometimes asks them for favors or squeezes them apart and they’re slowly piling up in
a little money out of them, but mostly there.
leaves them to run their own affairs. But while Graves admits that the
With just a hundred members or so, Chop Shop isn’t perfect, yet, it is within
the Brotherhood isn’t big enough to be walking distance of Fat Planet Comics and
organized into a lot of separate crews. he greatly appreciates the convenience.
Instead they are a single unit, under their
current Warlord, Delbert Graves, a quiet, Generic Cycle Brother
calculating, cold-hearted little man whom PL: 3
everyone fears. His bodyguards, Fifi and Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Pookie, are his chief lieutenants and enforce Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
the Brotherhood’s elaborate code. A lot of Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
their rank-and-file members are bad- Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 3
tempered, ill-disciplined drunks; Graves Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
inspires enough respect and fear to keep Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Craft (Chemical) 3
them in line, so long as he is around. (+3), Craft (Mechanical) 4 (+4), Drive 4
While their numbers are relatively (+5), Intimidate 4 (+5), Knowledge
small, they are linked into a much larger (Streetwise) 3 (+3), Notice 2 (+2), Stealth 1
nationwide network of meth dealers, biker (+2)
gangs and white supremacists. With a few Feats: Distract (Linked to Intimidate),
days’ notice, Graves could call in more than Move-By Action, Quick-Draw, Startle
a hundred extra troops. Give him a week Equipment: Submachine Gun (Ranged
and he can bring in supervillains. Weapon; 3 Damage; Extra: Autofire),
People in Shady Meadows don’t like Motorcycle Chain (Melee Weapon; 3
the Brotherhood and tolerate them mostly Damage), Motorcycle
out of fear. It is of course a violent,
unpredictable place and there is no Delbert Graves
guarantee that the Graves and his gang will PL: 6
be welcome there forever. For the moment Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
they are the best organized and most Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
numerous group of criminals in the trailer Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 6
park, so no one else is challenging them. If Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught
outsiders turn up in Shady Meadows, Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes
looking for trouble with Graves, no one but Save: 5 Willpower Save: 7
his own men will bother to warn him.
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Craft (Chemical) 5
(+6), Craft (Mechanical) 6 (+7), Disable
The Chop Shop
Device 4 (+5), Drive 8 (+10), Intimidate 7
Graves has recently bought a small, run-
(+9), Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice
down garage and repair shop near Ash
6 (+9), Stealth 5 (+7)
Street. He intends to use it to dismantle
Feats: All-Out Attack, Choke Hold,
stolen cars, but he’s been using it to
Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 4, Distract
dismantle people instead. The power isn’t
(Linked to Intimidate), Evasion 2, Improved
on yet and none of the equipment still
Aim, Improved Block, Improved Defense,
works, but he has a bathtub and some gas-
Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
powered chainsaws in the back and he’s
Leadership, Move-By Action, Quick-Draw,

249
Startle, Takedown Attack was the one who screwed them over, or
Equipment: Shotgun (Ranged Weapon; 5 why he did it. They’re just obstacles to be
Damage) Submachine Gun (Ranged eliminated—it’s nothing personal to him. Or
Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra: Autofire), Huge so he says.
Knife (Melee Weapon; 3 Damage), Graves has no regular “old lady”
Motorcycle and serves his needs with one-night stands.
Background: A cold, hard, savage little He spends a surprising amount of time off
man, Graves is as devoid of human mercy prowling around on his own, and has a lot
as an arctic winter night. But his complete of secret caches of weapons and dope
lack of sentimentality makes him a scattered around the countryside. No one
reasonable boss. He doesn’t let grudges or knows where he sleeps. Not even his hulking
enmity contaminate his thinking. He might bodyguards, Fifi and Pookie.
keep his word and he might not—it’s all a
question of what he thinks would work best. Pookie
Or at least that’s the impression he
tries to give. People who have watched him
carefully say his coldness is a sham. He’s
actually petty, vindictive and vengeful—but
pretends to be emotionless. Which is true?
It’s hard to tell. If his scary blankness is a
façade, it’s one he never lets down.
A small, skinny guy with a
handlebar mustache and ropy, prison-
hardened muscles on his arms, Graves
never seems to take off his sunglasses. If
he did, there would be little difference. His
eyes are just as empty as the black lenses
he wears over them.
Graves seldom speaks, and when he
PL: 7
does his voice is a quiet purr. Even when
he’s hurt or defeated, he doesn’t show much Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
emotion. He’s a totally implacable foe if he Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
thinks you have something he wants. While Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 6
he knows a lot of repulsive things that can Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught
be done to the human body with the right Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 7 Reflexes
set of tools, he never tortures anyone unless Save: 7 Willpower Save: 7
it’s to make a point. He doesn’t trust the Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Craft (Mechanical) 3
things people say under torture, so he (+5), Disable Device 2 (+4), Drive 5 (+6),
doesn’t bother to use it to get information. Intimidate 7 (+9), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4
Graves became Warlord of the (+6), Notice 4 (+7), Stealth 2 (+3)
Brotherhood by moving swiftly and Feats: All-Out Attack, Choke Hold,
aggressively to kill off any competitors. He Defensive Roll 4, Die Hard, Distract (Linked
knows this approach works, so he’s very to Intimidate), Endurance, Fearless,
quick to kill anyone he even suspects of Improved Aim, Improved Block, Improved
plotting against him before they have a Defense, Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
chance to usurp him. He doesn’t think it’s a Improved Pin, Improved Sunder, Move-By
good idea to leave the families of his Action, Quick-Draw, Startle
enemies alive, since they’re sure to want Equipment: Submachine Gun (Ranged
revenge. Nor does he think it’s a good idea Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra: Autofire),
to leave witnesses, and he’ll go to Motorcycle Chain (Melee Weapon; 3
extraordinary lengths to eliminate them. Damage), Motorcycle
Not much of a gloater, he doesn’t Background: Bruno Mordella, better known
really care whether his enemies know he to his associates as “Pookie” has been an

250
outlaw biker for twenty years. He’s a Fifi
gigantic bald brute who relishes the way his
appearance makes the squares flinch.
Graves’ looming bodyguard, he’s even
quieter than Graves himself.
Pookie looks like a dumb slob but
he’s not. In fact he’s a cunning, calculating
guy who would love to expand his power
within the Brotherhood. While he is willing
to commit any horrible crime that Graves
might ask him to, he would not hesitate to
betray the boss if he thought he could gain
some advantage by it.
Pookie has killed on numerous
occasions but he never does it in anger. He
kills if he’s told to or if he sees something to
be gained by it. Like most “One-Percenters”
he treats women very badly, but only
because it’s expected of him. He has
murdered women for insulting a fellow
member of the Brotherhood or complaining
too much, but never because he felt
personally riled with them.
For the most part the Brotherhood PL: 5
and the Bedlam Mafia stay out of each Str: 17 (+3) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3)
others’ way. But Pookie is Sicilian by birth Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 12 (+1)
and he has begun to spend time with Young Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: 4
Junior Gorganzua’s unstable, loser son Toughness Save: 3 Fortitude Save: 7
“Little Junior.” While Pookie knows that Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
Little Junior is an unreliable flake, this might Skills: Craft (Mechanical) 3 (+3), Diplomacy
be his ticket into the Mafia. He could even 1 (+2), Drive 5 (+5), Intimidate 5 (+6),
wind up a “Made Guy.” Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+3), Notice 3
Graves is aware of Pookie’s shifting (+3), Stealth 2 (+3)
loyalties but isn’t sure what to do about it Feats: All-Out Attack, Choke Hold, Diehard,
except to start training a new bodyguard. Endurance, Improved Block, Improved Grab,
He isn’t about to tangle with a Mafia Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Improved
chieftain’s son over one guy. Anyway who Sunder, Interpose, Move-By Action, Quick-
knows, Pookie might turn out to be a Draw
valuable contact if he does become a Equipment: Submachine Gun (Ranged
Mafiosi. Weapon; 4 Damage; Extra: Autofire), Big
For his own part, Pookie is already Knife (Melee Weapon; 3 Damage),
starting to get disillusioned with Little Junior Motorcycle
and is looking to establish some kind of Background: Huge, tough and eager to
connection with his arch-rival, please, Curtis Wayne “Fifi” Choate is a
Dandy Joe Slorkin. He doesn’t yet realize capable bodyguard and tries hard to do his
just how upset that would make Little best. He’s an impulsive, emotional guy and
Junior, or that it might provoke an actual he knows it, so he’s trying very hard to stay
mob war like no one has seen in Bedlam calm and do a good job around Graves. Fifi
since the Igglionis met their doom back in isn’t nearly as smart as Pookie and he talks
1995. a lot more. But Graves appreciates how

251
hard he tries to be a good bodyguard and is Dragon’s Gate, no colorful district with
amused by how eager he is to prove shops covered in plaster dragons and neon.
himself. Neither the triads nor their American
Fifi is not completely devoid of counterparts in the tongs maintain a big
conscience, and he’s afraid it shows. He’s presence here. However, their influence is
looking for an opportunity to do something felt in Bedlam nonetheless. Two separate
really despicable for Graves, in order to organizations, the Iron Wind Society and the
prove himself. If he gets the chance, he’ll Yip-Wing Tong, have arrangements with the
smother his remorse and throw himself into Scarpia crime family to smuggle illegal
it as hard as he can. immigrants, drugs and fake documents
He used to drink a lot, but he tries through the Rook Island Shipping Terminal.
really hard to stay straight around Graves There is a cluster of apartment
and is never inebriated when he’s on duty. buildings over in the Meadows, where the
Always laughing and joking, he’s good at Yip-Wings keep the illegal immigrants until
intimidation, but it’s a jovial kind of bullying, they can find jobs for them elsewhere.
very different from Pookie’s silent glare. Conditions there are pretty bad—people
Fifi grew up in the biker culture and sleep as many as twenty to an apartment.
knows no other life. He has two old ladies, The Iron Wind Society keeps their human
Montana Sue and Bobbi the Retard. cargo in even worse conditions, in a set of
Between the two of them he has five kids, prefab housing units on a storage lot near
(the oldest is eight years old) who all adore Bedlam Harbor. The units haven’t been
him. hooked up to the power grid or the water
mains. The Scarpias get a cut of both
operations, and don’t interfere with them
much.
Neither group maintains much of a
presence in Bedlam. The Iron Wind Society
may keep as few as ten soldiers watching
over the operation at any one time, and the
Yip-Wings have no more than fifteen. Both
No single large gang dominates the Country groups have been good and respectful
Club, although there is a fairly good-sized guests and have gone out of their way to
Jamaican Posse on the neighborhood’s avoid trouble with the locals.
northern edge (see “the Invincible Ya-Ya If a superhero (a PC, for example)
Posse” on Page 261.) For the most part the were to start breaking up their operations
Country Club’s gangs are tiny little groups of and causing them grief, they would both ask
criminals who form around a single the Scarpias for permission to bring in more
charismatic leader for mutual protection and soldiers and perhaps some superhuman
to get drugs. They tend not to have names talent to hunt them down. The Scarpias
and to only number ten or so members would probably approve.
each. Yet these can be some of the most We have some background
dangerous criminal organizations in Bedlam. information and some sample NPCs for both
Twitchy and violent, they have no loyalty or of these triads listed below.
allegiance to anybody and very little reason
not to kill anyone. Some are full of trigger-
happy psychopaths, others are more
cautious. None are trustworthy. Based in the big cities of the southern
Chinese coast, this Cantonese secret society
claims to be able to trace its origins back to
the Ming Dynasty. They have sometimes
been freedom fighters but more often they
have been smugglers, gangsters and
Bedlam doesn’t have a Chinatown, in the
assassins. They are steeped in tradition,
traditional sense of the word. There is no

252
have an elaborate honor code (most of Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
which boils down to “obey orders and don’t Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
snitch”), and lots of cryptic, half-mystical Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 2
ceremonies and rituals. Their soldiers all Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2
practice a strange offshoot of White Crane Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+6), Bluff 3 (+3),
Kung-Fu called the “Iron Wind of Heaven” Intimidate 5 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3
and they prefer to carry out assassinations (+3), Languages (Mandarin, Cantonese,
with traditional weapons like swords and English), Notice 3 (+5), Stealth 4 (+6)
axes. Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Eager to look threatening and to get Defensive Roll 1, Improved Trip
respect from American gangsters, the Iron Complications: Unwilling to lose face,
Wind Brotherhood dress with ostentatious even if the alternative is death
bad taste. You can recognize them by their Equipment: Axe (Melee Weapon; 3
brightly colored open-necked silk shirts, Damage) or Submachine Gun (Ranged
flashy jewelry, gold teeth with diamonds Weapon, 3 Damage: Extra: Autofire),
embedded in them, shaved heads (or long expensive fake Rolex watch
flowing hair) and acres of tattoos. And by
all their scars, of course. They look Charlie Chong
dangerous, even when they aren’t holding PL: 5
any martial arts weapons or AK-47s. Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
They rotate the leaders they send to Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0)
Bedlam. Most of them are younger Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
lieutenants from the Chinese mainland, Toughness Save: 5 (3 if caught
eager to make a name for themselves. Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 2
For the past year, the operation in Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2
Bedlam has been run by a muscle-bound oaf Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+5), Bluff 3 (+3),
named Charlie Chong, who never wears a Intimidate 5 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3
shirt and never goes anywhere without his (+3), Languages (Mandarin, Cantonese,
cowboy hat. He’s not a very good record- English), Notice 3 (+5), Stealth 4 (+5)
keeper and may well be on his way to Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
getting replaced. See stats and background Defensive Roll 2, Diehard, Endurance,
information on Mr. Chong below. Improved Sunder, Improved Trip, Takedown
Despite their pretensions, the Attack, Toughness, Weapon Bind
Society is a pack of ruthless thugs like any Complications: Unsure of himself as a
organized crime family. They import people leader, becomes enraged if anything
to America under unsafe conditions, treat happens to his hat
them like slaves, brutalize any who complain Equipment: Axe (Melee Weapon; 3
and murder anyone who stands in their way Damage) or Submachine Gun (Ranged
without a flicker of remorse. And while they Weapon, 3 Damage: Extra: Autofire),
may talk about the noble traditions of their cowboy hat
sword-brotherhood, the Iron Wind of Background: Charlie Chong loves hitting
Heaven is a mediocre style and the Society people. He’s always smacking his
is mostly interested in making money. subordinates around. When he’s happy, he
Chinese law enforcement officials play-fights and wrestles with them, when
can immediately recognize the stylized he’s mad he shoves and backhands them.
characters that members of the Brotherhood He’s an emotional guy and he’s not a very
have tattooed above their hearts. Anyone good talker, so he speaks with his fists. Not
else must make a Knowledge (Streetwise) that he ever roughs any of his men up
Check vs. DC 30. seriously. He has had to execute one or two
of his guys, but he doesn’t want them to
Brother of the Iron Wind hate him. In fact he really enjoys being
PL: 3 liked and he’s as generous as he is violent.
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)

253
 While he’s brutal with his enemies earrings, the group in Bedlam dress
and with anyone he thinks is trying to make conservatively, in expensive suits with (real)
him look like a fool, he has a deep Rolex watches and $500 Ray-Ban
sentimental streak. Foolishly loyal to his sunglasses. BMWs and Mercedes’ are their
friends, he also has a weak spot for animals favorite vehicles. They favor drive-by
and for cute kids. Anyone who harms either shootings as their method of assassination.
one in front of him will suffer one of his They love guns. A typical gang lair is
rages. And he can be terrifying when bristling with automatic weapons. They are
enraged. On one occasion he actually tore a known in the underworld for using far more
rival limb from limb. While he’s a klutz with ammunition than they have to—never one
guns, he doesn’t let it bother him. He bullet when fifty will do the job. A site they
actually prefers to kill people with his bare have attacked will be positively riddled with
hands. holes. Their soldiers typically fire pistols in
He won’t explain why he never each hand.
wears a shirt, and anyone who criticizes or Yet so far there have been no
damages his cowboy hat will drive him into crazed gunfights in Bedlam. They know to
a foaming frenzy of rage. Unless they’re a keep a low profile here, and the local leader,
cute kid or an animal. Jimmy Yip, holds his men tightly in check.
Some people say Charlie’s not smart Older than most of his troops (who
enough to lead a cell, but his men seem to all seem to between eighteen and twenty-
like him enough to make up for his five) Jimmy Yip has been overseeing the
shortcomings as a planner. He will never Bedlam operation for more than five years.
betray or testify against any member of his He likes Bedlam and has moved into Stone
crew, no matter what he’s threatened with. Ridge, where everybody thinks he owns a
They probably don’t feel the same way chain of dry-cleaning stores (and in fact he
about him, but he doesn’t care. It’s the um, does.)
what do you call it? The principle of the The Yip-Wings hold official business
thing. meetings in the back of a huge tacky
Chinese buffet called “Good Heaven Palace”
on C Street in the Meadows, about a block
from the apartment complex they control.

A Chinese-American organization, based in Soldier of the Yip-Wing Tong

the US, the Yip Wing Tong is a street gang PL: 3
that has chapters in half a dozen cities. Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
While they have strong contacts with the Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
Triads overseas, they don’t have any actual Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
chapters outside the States. Human Toughness Save: 2 (1 if caught
trafficking is a sideline to them—they mostly Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3
deal in drugs, prostitution and extortion Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
schemes. But it’s a profitable sideline Skills: Bluff 4 (+5), Intimidate 5 (+6),
nonetheless and they would be willing to Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+4), Languages
expend a lot of resources to keep their (Cantonese, English), Notice 3 (+4), Stealth
operation in Bedlam going. 2 (+4)
They’ve been around in one form Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Attack,
or another since the 1970s but they’ve only Defensive Roll 1, Improved Critical
come to prominence within the past ten (firearms), Quick-Draw
years. They are known in the underworld as Complications: Loves guns. Doesn’t really
young, brash, ambitious and prone to speak Cantonese very well.
unpredictable fits of violence (although they Equipment: Submachine Gun (Ranged
have behaved themselves very well in Weapon, 3 Damage: Extra: Autofire), real
Bedlam so far.) While some members wear Rolex watch
loud Hawaiian shirts with gold chains and

254
Jimmy Yip try to imitate. It’s really hard to tell if he’s
PL: 4 mad until he shoots you. In fact he’s not
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2) very good at knowing what he’s feeling
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) himself. Many of his worst and most
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 shocking episodes of violence have come as
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 2 a total surprise to him. While he has
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2 behaved himself as a guest of the Bedlam
Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+7), Bluff 4 (+6), Mafia, and hasn’t lashed out at any civilians,
Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge (Business) 3 that’s mostly because everyone has treated
(+3), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+5), him with respect so far.
Languages (Cantonese, English), Notice 5 There really isn’t anyone he isn’t
(+7), Stealth 4 (+7) willing to kill. He’s never actually murdered
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Accurate Attack, All- an elderly person or a child, but that’s
Out Attack, Assessment, Defensive Roll 1, because he’s never yet had a reason to. He
Improved Aim, Improved Critical (firearms), will most certainly torture captives for
Quick-Draw information, although he probably won’t do
Complications: Pretentious lout who thinks it for thrills.
he’s a philosopher, but is in fact just another His bad taste doesn’t extend to
thug men’s fashion. He’s an elegant dresser and
Equipment: Twin Pistols (Ranged seems to have a different Brooks Brothers’
Weapons; 3 Damage) suit for every occasion. On this subject he’s
Background: Jimmy Yip is a poet and a far from inarticulate, and the reason his men
philosopher, he has convinced himself. He dress like young investment bankers is that
reads condensed versions of the Taoist he’s taught them how.
classics and silly paperbacks on feng-shui.
He makes pretentious, muddled-up remarks
about the nature of fate and life every time
he kills somebody. He has no idea what The Russian Mob doesn’t have much of a
he’s talking about, and his philosophical foothold in Bedlam, but they do sometimes
observations frequently make no sense, but smuggle goods in through Bedlam Harbor or
his boys still think it’s amazingly cool. Or the Airport (with the approval and
maybe they’re just afraid to tell him how cooperation of the Bedlam Mafia.) There
goofy and lame it looks. Jimmy isn’t like are a lot of different gangs of Russian
Justice Jackson—a real orator with a sinister hoodlums. The group that Bedlam’s Mafia
agenda lurking under it. His attempts to be families are most used to dealing with is
deep are downright incoherent. For called the “Vorovskoy Bratva.” However,
example, Justice might try to explain some since that just means “Brotherhood of
awful thing he’s done with a specious but Thieves”, it’s not likely to be their real name.
moving lecture about the way fate works. Since the fall of Communism, there
In the same situation, Jimmy would say have been two major divisions of Russian
something like “yeah, well the harmonies of organized crime. First, there is the old,
earth and sky all align on the guy who traditional “Thieves World”, which goes back
attains the perfection of the achievement of to the Czarist days. This underground
will. You know?” network has elaborate rituals and codes of
Don’t ask about his poetry. It’s so behavior. Members of these gangs have a
bad you won’t be able to stop laughing and whole coded system of tattoos that identify
he’ll shoot you for it. the gangster’s status, accomplishments and
Despite his pompous delusions, history, with very specific and precise
Jimmy is a vicious, shallow thug. He lacks meanings. Their honor-code of behavior is
the depth to understand how bad it is to elaborate and unyielding, and revolves more
brutalize and murder people, and he always than anything else around a policy of total
has a kind of flat, scary blankness that his non-cooperation with the authorities, or with
boys also think is really cool, and that they

255
society’s laws. A thief may not work, for 3 (+4), Search 3 (+4), Stealth 2 (+3)
example. He must steal. Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll 1,
The Thieves’ World was persecuted Improved Grapple, Power Attack
by the communist authorities. By the Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon; 3
Brezhnev era it mainly existed in the Soviets’ Damage), Knife (Melee Weapon; 3
vast prison system. When the Red Star Damage), Bulletproof Vest (3 Protection)
finally set, and the Soviet Union fell apart, Background: A typical “Thief-in-Law” will
the Thieves’ World was beset by new have short hair, a lot of tattoos and will
troubles. For now the cops had turned to dress with expensive ostentation. Their
crime. Most of the new criminal favorite cars are Mercedes. A lot of them
organizations that rose in the new Russia have changed their names to blend in better
were run by former intelligence and police with American society and a surprising
personnel, in coordination with crooked number don’t have Russian accents. They
government officials. Now that the have an alarming policy of never leaving
authorities were competing with them for witnesses and of wiping out a victim’s entire
their share of the action, a lot of the family to prevent their kids from growing up
traditional thieves fled the country, looking to take revenge. They do not have a good
for better pickings elsewhere. system worked out yet for disposing of
The “Vorovskoy Bratva” are corpses while they are in Bedlam, so they
mysterious, but they appear to be a tend to just let their victims lie where they
traditional, “World of Thieves” organization, fall.
complete with tattoos. If they are even a
single gang. It’s possible that more than The Red Queen
one group has done business with the
Bedlam Mob under that name.
Unlike the Triads, the Vorovskoy
Bratva maintain no long-term presence in
Bedlam. They only show up when they
have business to transact. They are not as
good guests as the Triads or the Yakuza.
While they will usually ask permission before
they undertake an operation in Bedlam, they
don’t always, and this has caused friction
with Bedlam’s ruling Mafia families. Nor do
the Vorovskoy Bratva always behave
themselves on the Mob’s turf. They don’t
take insults or disrespect from civilians or
cops and there have been a few ugly
incidents. For now, their money is still
good, but their relationship with Bedlam’s
criminal overlords could rapidly sour.

Russian Mobster
PL: 3
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 10 (+0)
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 3
Toughness Save: 3 (2 without body
PL: 7
armor) Fortitude Save: 3
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 Str: 10 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 18 (+4)
Skills: Bluff 4 (+4), Disable Device 2 (+2),
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 3
Intimidate 5 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4
Defense: 7 (2 if caught Flatfooted)
(+4), Languages (Russian, English), Notice

256
Toughness Save: 7 (2 if caught a talented sneak-thief, shoplifter and con
Flatfooted) artist. She’s the daughter of a Brooklyn
Fortitude Save: 3 Reflexes Save: 3 mob accountant everyone called “Uncle
Willpower Save: 3 Bob” and she inherited his amazing talent
Skills: Bluff 8 (+12), Computers 3 (+6), for numbers, which made her extremely
Concentration 6 (+10), Craft (Chemical) 3 valuable to Uncle Bob’s crew. He got killed
(+6), Diplomacy 9 (+13), Disable Device 5 ten years ago and she rallied the remnants
(+8), Disguise 6 (+10), Escape Artist 3 of his crew around her, slowly killing and
(+5), Gather Information 6 (+10), replacing the troublesome or ambitious
Intimidate 8 (+12), Knowledge (Business) 5 ones. Her control over them isn’t as
(+8), Knowledge (Civics) 3 (+6), Knowledge complete as she would like—sometimes they
(Physical Sciences) 3 (+6), Knowledge act up and cause trouble despite her best
(Streetwise) 5 (+8), Languages (Russian, efforts to keep them in line. But sometimes
English, French, Yiddish), Notice 9 (+13), you have to let the boys blow off a little
Perform (Dance) 8 (+12), Search 7 (+11), steam.
Sense Motive 8 (+12), Stealth 5 (+7) She has a Russian accent when she
Feats: Assessment, Attractive, Connected, wants to act threatening but it vanishes
Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll when she needs to pull off a con.
5, Distract (linked to Bluff), Dodge Focus 4, Enchanting when she needs to be, she is
Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Fascinate (linked cold and blank when she’s surrounded by
to Perform), Grappling Finesse, Improved her boys. Her looks are starting to fade
Critical (with straight razor), Improved now and there is a little gray in her hair.
Initiative, Leadership, Master Plan, Redirect, She knows that her beauty is one of her big
Quick-Draw, Uncanny Dodge, Well-Informed assets and she may be planning to retire
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon; 4 before she starts to lose her grip.
Damage), Straight Razor (Melee Weapon; 4 People think of her as extremely
Damage) callous, but not sadistic. That’s not true at
Background: The leader of the largest all. In fact she’s astonishingly cruel, has
faction of the Vorovskoy Bratva is the gleefully watched dozens of acts of terrifying
notorious “Red Queen.” She got this name violence that would leave a normal person’s
back in Brooklyn because of her Russian mind scarred forever. But she is so
ancestry, and although the Bratva are as pragmatic and levelheaded that she never
fiercely anti-Communist as anyone in the lets it get out of control, never makes a rash
“World of Thieves” she likes having a move or takes an unwise risk. She loves to
nickname and has embraced it. She wears kill children best of all, because they’re so
red dresses, red makeup, red lipstick, etc. disgustingly weak and puny. But she would
Female leaders are rare in the never kill one without a good excuse. That
Russian Mob, but not unknown, especially at would be unprofessional.
the lower levels. She has managed to hold The Red Queen has two
a good-sized gang together through her weaknesses. One is Russian folk dancing, to
personal magnetism, good business sense which she is completely addicted, and which
and astonishing ruthlessness. The fact that she’s willing to expose herself to
she can’t physically beat up her goons only considerable risk in order to attend. She
occasionally becomes a problem—if any of also has a daughter, living in foster care in
her lads looks as though he’s going to make Philadelphia, who she sometimes visits
an issue out of it, she immediately has him secretly. Sometimes she wonders if it would
killed. be exciting to kill her little girl. But then the
The Red Queen started out, like strange thought crosses her mind that she
most of the Russian Mob’s women, in would have to kill herself afterwards. Her
forgery and credit card theft. But she’s also daughter is the closest thing on Earth to
someone she actually loves.

257
 Typical Yakuza
PL: 3
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
There is no Japanese neighborhood in Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
Bedlam and no local Yakuza gang to prey on Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3
it. Japan’s crime lords don’t have any Defense: 3 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
business interests in town and maintain no Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 3
long-term presence here. If, however, Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
someone they are pursuing were to flee to Skills: Bluff 5 (+6), Drive 6 (+7), Intimidate
Bedlam, they would send gunsels or possibly 6 (+7), Knowledge (Business) 3 (+3),
even Shinobi after them. If this happens, Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+5), Notice 4
they will first contact the Scarpias, to ask (+6), Profession (yakuza) 4 (+5), Sense
their permission to operate on their turf. Motive 2 (+4), Stealth 3 (+4)
They might or might not think to ask their Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 2,
rivals, the Gorganzuas, and if they don’t, Endurance, Move-By Action, Quick-Draw,
Tiny Tina might get annoyed at the lack of Second Chance (Willpower Checks vs. pain)
respect. If she does, the Gorganzua family Equipment: Big Sharp Knife (Melee
may leak it to the PCs that the Yakuza is in Weapon, 3 Damage), Pistol (Ranged
town. Weapon, 3 Damage)
If the PCs interfere with the Yakuza Background: The gumi make a huge fetish
while they are hunting a target in Bedlam, out of being tough, and they each seem to
they will first ask the Scarpias’ permission to affect a different style to show how
retaliate and then bring in hordes of PL 4 fearsome and sinister they are. No two look
Ninja and perhaps a PL 10 supervillain or quite alike but most are still instantly
two as well. recognizable as Japanese gangsters. They
Whenever the Yakuza carry out an are forever trying to gain face in one
operation in Bedlam, they will be acutely anothers’ eyes by displaying their physical
conscious of how exposed they are, how far bravery and stoicism. This makes them look
from home and short on allies, and they will a little crazy to most other gangsters. Any
try to operate as discreetly and quietly as one of these guys might slice off his own
possible. This means that the GM should finger to make a point.
portray them as a mysterious, silent foe that The Yakuza love to threaten people
strikes from behind when you are at your and throw their weight around. But they’re
weakest and then vanishes. pretty careful not to actually kill civilians
We have stats below for a typical unless they really have to. Japanese cops
Yakuza gunman, as well as for one of the don’t really care so much what the Gumi do
Shinobi they might employ. Only seldom to one another. But if they start killing
will the PCs encounter any of them in ordinary people, that’s another matter
Bedlam. entirely. However, this doesn’t mean your
average person is exactly safe around them.
Gumi are even more touchy than the Triads
about their honor. If you insult one, he’ll
really have no choice but to try and avenge
the slight, even if he knows it isn’t a good
idea to attack you.

258
Shinobi (+7), Profession (day-job) 4 (+4), Search 4
(+6), Sleight of Hand 4 (+7), Stealth 9
(+12)
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Defensive Roll 3, Dodge Focus 2, Elusive
Target, Evasion, Instant Up, Move-By
Action, Quick-Draw, Sneak Attack,
Takedown Attack
Equipment: Sword or Staff or Other Weird
Ninja Weapon (Melee Weapon, 3 Damage),
Bow or Shuriken (Ranged Weapon, 3
Damage)
Background: Of course there’s no such
thing as ninjas. But just try telling that to
these guys. The kind of Shinobi who the
Yakuza can hire to put the hurt on Player
Characters is usually a gifted athlete who
has watched too many movies and has a
really bad case of ADD. They tend to be
wildly enthusiastic about their work, eager
to throw their lives away in combat or take
crazy risks. And they’re always competing
with one another as to who can be the most
suicidally brave. That’s why they have a
bad habit of taking turns to attack Player
Characters instead of rushing them from all
sides, and why they’ll keep attacking even
after they’ve seen a PC take out twelve or
so of their buddies.

With the American Mafia in decline, people

wonder who will rise to claim their place at
the top of the criminal pyramid. Unless the
current trend reverses, it will probably be
the Narcotrafficantes. Mexico’s drug cartels
are rapidly becoming the biggest and best
organized in the world. They’re also
unusually ruthless and prone to violence—
about as vicious as the dreaded Medellin
drug cartel was back in the 1980s. There is
PL: 4 no criminal enterprise they won’t engage in
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 12 (+1) and there are seemingly no lengths they
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 8 (-1) won’t go to for profit or revenge.
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 They don’t keep a very high profile
Defense: 4 (1 if caught Flatfooted) in Bedlam. The Mara owe them fealty in a
Toughness Save: 4 (1 if caught distant, disconnected kind of way and the
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3 biker gang called the Brotherhood handles
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 4 certain types of crime for them, but they
have no direct presence in Bedlam. If they
Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+9), Bluff 4 (+3),
ever do decide to move in on the Bedlam
Climb 5 (+6), Disable Device 5 (+5), Escape
Mafia, the results are sure to be bloody.
Artist 5 (+8), Intimidate 5 (+4), Notice 5

259
 If the cartels ever needed to exert No one is sure what country these folks
themselves in Bedlam, they would probably come from (in fact it’s Laos) or how they
use the Mara as their tool and they probably came to be here. They were Stone Age
wouldn’t ask the Mafia for permission. This farmers one generation ago and have
could cause friction, but is unlikely to lead to brought many peculiar customs and
an all-out war unless the cartels try to get traditions over from their native land. Local
the Mara to do something directly contrary residents have learned not to tangle with
to the Mafia’s interests (steal something them. Guys who try to mug or intimidate
they want to steal, kill a Made Guy, etc.) them tend to disappear.

Baby Love
PL: 4
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 16 (+3)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
Toughness Save: 4 (3 if caught
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4 Reflexes
Ellmore Place divides Wolverton from Save: 4 Willpower Save: 4
Hardwick Park, so the people unfortunate Skills: Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge
enough to live there are caught between the (Popular Culture) 3 (+3), Knowledge
Mara and Eentsy Z. It serves as a buffer (Streetwise) 4 (+4), Notice 6 (+9)
between the two warring factions, a no- Feats: Diehard, Fearless, Improved
man’s land where neither one is welcome. Initiative
There are officially no public Complications: Crazy, violent, acts like a
housing projects in Bedlam. If you’re on baby
public aid, they issue you a Housing Voucher Equipment: Shotgun (Ranged Weapon; 4
(called a “Section 8”) that you to spend on Damage)
rent wherever you like. Unfortunately, the Background: Marcus Dewayne Coolidge
only place in Bedlam where they accept the has always been a little odd. In school
vouchers are the run-down, wretched people used to ask him if he was autistic,
apartments on Ellmore Place. but after he bit a finger or two off his
The apartments are a six-block strip classmates they stopped. These days he
of concentrated misery, dominated by no insists on being treated like an infant,
single criminal faction. The lower three lounging nude inside his building in a huge
blocks are controlled by a maniac who calls pile of silk sheets, reliving himself wherever
himself Baby Love, who has knocked out the he feels like it, clutching a double-barreled
walls of one entire building, turning it into shotgun like a security blanket.
his own personal fortress. For some reason Unpredictable, crazy and violent, no
he refuses to wear clothes, and acts like a one is safe on his turf. A fussy eater, he
baby. lives only on foot loops, chocolate milk and
There are smaller, scattered gangs ice cream. Anyone who offers him some
as well, none of which have names. Even other kind of food is sure to provoke a
Baby Love has no more than sixty troops at vicious outburst.
his disposal. But his reputation for being He was able to pull himself together
crazy and unpredictable keeps both the during his teens, and assembled a gang that
Mara and their rivals at bay. Eentsy Z was tough enough to wrest control of the
secretly gives Baby Love guns, drugs and Ellmore Place Apartments away from the
ammunition to help keep the buffer zone Jamaican Posses that dominated it. He
intact. recruited drug addicts, prostitutes and drag
There is a small enclave of queens from around the neighborhood, gave
Southeast Asian Immigrants in the Ellmore them dope and guns and turned them loose
Place Apartments. They occupy three or on the posses. They took a lot of losses but
four buildings up on the northernmost block. fought with crazy determination and the

260
Jamaicans all left for the Country Club,
which seemed safer.
Local residents actually liked Baby
Love at first, figuring that anybody had to
be better than the Rastafarians. But his
mental health has been slipping since then,
and his popularity has declined as well. For Everyone used to fear the Jamaican posses
now he is the closest thing Ellmore Place the way they now fear the Mara. For a
had to a leader, but one of his gang could while in the early 1990s the rastas seemed
get sick of him and grease him at any to be the rising criminal force in Bedlam.
moment. Hence the shotgun. For now he Their brash style, savage propensity for
lounges naked among his gun-toting drag violence and absolute disregard for law-
queens, wallowing in his own filth and ruling enforcement made them something truly
the Ellmore Place apartments like a mad new. These were guys who would attack
god. police stations with automatic weapons in
broad daylight. But their star faded fast.
The Love Patrol They had learned their trade on the streets
PL: 3 of Kingston, and the techniques that work in
Str: 10 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) a third-world country like Jamaica don’t
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2) work nearly as well in a more organized
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 2 place like the United States. The posses
Toughness Save: 3 (2 if caught attracted too much attention to flourish. By
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 2 1998 they were mostly dead or in jail.
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 2 Now there is only one large posse
Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Intimidate 3 (+5), left in Bedlam—the Invincible Ya-Ya
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 5 (+5), Notice Massive. They’re an uneasy coalition of the
2 (+3), Perform (Dance) 5 (+7) two largest surviving Jamaican gangs, and
Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll 1, they have no more than seventy members
Distract (Linked to Perform), Power Attack in total. Their turf is largely on the north
Complications: Unstable, trigger-happy side of Scarlett Hill, in the neighborhood
and histrionic everyone calls the Country Club, but it
Equipment: Submachine Gun (Ranged extends into Wolverton’s small Caribbean
Weapon; 3 Damage; Extra: Autofire), pills, neighborhood. Eentsy Z probably has
really outrageous outfit. enough men to wipe them out but he
Background: Here are some stats for doesn’t bother. The Posse stick largely to
Baby Love’s inner cadre—the Love Patrol. A themselves and he’s got bigger enemies.
pack of crazy, drugged-out gun-toting drag Like all the authentic Jamaican
queens, they’re nearly as unpredictable as posses in the Untied states (as opposed to
Baby Love himself. No one is completely gun-toting wanna-be’s in dreadlocks) the
safe around them. If the Mafia ever sent an Invincible Ya-Ya Massive are an offshoot of
envoy to negotiate with them, they might a neighborhood militia in Kingston. These
kill him on a crazy whim, regardless of the groups are the enforcement wings of
terrible consequences that would surely Jamaica’s two dominant political parties, the
follow. Labor Party and the People’s National Party.
It’s hard to tell if they’re getting The local militias provide protection and
tired enough of Baby Love’s antics to kill services for the people who live in their
him. Nor is it clear who, if anybody, would respective neighborhoods—at least in
emerge as a leader in his wake. And there’s theory. They’re in constant need of more
the shotgun to consider. money and ammunition and they have
opened chapters in the US and Great Britain
to funnel more resources back to the main
organizations in Jamaica. But the Invincible
Ya-Ya Massive are having some difficulties

261
with the leadership back home and they’ve “General” Ludlow Crichton
been effectively stranded in Bedlam with no
support and little contact for years.
They are the only large organized
crime group in Bedlam that owes nothing to
the Mafia, directly or indirectly, and might
be willing to defy them
Like all traditional posses, they have
a three-tiered organizational structure. The
leaders at the top never touch or even see
the illegal drugs and other contraband that
the guys at street-level sell. They maintain
their power strictly by organizing things and
by killing anyone who doesn’t pay them
their cut. The soldiers directly underneath
them never actually sell or transport illegal
merchandise themselves, they just manage
the kids who do. Often they manage them PL: 5
brutally. Posse members are very touchy Str: 17 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3)
about honor and reputation and they lash Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3)
out at anybody they think is showing them Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5
disrespect Defense: 5 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
Ludlow Crichton and Neville Soames Toughness Save: 5 (3 without body
are the posse’s two Generals at the armor) Fortitude Save: 6
moment, operating in an uneasy alliance. Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 2
Crichton dresses in a faux military uniform
Skills: Bluff 4 (+7), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
and lounges around one of the Country
Gather Information 3 (+6), Intimidate 5
Club’s deserted mansions, with his
(+8), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 1 (+2),
bodyguards and sycophants. Soames stays
Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice 3
constantly on the move, conducting all his
(+5), Profession (criminal) 6 (+7), Sense
business by payphone.
Motive 4 (+6)
Neville “the Devil” Soames is the
Feats: All-Out Attack, Diehard, Distract
crazier, younger and more violent of the
(Linked to Bluff), Dodge Focus 4,
two, but General Crichton has a more
Endurance, Leadership, Power Attack, Sneak
imposing personality. He’s also bigger,
Attack, Startle
stronger and a better shot than Neville the
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
Devil. For the moment they are working
Damage), Assault Rifle (Ranged Weapon, 5
together. How long this can last is
Damage; Extra: Autofire), Bulletproof Vest
anybody’s guess.
(5 Protection)
Neville Soames and his group used
Background: The General knows how to
to haunt the Ellmore Place Apartments, but
put on a show. Even now that his posse
they tangled with the strange, insular group
has been reduced to eighty men or so,
of Southeast Asian immigrants who live
perhaps half of whom he can fully trust, he
there and had to flee. He never talks about
always looks dignified and in command. He
the incident or explains what happened.
lives in one of the deserted mansions up on
That’s because he doesn’t know. His men
Scarlett Hill, near the gates of the Country
just started disappearing.
Club., surrounded by armed bodyguards,

262
hired girlfriends and faded grandeur. Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice 5
He’s constantly giving orders, (+7), Profession (criminal) 5 (+7), Sense
making decisions, looking at maps, listening Motive 3 (+5), Sleight-of-Hand 3 (+5),
to aides. The whole thing looks so crisp and Stealth 4 (+6)
efficient that you would never suspect how Feats: All-Out Attack, Defensive Roll 3,
much his power has faded and how little he Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Dodge Focus
still controls. A big, tall, dignified looking 2, Evasion, Improved Defense, Move-By
man with a deep voice and a commanding Action, Power Attack, Quick-Draw, Startle
presence, he looks the role. In fact he’s a Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
lot more selfish and irresponsible than he Damage) Submachine Gun (Ranged
seems, but he’s superb at projecting wise, Weapon, 4 Damage; Extra: Autofire)
dignified authority. He always looks stern Background: A grinning, ratty little guy
and commanding and he rarely favors his with wild eyes and a submachine gun in
subordinates with a smile. each hand, Neville Soames is always eager
A first-generation Jamaican to burnish his reputation for being crazy.
immigrant from the Trenchtown He’s co-general with Ludlow Crichton, but
neighborhood of Kingston, he was born to it’s an uneasy partnership. His maniacal
command. His family have been the right- laugh is as chilling as Stabbo the Clown’s.
wing Labor Party’s political bullyboys for Yet he’s not as crazy as he looks. Neville
generations and he grew up around the the Devil would never have lived this long if
family’s generals. He learned at an early his lunacy weren’t at least in part an act.
age to lead men, although he was so willful He knows how to make people fear him and
and unreliable that the family sent him away understands its value. With his high-pitched
to America. voice and slump-shouldered, scrawny build
He has six sons and three daughters he’d never be able to project the same kind
by his various girlfriends and he loves of dignified grandeur as General Crichton, so
playing the role of a magnanimous father, instead he projects craziness.
even though he’d never lift a finger to help Like his fellow general, he never
care for them. While he isn’t a very actually handles any contraband material
religious man, he’s a practicing Rastafarian himself. That’s all done by intermediaries.
and the walls of his mansion are hung with Instead he shoots people, often enough to
gaudy oil paintings of Haile Selassie, Marcus make sure everyone is sufficiently scared to
Garvey and other major figures in black give him a share of their earnings. He’s
history. He despises Bob Marley and won’t known for mutilating himself in order to
have any of his music played in his show people how little he fears pain,
presence, for Marley was associated with walking on broken glass or gouging his arm
the Peoples’ National Party, who Crichton with a knife while laughing hysterically.
regards as his mortal enemies. Neville knows that his arrangement
with Crichton can’t last forever and he’s
Neville “the Devil” Soames naturally kind of paranoid, so he tries never
PL: 4 to sleep in the same place twice. He’ll crash
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) out in an alley like a derelict or on a friend’s
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 14 (+2) couch or a rooftop. He does not carry a cell
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 phone or a beeper and conducts business
Defense: 4 (1 if caught Flatfooted) through a series of payphones where
Toughness Save: 4 (1 if caught subordinates take and leave messages for
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4 him.
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 3 He seems not to care whether he
Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Craft (Chemical) 2 lives or dies, but in fact this is just an act.
(+4), Disable Device 3 (+5), Gather He’s actually pretty cautious and intends to
Information 3 (+5), Intimidate 6 (+8), sell his life dearly when his enemies finally
come for him.

263
Generic Yardie Thunder Road” (not the Bruce
PL: 3 Springsteen song, but the Robert Mitchum
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2) tune from the 1950s.)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) Out of all of Bedlam’s criminal
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 4 gangs, only the Brotherhood have regular
Defense: 3 (1 if caught Flatfooted) contact with Thunder Road. There’s a truck
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 3 stop east of town on Route 2 where you can
Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3 sometimes find them. It’s kind of a scary
Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Disable Device 2 (+3), place, but of course the Brotherhood are
Intimidate 4 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 scary guys themselves.
(+4), Notice 3 (+4), Profession (criminal) 5
(+5), Sense Motive 2 (+3), Stealth 3 (+4) Sample Member of Thunder Road
Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 2,
Quick-Draw, Startle
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3
Damage), Light Submachine Gun (Ranged
Weapon, 3 Damage; Extra: Autofire)
Background: The Invincible Ya-Ya started
out as a British gang, and they brought the
slang name “Yardie” with them from the UK.
Morale is low among the troops, but they
keep fighting for the cause. What else can
they do?

A network of crank-dealing truckers

who sometimes dabble in pimping, loan- PL: 3
sharking and contract murder. No one is Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
sure precisely how many members of Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 10 (+0)
Thunder Road there are, since they’re Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 3
constantly on the move. Their network can Defense: 3 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
transport drugs and other contraband from Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 3
one side of the country to the other faster Reflexes Save: 3 Willpower Save: 3
than nearly anyone else, and there’s no Skills: Bluff 2 (+3), Disable Device 3 (+4),
better way to dispose of a hot weapon than Drive 6 (+7), Intimidate 4 (+5), Knowledge
to turn it over to them. They can have it (Streetwise) 2 (+3), Notice 4 (+5),
buried in a forest in Oregon or a farmer’s Profession (trucker) 4 (+5), Sense Motive 2
field in Texas within eighteen hours. (+3), Stealth 3 (+4)
They can be tricky to deal with. Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 2,
Violent, unpredictable and sometimes Move-By Action, Quick-Draw
irrational, most members take way too Equipment: Tire Iron (Melee Weapon, 3
much speed. They seem to recognize one Damage), Revolver (Ranged Weapon, 3
another by all wearing “CAT” caps and by Damage), Mack Truck
playing or humming the song “The Ballad of

264
 coming up with a name, a hand-sign, a list
of rules and so forth. It was a lot more
work than she had thought. Madison knew
Jane from AP English and Calculus, knew
she had a flair for the dramatic and a
powerful creative mind, and asked her to
design a gang.
Jane knew it was wrong, knew
Madison was up to no good, but she was
flattered, too. Not conceited about her
looks, she was fatally vain about her mind.
The result was the Murder Club.
Thanks to Jane, they have an elaborate
initiation ritual, with oaths and ordeals and
crimes (you have to kill the pet of someone
you know and drink its blood at your
ceremony) a secret tattoo you aren't
allowed to show anyone but fellow gang
members (a rose with crossed daggers) a
series of ranks and a code of honor.
The penalty for revealing the
Murder Club’s secrets is to die slowly. Jane
would never have betrayed them, but
Madison didn't want to let her in the club, so
she has accused Jane of snitching, and the
girl is presently marked for death. She will
be their first actual kill.
So far the Murder Club has been
terrorizing teachers they don't like and
students they disapprove of. The Stone
Ridge authorities refuse to acknowledge the
gang's existence and the one teacher who
It's dull in Stone Ridge. There isn't even tried to make a public fuss about it got fired.
much challenge in rising to the top of the Having the girls arrested will be even more
teen social ladder—your dad's position difficult. Madison has managed to get some
pretty much takes care of that. So a group of the Iron Talon security staff on her side
of Stone Ridge's most prominent "mean by promising them underage girls to party
girls" have decided to make life more with (she wouldn't sacrifice any actual
interesting. They have formed a gang. At members of the club that way, but there are
first they weren't sure how to do it—what always pledges and wanna-be's who'd do
rules it should have and what kind of codes anything for a shot at admission.) Anyway
and symbols it should use. The closest any most of the members are from much too
of them had ever been to really bad kids important families.
was buying coke and hanging around the Madison has been trying to expand
illegal nightclubs on Industrial Drive. But the club's ties to gangs in the city and score
they all listened to enough hip-hop and had them a reliable coke connection. Next year
seen enough movies to figure most of it out. she's going away to college, but she doesn't
The details they left to Jane. intend to go any farther than Belchner (see
Jane Tharp is a bright, shy girl who Page 141) and she'll run things from a
most of the ruling clique ignored. She was distance. In her absence her Lieutenant,
pretty enough to be one of them but lacked Missy Pfeffner probably won't be able to
the force of personality. Madison Nylander, keep the same kind of hold over the group.
the gang's founder, was having a hard time

265
 There are presently about thirty The Slaughter Girl: Madison Nylander
active members of the Murder Club. Their
colors are purple, gold and a particularly rich
shade of red, which only the Slaughter Girl
(the club president) is allowed to wear.
They use a stylized version of the rose and
crossed daggers as a tag, but they put it in
strange places (the insides of pencil
sharpeners, for example) where no one
would ordinarily notice it.
Once the girls make their first kill,
and realize how easy it is, they are going to
get a lot more dangerous. Things may start
rapidly spinning out of control.

The Murder Club—an Alternate Version

For an extra twist, what if Jane Tharp struck PL: 2
first? In this version of the Murder Club,
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1)
Jane realized that Madison was about to
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3)
denounce her to the group, so she
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 1 Defense: 3
denounced Madison first. No one wanted to
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 2
believe that the Slaughter Girl herself could
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 2
have told anyone the club’s secrets, so she
Skills: Bluff 5 (+8), Diplomacy 3 (+6),
forged a bunch of text messages to
Gather Information 2 (+5), Intimidate 4
Madison’s therapist that “proved” it. The
(+7), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 4 (+7),
messages also said all kinds of cruel and
Perform (Dance) 3 (+6), Sense Motive 3
snarky things about her fellow club
(+4), Stealth 2 (+4)
members.
Feats: Attractive, Distract (linked to Bluff)
Poor Madison swiftly went from
Background: Blank-eyed and scary,
being the Slaughter Girl to the Slaughtered
beautiful and cruel, nothing is beyond this
Girl. Beaten and stabbed to death by
little girl. Fortunately, she doesn’t have
unknown assailants, she got a huge funeral
much imagination and hasn’t yet realized
at which many of the girls who killed her
that her behavior has no limits. Otherwise
wept very convincingly. She was the gang’s
the people around her would have started
first kill, but hardly their last. They’ve
dying long ago. She’s the kind of girl who
murdered six people so far and they’re
would want to start a gang of murderous
getting more and more casual about it.
criminals but then wouldn’t want to do the
In this version, Jane is officially the
work of thinking up a name for them.
gang’s Madame Librarian and treasurer, but
Her grades are mediocre—she’s in
in fact she runs everything. Madison’s little
advanced classes but gets Bs. Her father is
sister Jenny is officially Slaughter Girl, but
a big mean aggressive guy who gets in the
she’s terrified of Jane. For her part, Jane
face of any teacher who gives her a C, so
has tried not to be evil—but it’s just so
she slides by. Although she’s a legacy at
tempting. She always claimed not to want
Dartmouth, she’ll probably wind up going to
to be one of the popular girls, but now she’s
Belchner College instead. In fact it’s tailor-
their queen and she finds it intoxicating.
made for students like her, who have money
Everyone who ever picked on her is going to
but no ambition to do or learn much of
pay, pay, pay. Then she’ll go to Princeton
anything.
and forget all about this.

266
The Slaughter Girl: Jane Tharp away from all this. She does not want to
blow it.
Jane is smart enough to know that
she’s got a tiger by the tail. If she tries to
leave the group now, or doesn’t feed the
beast that she’s created with enough blood,
she will die painfully. Or at least that’s what
she tells herself. Deep down Jane is far
more cruel than she would ever admit and
some awful part of her is really enjoying
this. She rationalizes that since she needs
to send the girls out to harass people, the
people they go after might as well be the
ones she hates.

If you want Bedlam’s organized crime

problem to be at the center of your
campaign, you may need to make the
opposition a little tougher. The Mafia can of
course hire as many supervillains as they
want, but Dapper Donny Scarpia, Eentsy Z
and the rest are still a little flimsy to be
recurring nemeses for a group of PL 10 PCs.
While Bedlam would be an interesting place
for a low-powered campaign, you’ll also
PL: 3 need options for beefing up the mob. Here
are a few, to be used only if you need them.
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
If you plan on using any of them, make sure
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
to mention them early on in the campaign,
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 3 Defense: 3
so that your players don’t feel like you’re
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 2
pulling this stuff on them out of nowhere.
Reflexes Save: 2 Willpower Save: 4
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Craft (Chemical) 3 DOOM
(+6), Diplomacy 6 (+8), Disable Device 3 A large aerospace company that we
(+6), Gather Information 5 (+7), Intimidate probably shouldn’t name once came up with
4 (+6), Knowledge (Behavioral Science) 1 a novel way to test their new battlesuits
(+4), Knowledge (History) 3 (+6), under actual urban warfare condition. They
Knowledge (Physical Science) 1 (+4), shipped them through a troubled part of
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 2 (+5), West Africa and allowed one of the local
Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 1 warlords to steal them. Soon the suits had
(+4), Perform (Oratory) 3 (+5), Sense fallen into the hands of his enemies as well,
Motive 5 (+8), Stealth 4 (+4) and before long they were available on the
Feats: Attractive, Inspire, Jack of All international black market. You can buy
Trades, Master Plan, Startle, Well-Informed one almost anywhere in the world now. Any
Background: Much smarter and more large organized crime network will have a
cautious than Madison, Jane is trying hard few in it’s arsenal in the same way that
not to let her grades slip while she deals every group of prohibition-era gangsters had
with the distraction of running a gang. a Tommy gun or two.
College will be her chance to get out and

267
 Most of the suits have the numbers Protection 6 [Extra: Impervious 6],
300D printed down one leg, and when you Enhanced Strength 8, Leaping 5 [Leaps 50
look down at your leg the numbers look a times normal distance, stays airborne for
lot like the word “DOOM”, so that’s what one full round], Super-Senses 3 [Dark
people call them. They are dangerous to Vision, Radio Hearing], Super-Strength 4
wear. Inexperienced operators can easily [Maximum Lift: 6.4 Tons])
break their own limbs just walking around in
a DOOM suit, and there isn’t enough internal The Regulus Effect
radiation shielding. The average lifespan of Over the years, the UNICORN has developed
a pilot is about three years. But it’s a sure quite a number of dangerous, unstable
way to prove yourself if you want to become techniques for creating superhumans.
a Made Guy. Formula X, Induced Brain Lesion Therapy,
It’s probably stretching things a little the University of Minnesota Protocol—but
to let the Mara or the Brotherhood or Eentsy this one they discarded as too irresponsible
Z have access to this hardware without a to ever use. If you like, it may have fallen
good explanation. Perhaps they asked the into the hands of the Mafia, or even be
mob to loan them a suit, or they stole one within the reach of street gangs like the
from a warehouse down at Bedlam Harbor. Mara or the Last of the Last.
There is a drug called Mnemodrine
Typical DOOM Suit Pilot 6, intended to stop visual hallucinations,
that has some interesting side effects if you
use it on people with certain kinds of
chemical imbalances in their system.
Someone with Attention Deficit Disorder will
develop superhuman levels of coordination if
you give them enough, and if you lock them
in a sensory deprivation tank for a week or
so, the ones who don’t go into convulsions
and die will develop full-blown PL 10
superpowers (usually psychic or energy
projection abilities—but sometimes super-
speed.)
The catch is that the Regulus Effect
burns out your nervous system. First the
subject goes blind and then they die. If you
use Mnemodrine 6 to soup up your reaction
time, it cuts your lifespan to about a year.
You’ll probably go blind in eight months. If
Str: 22 (+6)/ 14 (+2) Dex: 12 (+1)
you undergo the full-blown treatment, you
Con: 12 (+1) Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1)
will only live for a few days—possibly hours.
Cha: 12 (+1)
The UNICORN had some kind of trick that
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4
enabled them to keep test subjects alive for
Toughness Save: 6 Impervious (+1
longer. Some of their “volunteers” lived as
without armor) Fortitude Save: 4
long as five years. No one outside of the
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 1
federal government knows how they did
Skills: Bluff 3 (+4), Drive 2 (+3), Intimidate
that.
5 (+6), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4),
Mnemodrine 6 is almost ridiculously
Notice 4 (+5), Profession (criminal or
easy to make. It’s actually less difficult to
soldier) 4 (+5), Stealth 4 (+5)
synthesize in a basement lab than meth or
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, Improved
PCP. The only reason why the country isn’t
Block, Improved Grapple, Power Attack
awash in jittery mayfly supermen is that the
Powers: Device (Battlesuit: Blast 8 [Extra:
details of the technique aren’t widely known,
Penetrating 6], Communication 5 [Radio],
and an improperly prepared version will just

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screw up the subject’s eyesight or kill them. If you want the Mara to have an equalizer
There are always suicidal idiots willing to try against your PCs, you could let them
it, but most of them wind up with white discover the Mano Madre Sangre. This
canes or pine overcoats pretty quick. mummified hand has a candle made of
Unbeknownst to your average suicidal idiot, human fat on each finger, and it suppresses
a few street chemists have the technique superhuman abilities in whoever its light
down, and Eentsy Z or the Brotherhood or, shines on. This will of course also neutralize
who knows, maybe Los Furies could find a any powers that the Jigsaw Man and his
reliable source. There are of course other Brujo Boys have themselves, but they are
ways of beefing up the Mara, but their likely to rely on them less than the PCs.
fanatical determination would also make And they could also give it to a flunky with a
them good candidates for using the Regulus suicide bomb.
Effect.
As a variation on the theme,
perhaps Mnemodrine 6 is actually difficult
and expensive to make, and only a few
designer drug experts can brew it up.
Someone like Rock Johnson or Eentsy Z
could probably get their hands on a dose or
two if they needed it badly enough, but they
Supervillains and gangsters aside, Bedlam is
wouldn’t pass it out to their troops like hard
presently home to at least three truly
candy.
spectacular criminals, none of whom have
ever been caught. These are the guys who
The Crawley Cocktail
drive the Bedlam City detectives nuts. The
Researchers at the Crawley Asylum (see
guys who they just can’t seem to catch.
Page 103) have come up with a combination
Would a Player Character superhero deign
of drugs that will suppress superhuman
to help chase down Bedlam’s most wanted?
powers if it’s administered on a regular
Any PC who does succeed in apprehending
basis. What if there were also a quick-
one of them will instantly achieve local
acting version that you could inject into a
fame.
superhuman to knock their powers out for a
while? Call it Neutralize 10 (all powers.)
Mr. Nobody
Really devious GMs might even
One of the most prolific burglars in the city’s
come up with a version that can be taken
history, Mr. Nobody has committed an
orally and slipped into a drink. This is
astonishing number of break-ins over the
something that a street gang wouldn’t have
past three years. The police don’t like to
regular access to. They’d have to buy it
talk about him, or about their failure to
from a crooked orderly at the Crawley State
catch him, but little details have slipped out.
Hospital for the Criminally Insane and they
It seems astonishing that he could
wouldn’t have a big supply. But whenever
have committed more than two hundred
the GM needs them to be able to knock out
and fifty successful burglaries in just three
a Player Character’s superhuman abilities,
years. But the police really do seem to
you can rationalize their having a dose.
consider him a suspect in that many
breaking-and-entering cases. He only hits
The Hand of the Madre Sangre
downtown office buildings and he has a
Toughness: 1 Size: Tiny Defense: 8 technique for beating alarm systems that is
Powers: Neutralize 10, all powers except totally unique, and that instantly identifies
for those based on technological artifacts the crime as his work. The cops won’t say
(power armor, projectile guns, etc); Extra: what it is. There has been a lot of
30 foot Burst-Effect Radius; Flaw: Sense- speculation that he might be superhuman.
Dependant (The target must see the artifact
to be affected by it.)

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 Cops started calling him “Mr. he has never been apprehended and
Nobody” because they couldn’t catch him continues his reign of terror today.
and the moment the press heard the name, He haunts the city’s poorest neighborhoods,
it was too cool not to use. There was a setting fires in Wolverton and the Country
flurry of media activity around Mr. Nobody Club. Only seldom does he venture further
last year (the cool name helped them sell afield. He sets fires to private homes, with
the story) but they lost interest after no one an incendiary device placed on the front or
caught him or turned him in. A lot of people rear porch. He doesn’t seem to like
have already forgotten about him and most apartment buildings or stores as much, but
would be surprised to hear that his crime he has set a few of them on fire. There
spree has gone on unabated. seems to be little pattern to his victims,
The cops put together a task force although most of them are poor and black.
to catch him last year. They failed and the Torchy always seems to strike in the
task force is “being reorganized” (meaning pre-dawn hours and he always uses the
that it has temporarily disbanded.) same kind of incendiary device (the
authorities won’t say what kind he uses.)
A Missing Clue Whatever his MO, it’s simple, quick and it
Any PC who tries investigating the Mr. leaves him plenty of time to get away.
Nobody case has a chance of finding one He doesn’t send taunting letters to
salient fact that the Task Force overlooked. the authorities and he doesn’t seem to stick
An Investigate Check vs. DC 20 will reveal around to gloat over his crimes. He’s clearly
that all of the buildings Mr. Nobody has angry and sadistic—he always places his
robbed used a company called Maximum devices where they trap people and block
Safeguard as their security provider. That them from exiting. Yet it looks as though he
might be significant, but then again does not know his victims and has no
Maximum Safeguard is the largest security personal grudge against them. There are
company in Bedlam. rumors that he may be a pyrokinetic, or
If a Player thinks to ask what some other kind of superhuman, possibly
security companies each building used, then the product of a horrible secret experiment.
you don’t need to make them roll. Just tell The police won’t confirm or deny any of this.
them. All of these factors seem to point
toward Seymour Sanders, the insane
Torchy the Firebug pyromaniac supervillain who calls himself
“Doctor Scorch.” (see his description and
stats on Page 296) The problem is, Doctor
Scorch has been locked up in a mental
institution for most of the past fifteen years
and he simply, physically, could not have
committed these crimes. Could he?

The Cannon
Bedlam’s most successful master criminal
hasn’t even alerted the police to his
Bedlam’s number-one arsonist has been presence. Therefore no one is even looking
killing people and destroying their homes for for him, at least in this city. For more about
more than ten years. He is responsible for the Cannon and the ancient form of crime
an amazing amount of death and he has mastered, see the “Horrible Secrets”
destruction—worse than anything any section on Page 379. But only if you’re the
supervillain has ever done to the city. Yet GM!

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The Bus to Nowhere Lucius Hardwick IV
There are consistent stories that black buses
with tinted windows and no license plates
pick people up on streetcorners downtown
in the dead of night. Who drives them?
Where do they go? People talk about the
buses working for aliens, secret cults, or a
hidden base buried in mountain somewhere What is mean old Mr. Hardwick doing,
outside of town, where an evil doctor locked up in his huge, crumbling mansion
performs depraved experiments on living for all these years? No one seems to know.
human test subjects. None of this can In fact no one seems to know if he’s even
possibly be true, can it? still alive in there. All his affairs are handled
by the small but powerful law firm of
The Ghost Fleet Dransfield, Stavely and Spalt (see Page 158)
They say that back around the turn of the and they answer no questions about Mr.
20th century, a huge freighter called the Hardwick himself. But everyone knows that
Agamemnon sank in the river outside of he hasn’t left his house since 1996, and that
Bedlam Harbor. It was only one of a series he was ancient even then. How old would
of vessels that foundered and sank in these he be now? Ninety-five? A hundred? Older?
waters—there used to be mysterious Some people in Bedlam’s business
whirlpools and sudden squalls that pulled community say that he must still be alive—
down boats with disturbing regularity. his legal team vigorously defends his
No one is precisely sure where the financial empire and they’ll ruin anyone who
wreck of the Agamemnon lies, or for that tries to intrude on his turf. Other people
matter whether or not there was ever such point out that this doesn’t really mean
a vessel. However, it is said that on certain anything.
dark nights you can see the lost ships The mansion itself is surrounded by
glowing faintly through the black water. a twelve-foot wall and a lot of tangled-up
Some people say that you can see the old oak trees—all that’s visible from the
Agamemnon and its sister ships moving street is its sagging roof. Sometimes, late
back and forth down there. at night, a light can be seen burning in one
This is, of course, sheer demented of the uppermost attic windows, but there is
lunacy. We think. But there have been never any sound. What this might mean, no
multiple attempts to salvage cargo from the one can say.
ghost fleet—two of them by well-known
supervillains who seemed to think there was Berth 13
something pretty valuable to be recovered. Down at the Bedlam docks, there is a ship
The river is murky, old and deep. that never seems to weigh anchor. A big
Who knows what may be dreaming down old freighter, it sits moored in its berth,
there in the dark? never leaving. No one comes aboard or
leaves.

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 The harbor authorities discourage In the oldest versions of the tale,
people from asking about Berth 13 and the the death-cab is a horse-drawn hackney,
ship that rests there. And the rumors about elegant and expensive looking, but
it vary according to who you ask. Some spattered with mud and grime. These days
people say it’s Berth 13, some say it’s Berth they say it's a beat up old "checker", with a
119 or 127. Sometimes they say that no license plate that's impossible to read under
other ships ever dock anywhere near it. all the dirt. But everyone agrees that you
Other guys leave that part out. Supposedly never see the cabby’s face. They call him
there are never any lights on board. Unless "Mack." For more on the evil cab, see
sometimes there are mysterious lights in the Pages 125 and 384.
middle of the night.
Worse Things Than the Jigsaw Man
The Club Del Morocco There are whispers that up on the ruined
The Club Del Morocco sits moldering streets of the Country Club, the dead have
beneath a freeway overpass on the outskirts begun to walk. The Jigsaw Man is said to
of Wolverton. It’s an ugly little concrete box be alarmed by this development, which is
of a building, not much bigger than a pretty shocking, since he isn’t afraid of
bungalow, wrapped in fading, tattered anything.
posters from its long-vanished heyday. The
place looks so meager that you would never Your Tax Dollars at Work
guess blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf and People on the street say they’ve seen
Robert Johnson played here many times. hulking men in suits and sunglasses
Until you look more carefully at the posters prowling Bedlam’s dark alleys. Guys who
flapping by the door. can punch through walls and lift cars over
No one has ever vandalized this their heads. Who do they work for? What
place. No winos have ever tried to peel the do they want? No one knows. A beautiful
boards off the door and sleep inside. You woman in an expensive Italian suit
have to do quite a bit of asking around to sometimes appears with them.
find out why. That’s because no one is
exactly sure. The place just makes them Doctor Death
uneasy. If you are a psychic and you live in Bedlam,
If you mange to find a psychotic then at some point over the last thirty years
bum (any crazed derelict will do—they just you have almost certainly woken up
have to be crazy enough) they will tell you screaming the name: “Doctor Death.”
that the Del Morocco is haunted. Haunted Nearly every sensitive in town has had at
bad. Guys have died or gone insane least one dream they can’t quite recall about
messing around with the thing that lives in Doctor Death. They wake, sweating and
there. If you ask them what it is, they will terrified, certain that someone was
cackle toothlessly and ask you how much murdered last night, murdered cruelly and
you know about the history of the Blues. foully and that Doctor Death casts his
shadow over the city once again. But there
Mack the Hack is no such person. No supervillain by that
There have been legends in Bedlam for name has ever terrorized Bedlam, and a
more than a century about an evil cab. quick scan of the morning newspaper never
Supposedly this sinister hack prowls the shows any sign of any mysterious murders
streets looking for people who are truly, having been committed. No masked fiend is
supremely happy. Then it entices them on a rampage (or if some masked fiend is
inside, and takes them on a ride to hell. presently on a rampage, it’s no one named
Some say the cab deposits them on the Doctor Death.)
devil's doorstep or abducts them to Mars. You wake from the dream
Some say the cabbie is a maniac who feasts convinced that Doctor Death is among the
on their living flesh. Some say the truth is worst arch-criminals the world has ever
worse than either. seen. He has killed and killed and killed like

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no one else ever has—you’re sure of it. But going to be vital to getting the tone of your
then why has no one ever heard of him? campaign right. Consider, if the PCs
These dreams are rare. You may immediately run out and take down Dapper
not even have the experience more than Donny and the Gorganzua crime family,
once. But if a Player Character ever tries throw Big Andy Czernik in jail and put good,
mapping out the times and occasions when honest politicians in office to replace the
people have dreamed of Doctor Death, they Czernik machine, it’s going to change the
will find that the highest concentration is nature of the setting, and then it won’t be
actually in the Stone Ridge gated Bedlam anymore. If on the other hand the
community. But that makes even less GM constantly fouls their efforts to improve
sense. It’s the quietest neighborhood in things, railroading plot developments and
Bedlam. Nothing ever happens there. exercising “GM fiat” to keep the campaign’s
major villains from ever getting permanently
defeated, it’s going to aggravate your
players. There are a number of different
ways you can tackle this dilemma.
First, remember that crime is like a
hydra. Cut off its head and it grows two
more. It is possible to take down, for
example, Dapper Donny and Young Junior,
but other Mafiosi inside the Scarpia and
Gorganzua crime families will immediately
take their place (or the New York
Commission will send in new guys in to take
over for them.) Perhaps it’s possible for a
vigilante to completely wreck either family,
but the moment the Bedlam Mafia gets
brought to its knees, the Russian Mob
moves in, or the Mara suddenly take over
the city’s rackets. Eliminate the Rock and
the Stone, and their rackets get taken over
by Eentsy Z. Kill off Graves and the
Brotherhood and some other pack of skuzzy
meth-heads takes over Shady Meadows.
This approach makes a depressing
amount of sense. Bedlam’s real problems
are economic. So long as its poverty
persists and there aren’t enough legitimate
ways to make a living, organized crime will
flourish. Whether or not it completely
dominates the city’s affairs is a question of
how well the PCs do at keeping it out.
We really intended Bedlam to be an adjunct The same is true for political
to your main campaign—a place your PCs corruption. If Big Andy goes to jail, either
can go to have grim “Iron Age” adventures another pawn of the Bedlam Mafia takes his
for a change of pace. However, there is no place, or a different bunch of crooks
reason why you can’t make Bedlam the (possibly the Rock and the Stone) use this
center of your campaign. If you do, you are opportunity to put one of their own guys in
going to have to make an important decision position.
before the game starts: how much are the Ideally, Player Characters should be
PCs going to be allowed to change Bedlam? able to change Bedlam for the better. But it
How big an impact can they ultimately have should be difficult, slow and full of setbacks.
on the city’s corruption and crime? This is Sort of like the kind of progress Batman

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makes in “Year One” or his most recent Arrow, and they’re both as four-color as can
movies. be. If a player shows up in Bedlam with a
Of course, some PCs actually won’t smiling, do-gooder, boy-scout farmboy who
try to change things. They’ll be content to can leap tall buildings in a single bound, it
solve the most recent crime and chase the will create an interesting frisson. So let
latest supervillain out of town. Or they may them do it.
actually like crime and sleaze, relishing the From the early 1970s onwards, all of
way the city gives them a never-ending Captain America’s best, most memorable
stream of jerks to bash in the chops. If this stories have revolved around immersing him
is the way they want to play it, let them. It in the ugliness and ambiguity of the real
effectively lets you off the hook. world (or something more like the real world
It also makes your life easier if PCs than the Golden Age comics of the 1940s.)
focus on cleaning up one part of town— You could make the same argument about
making life better on Ash Street or breaking Green Lantern. So, bring on your mystics,
the Mara’s grip on Hardwick Park or even your super-soldiers, your living atomic
clearing out the Country Club. Then they bombs, thunder gods and royalty from lost
can have the satisfaction of making the Atlantis. Let them get their feet dirty, for a
world a better place without disrupting the change.
overall backdrop of crime and misery too
badly. A Smaller Pond Means Bigger Fish
One interesting effect of setting a campaign
To Kill or Not to Kill? in a small city is that the PCs are magnified
Is it okay for superheroes to kill people? in importance. The reason why we don’t
Damned if I know. I do know, however, have huge long lists of local heroes for
that in a setting like Bedlam the subject is Bedlam is that the PCs are probably going to
sure to come up and you are sure to get be its dominant super-team. The fate of the
into some bitter fights over it if you’re not city rests in their hands. Most of the major
careful. Something about an ugly setting national law-enforcement agencies and
brings this question out in players. It also super-teams have already written this town
encourages some of them to play badly and off as hopeless. If the PCs let Bedlam
brutally. To keep your gaming session from down, no one is going to save it.
degenerating into hours of impassioned
quarreling, you will probably need to set the Getting a Team Together
ground rules up front. The rules can be “no Because this setting resembles the comics of
killing” or they can be “killing has serious the eighties and nineties, you are likely to
legal consequences and the GM will feel free get a superhero team full of dark shadowy
to impose them on you”, they can be “only avengers of the night, and/or cynical bounty
kill if all else has failed” or they can even be hunters with “X-Treme attitude” (whatever
“your characters disagree abut whether or that means.) Characters like that tend to be
not it’s okay to kill people, so roleplay some loners in the comics, but in a role-playing
arguments about it whenever the issue game the protagonists have to operate as a
comes up.” But let the players know up team. Not only is it trickier to run a team
front what your policy is or you are asking full of lone wolves, it’s especially hard to get
for trouble. them to form a group during the course of
play.
What Kind of Characters Work for a Perhaps your gaming group is so
Bedlam Campaign? trustworthy that you know they’ll put aside
Any kind of characters. Rid yourself of the their temptation to glower menacingly at
notion that all characters in an “Iron Age” one another instead of working together.
setting have to be ex-special-forces mercs But if they aren’t, you’re going to need some
with automatic rifles and needle tracks on extra glue to hold them together. There are
their arms. Batman works perfectly well in two approaches you might try.
this kind of setting and so does Green

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 The easy way is to announce that although he’s abandoned it he left a lot of
they are a team before play begins. Just his crime-fighting equipment on board. The
assert it and ask them to build characters ship is held by a dummy corporation and it
who are part of a group, ask them how they can sit at its dock indefinitely without
work together, what team tactics they’ve anyone ever looking inside. Nocturne’ s
developed and so forth. Maybe start them computers and other gear are state-of-the-
thinking about all kicking in a few points to art for 1969. But even though they’re
build a headquarters. You could also bring hopelessly outdated they do still work and
them altogether with some big dramatic the PCs could upgrade them.
event that forces them to cooperate,
although this can backfire if you don’t Liberty Shoppes Mall
handle it right. To really hedge your bets, Bedlam’s giant underground mall has room
try something like this. A big menace to spare, and it’s in desperate need of a
(either an out-of-town supervillain who is superhero or two to clean it up. PCs could
about to move in on Bedlam or some local open a storefront “Heroes for Hire”
threat like the Jigsaw Man or the Mafia) operation or a secret base in a deserted
decides to eliminate all of Bedlam’s masked store or just lurk the mall’s dark areas,
protectors at once, in order to get them out sleeping where they feel like it.
of the way before some major crime. Each Neither the gangs nor the trigger-
of the PCs receives a mysterious message happy security guards from Iron Talon
luring them all to the same place, (role-play Consultations will be happy to see them,
this as quickly as possible, or better yet start especially if there are already secret things
with them already assembled at the buried in the mall (see page 108) but the
rendezvous) where a whole squad of Bedlam Police won’t care. The small police
assassins attack them from every side, substation in the mall has enough problems
forcing them to all fight together and giving of its own to worry about.
them a reason to continue working as a
team (who is trying to kill us all? Why?) City Hall
You could make this plot the seed Infested by rats and winos, Bedlam’s City
of their first adventure, but it may work Hall has been deserted for more than five
better if you keep the villain behind the years. It’s a solidly-built old structure, with
scenes for a few sessions, letting the group an imposing gothic creepiness about it.
get involved in other plot-threads along the Player Characters who aren’t too choosy
way. could easily make a home here, away from
prying eyes. There is no electricity or heat
Possible Locations for Your Team’s in the building, but due to an oversight on
Headquarters the part of Conglomerated Communications,
There a few ready-made places where a the phone jacks still work.
group of Player Characters might set up
shop. Don’t let the list below confine you— The Country Club
these are just suggestions. Places we Even less choosy Player Characters might
designed with this purpose in mind set up shop in the Bedlam Country Club. Its
facilities and putting greens have fallen into
Berth 13 a state of total neglect, but no one is likely
There is a ship that has sat in its berth on to bother you up there. It should be easy
the Bedlam docks for years. On Page 383 for technologically savvy Player Characters
we have a number of options for what the to tap into the city’s power and phone grids
ship really is and who really owns it. In one from this location. We really meant the club
version, this ship (the Andromeda) was to be the lair for whatever major villain you
formerly used as a secret base by the would like to have come rolling into town,
vigilante who calls himself Nocturne, and but it’s hard to tell some Player Characters,
from the villains, anyway.

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The Citadel Xtreme See the crime statistics listed above,
Some years ago, the City of Bedlam tried to under the section “Crime in Bedlam: How
lure a national superhero team into making Bad is It?”
their home here (you can find out all about As you can see, the odds of just
this on Pages 20, 29 and 284.) It ended stumbling over a crime in progress while
very badly, and the team’s headquarters you’re skulking around at random are
was never more than half-constructed. A actually pretty low. How does Batman
group of enterprising PCs could make it their manage to find so many of them?
own. A lot of its rooms are unfinished, and Presumably, he’s staking out spots where he
a lot of its systems don’t work, but with a knows criminals have been operating—an
few repair checks and a little money, the alley where a particular gang mugs people
Player Characters could have a viable on a regular basis, a streetcorner where the
headquarters. local market has been robbed twice in the
They would probably want to past week, a parking lot where crackheads
conceal the fact that they are living here to come every night to meet their dealers.
avoid legal difficulties. And there may be PCs who take this route should have
worse problems with the location. The a much higher chance of witnessing an
Bedlam Police may be using the site to store actual crime. To simulate this in game
captive superhuman criminals and the terms, let PCs make Gather Information,
leader of Justice Xtreme is vindictive enough Knowledge (Streetwise) and Investigation
to take action against the PCs if they squat Checks vs. DC 25. If they make all three,
on his turf. See Page 298. they can learn where a crime is likely to be
committed some time within the next couple
What Will a Hero Find on Patrol? of days. Then if they stake out that
particular spot, assume there is a ½ chance
each night of the crime going down there.
The crime itself could be whatever
the GM wants to throw at them. There
could be a purse-snatcher working this
block, or a mugger who has made this
particular alley his stalking ground, or a
pusher who uses this corner to make deals,
or etc.
The PCs should have the chance to
accept or reject a given lead. Why bother
chasing down some PL1 kid dealing pot
when Dr. Frightful is back in town?
Of course, when you stake out a
likely-looking spot there is a chance you
might get spotted yourself, but your typical
Shadowy Avenger of the Night has such a
huge Stealth rating that it’s barely worth
worrying about.
If you decide to stalk Bedlam’s dingy
PCs who listen in on police radio
rooftops and alleyways, how much crime will
broadcasts can try a completely different
you encounter in a given night? Of course
approach, and try to beat the cops to their
the short answer is “whatever the GM
emergency calls. In a town like Bedlam,
wants.” If the GM would like you to stumble
with its notoriously slow police response
across a lead on a big case, or to run afoul
time, this option can work pretty well. The
of someone who is going to be a recurrent
GM should decide when and if the cops
enemy, it’s going to happen. But GM fiat
interrupt a PC vigilante at the scene, and
aside, what can you expect to find?
how they react.

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 If you’d like a system to help
determine the odds of the cops showing
up, consider that the police response time
downtown is about 10 minutes, while it’s
a speedy 5 minutes in Stark Hill (if people
even bother to call the police), a sluggish
15 minutes in Greely Point, Gravesend Now it’s time to say a few words about
Beach and Ash Street (and also at Bedlam the grand plot arc we’re going to be
Harbor), a wretched 25 minutes in developing in future materials for the
Hardwick Park, Wolverton and the “Bedlam City” setting. There isn’t one.
Meadows, and an abysmal 30 minutes in We swear. We will not get all White Wolf
Shady Meadows and the Country Club. It on you and start changing the campaign
seems unlikely that the PCs would try setting just as you’re getting used to it.
staking out the quiet streets of Stone This is your setting now, not ours. You
Ridge, but if they do, they’ll find that paid for it (or at least I hope you did) and
police response time there is astonishingly we’re not going to introduce some new
quick. A security team will arrive in 1-5 back-story that makes the book you
minutes. Stone Ridge’s hired thugs are bought obsolete.
much quicker to open fire on anything There may be a few awful secrets
that looks weird or threatening (a guy in a (in other words, “back-story elements”)
costume, for example) than actual cops lurking in the shadows of Bedlam (see the
would be. chapter “Horrible Secrets” on Pages 358-
Bear in mind that there’s always a 391) but they are all modular—you can
small chance that a patrol car might use them or discard them at your
already be in the vicinity when somebody convenience. Nothing we’re going to
calls 911, and surprise the PCs in half the publish later will require you to include
listed response time or less. The odds of any of them. We’d rather sell you
this happening are about one in four. products because you know we do good
You should also note that cops work then lure you into buying a whole
are much quicker to respond to reports of line because you “have to.”
violent crimes in progress than anything
else (halve the expected response time.)
How the cops react if they
interrupt a PC at a crime scene depends
on too many variables to simulate with a
game mechanic. It depends on the cop,
on the PC’s reputation, but most of all, on
what precisely is happening at the crime
scene when the cops arrive and on how
they interpret it. As a rule, most Bedlam
cops resent vigilantes (apart from the
Hammer of Justice, who is known as a
stand-up guy) but aren’t anxious to risk
their lives trying to apprehend known
superhumans without backup.

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Bedlam has three different masked Real Name: No longer remembers it
vigilantes (and it may be about to get a himself
fourth—see “Blacktop” on Page 300.) No PL: 12
one is sure if any of them have Str: 32/20 (+12/+5) Dex: 28/20 (+14/+5)
superpowers. It was also briefly home to a Con: 18 (+4) Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 (+4)
genuine superhero team, back in the 1990s, Cha: 16 (+3)
with the unfortunate name of “Justice Initiative: 21 Attack Bonus: 15
Xtreme” (we’re sorry—it was the Iron Age.) Defense: 15 (10 Flatfooted)
We have stats and background material for Toughness Save: 9 (4 Flatfooted)
each of Bedlam’s vigilantes, and a write-up Fortitude Save: 8 Reflexes Save: 14
on the short, sad history of Justice Xtreme. Willpower Save: 4 (9 vs. mental attacks)
Skills: Acrobatics 7 (+21), Bluff 8 (+12),
Climb 4 (+21), Disable Device 5 (+19),
Drive 4 (+21), Escape Artist 7 (+21), Gather
Information 8 (+11), Intimidate 10 (+13),
Investigate 8 (+10), Knowledge (Civics) 3
(+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 5 (+7),
Knowledge (Tactics) 6 (+8), Notice 10
(+14), Stealth 7 (+21)
Feats: Defense Attack, Defensive Roll 5,
Dodge Focus 5, Evasion 2, Improved
Initiative, Takedown Attack
Powers: Enhanced Strength 12, Enhanced
Dexterity 12, Flight 2 (Maximum Speed:
25MPH; Flaw: Gliding), Leaping 5, Mind
Shield 5, Super-Senses (Acute Hearing, Low-
Light Vision, Ultra-Hearing)
Equipment: Armored Costume (+5
Protection), Gas Mask (Immunity to
Suffocation), Handcuffs, Multitool, Stun Gas
(Stun 12; Extras: Ranged, Area; Flaw:
Unreliable: Can only be used five times
before it has to be recharged), Vehicle (The
Delta Interceptor, see stats on Page 280)
Background: Nocturne says that he views
himself as a big dog who has turned savage
on his master. That’s a pretty apt
description. He’s one of the last surviving
products of the CIA’s infamous Project MK
Ultra—their mind control and parahuman
research division.
“If you look out your window and don’t Over the course of the fifties and
see anyone, it means I’m there.” sixties, MK Ultra produced a number of
parahuman assassins for the CIA, as well as
a lot of messy failures. Nocturne is a bit of

278
both. He was one of the last and best him. Within a few months he had found
metahuman soldiers they managed to and destroyed the files showing the
create. Nocturne uses more of his brain locations of a number of CIA safe-houses
than an ordinary human being, and his and illegal surveillance posts around the
muscles respond more strongly to his nerve country. He has used them as temporary
impulses. He’s faster, stronger and more bases ever since.
nimble than any Olympic athlete and he’s Then he set about locating all the
been superbly trained. He also has a sections of MK Ultra that the Church
profound natural talent with building Committee never found out about, and
gadgets, and has constructed a lot of his putting them permanently out of business
own spy gear, often years ahead of its time himself (Note to the GM: At your discretion,
(or at least years ahead of the early 1970s, he may have missed some of them, or have
when he learned his skills.) been unable to dismantle some of them, in
He doesn’t remember his life before case the CIA still runs mind-control
the program, although he suspects that he experiments in your campaign.)
was a soldier, and that he probably served In the course of this work he found
at least briefly in Laos with some kind of out about some unsavory ties between
commando unit. He’s certain that he was a some former US intelligence personnel and
naïve patriot and that he had no idea of the the international drug trade, and began a
full scope of the CIA’s clandestine activities, campaign to break these operations up, too.
or else he wouldn’t have been so shocked at He had some successes and some failures
some of the assignments they sent him on. here—he didn’t manage to predict or put a
Early in his career, he was sent to stop to the Iran-Contra operation, for
defeat and capture a team of counterculture example.
superheroes called “The Now.” This felt His work fighting the drug cartels
very wrong to him. The Now weren’t gave him a reputation as a costumed
Communists or Soviet infiltrators, just kids vigilante, although he has always tried to
on a mission to fight crime and supernatural stay out of the public eye. The PCs may
evil. He beat them anyway, and then very well have heard of him (it’s the GM’s
helped discredit them and get them all sent call) but if they have, they still don’t know
to prison on false charges. much about him. He keeps a very low
He felt really troubled and confused profile and tries to make sure that his
about this mission and hoped to lose himself existence is more of a rumor than an
in his work so that he wouldn’t have to think established fact. There are no official
about it. The next job they sent him on was photos of him.
even worse. He doesn’t have a regular secret
He was supposed to find and identity. If he appears out of his costume
eliminate a new Soviet psychic asset in East using an assumed name, it’s always a
Berlin. She turned out to be an eight-year- temporary ploy and he’s always wearing a
old girl. Orders were orders. He did his disguise.
very best to kill her, and even though he Nocturne carries around a big load
failed, he still bears that brand upon his of post-traumatic-stress disorder, which
soul. makes it very difficult for him to get close to
Six weeks after returning to the US anyone. He likes people, wants to help
in disgrace, Nocturne took everything he them, but he’s too paranoid to ever let his
knew about Project MK-Ultra to Senator guard down around them. As a result, he
Frank Church, who launched a Senate has no friends at all, and lives completely
investigating committee that exposed some apart from human society.
of the program’s secrets and got the whole These days he’s beginning to
thing shut down. Nocturne slipped into a reassess his life and to wonder what comes
deep depression afterwards, and then next. He’s past the age of fifty, and
suddenly went AWOL, taking his special although he doesn’t feel his body slowing
combat vehicle, the Delta Interceptor, with down, it’s just a matter of time. Less and

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less of his secret bases are still in operation,
and their facilities (particularly their
computer systems) are getting hopelessly
obsolete. Even his beloved Delta
Interceptor is starting to show signs of age.
Instead of healing, his psychological
problems actually seem to be getting worse
with age—he’s more paranoid than ever,
and he has noticed a tendency to get
dangerously obsessive about certain dead-
end conspiracy theories (particularly the
Kennedy assassination.) He feels that he
needs to make some kind of change in his
life, but he doesn’t know what or how.
For the moment, Nocturne makes
his lair in an old base hidden under the Strength: 40 Speed: 6 Defense: 9
parking garage of the Bedlam City Train Toughness: 12
Station. It’s a little cramped and it’s none Features: Remote Control
too clean, but he doesn’t need much in the Offensive Powers: Huge Cannon (Blast
way of creature comforts. 10; Extra: Explosive), Tangle Gun (Snare 8)
There are people in the upper Defensive Powers: 6 Impervious Defense,
echelons of military intelligence who know Provides Immunity to Suffocation to anyone
all about Nocturne and his “secret” bases. inside.
They let him live because he’s useful for Background: Nearly a character in its own
shutting down illegal projects that are run right, the Delta Interceptor is getting old,
by rival agencies. He’s the perfect deniable but it’s still pretty dangerous, just like
asset—an agent who doesn’t even know Nocturne himself. While its gadgets and
he’s an agent. Paranoid he may be, but communications gear may be totally out of
poor Nocturne isn’t nearly paranoid enough. date, its engineering is solid and Nocturne
takes very good care of it.
Combat Tactics: Nocturne likes to The Delta Interceptor has been his
observe a prospective target for a while sole companion on countless adventures
from a distance, assessing their strengths and it feels like an extension of his own
and weaknesses. He doesn’t like to go up body to him. He’s not very sentimental
against anyone without a plan. But if he about his possessions, but if his car ever
doesn’t have time, he’ll forgo all that and gets destroyed, he will be distracted for a
strike whichever opponent looks strongest moment, staring at its remains in mute
first. regret.
A close-in fighter, Nocturne’s first
move in any combat is to close the gap
between himself and the target. He jumps
around constantly as he fights and tries to
avoid getting into combat in settings where
he can’t perform a lot of acrobatic
maneuvers. A big construction site would
be his ideal place to stage a battle. He
hates to kill people, but he knows he’s
capable of it if he absolutely has to.
He’s not as levelheaded in a fight as
he would like to be—even after all these
years he still gets impulsive when he gets
mad.

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 Initiative: 12 Attack Bonus: 17
Defense: 15
Toughness Save: 12 (2 Impervious, 10
without body armor, 4 if caught unarmored
and Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 9
Reflexes Save: 15 Willpower Save: 15
Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+14), Bluff 10 (+13),
Gather Information 8 (+11), Intimidate 12
(+15), Investigate 3 (+4), Knowledge
(Civics) 8 (+9), Knowledge (Streetwise) 9
(+10), Notice 11 (+14), Profession (cop) 5
(+6), Sense Motive 8 (+11), Stealth 10
(+14)
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Assessment, Chokehold, Defensive Attack,
Defensive Roll 6, Improved Disarm,
Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Improved Initiative 2, Improved Pin,
Improved Sunder, Instant Up, Power Attack,
Prone Fighting, Redirect, Stunning Attack,
Takedown Attack, Startle, Sneak Attack,
Taunt, Toughness, Tracking
Powers: Device (Body Armor; Hard to
Lose; 2 pts Impervious Protection)
Equipment: Badge-Shaped Throwing
Blades (Ranged Weapon, 3 Damage)
Billy Club (Melee Weapon, 2 Damage; Extra:
Mighty), Comlink (Radio Reception, 1 mile
radius), Flash-Bang Pellets (Dazzle 3, Visual
and Auditory, 15 foot burst), Handcuffs,
Lock-Release Gun, Night Vision Goggles
(Super-Senses: Darkvision), Smoke Bombs
(Obscure 4, Visual, 20 Foot Radius)
Complications: Will never rat on a cop or
the mob
- Background: Originally known as the Blue
Shield, and then later the Shield of Justice,
“What kind of sewer do we live in, he has never actually carried a shield, but
where Crime walks free, but Justice then again he’s never carried a hammer
must go masked? Take last night. I either. Everyone is much too afraid of him
saw some pretty suspicious looking to ask why.
characters hanging around behind your He’s a one-man protection racket,
shop—good thing I was there to scare who cloaks his crimes in the cape of justice.
‘em off. A place like this could get Most people aren’t aware that he extorts
broken into real easy. Know what I’m money from the folks he “protects.”
saying?” Bedlam’s other superheroes aren’t aware of
the depth of his corruption, since they rarely
Real Name: Charles "Big Chuck” O'Ryan come into contact with him.
PL: 13 The city’s oldest and most respected
crime-fighter, he restricts his regular patrols
Str: 20 (+5) Dex: 18 (+4) Con: 18 (+4)
to Stark Hill. A rough, tough, take-no-
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 16 (+3)
prisoners kind of vigilante, he attracts a
certain amount of controversy for his

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uncompromising attitude to crime. He has Using the Hammer of Justice in Your
no tolerance for criminal behavior, he’s Campaign: The Hammer of Justice is
unimpressed by arguments about meant to be a recurrent, long-term foe.
rehabilitation and bad childhoods. He’s not Ideally the PCs should dislike but respect
afraid to torture or terrorize information out him at first, until they slowly grow to
of a suspect. In fact he’s not afraid to beat understand the depth of his corruption.
a confession out of them, if that’s the only Whenever they first encounter him,
way to get one. When you become a he acts skeptical and threatening, accusing
criminal, you step outside the rules and he the PCs of being soft and of not
can do what he likes to you. Unless of understanding the real war on crime. He
course you’re a Made Guy. The Hammer of speaks in arrogant clichés and acts abusive,
Justice has worked hand-in-glove with the but a lot of Player Characters may actually
Scarpia Crime Family for decades. He does fall for his act (particularly if they’re fans of
enforcement work for them when they ask, Frank Miller’s work.) This will make them
coming down hard on their competitors and hate him all the more as they slowly
keeping their streets free of petty crime. He uncover his hypocrisy.
gives them a share of the protection money For his part, he’d be only too happy
he collects from frightened business owners to be their nemesis. Big Chuck is a friendly,
and occasionally he rubs someone out for fun-loving guy on the surface, but
them. underneath he’s extremely vindictive and
He sees no contradiction in any of vengeful. A crafty and patient man, he can
this. The Mafia maintains order and helps wait a long time to take revenge on
keep the blacks out of the neighborhood. someone who has slighted him, but
The Hammer of Justice devotes a fair everyone pays eventually. He’s a bad
amount of his own efforts toward chasing enemy to have, and for a guy without any
out black families when they try to move in, superpowers, he’s a surprisingly dangerous
but he can’t be everywhere at once. foe. He fights dirty, he hits targets by
In his secret identity he is Officer surprise and he knows when to retreat.
Charles “Big Chuck” O’Ryan, a highly Honed by years of constant combat and
decorated cop with a reputation for bravery. training, his physical capabilities are second
A bluff, friendly giant of a man, he has an to none.
unsavory history of brutalizing black and He won’t hesitate to endanger
Hispanic suspects in his custody. Just about innocents or take hostages if he thinks it will
everyone on the force knows or suspects improve his odds of winning. Yet he doesn’t
that Big Chuck is dirty. But he’s so kill casually or wantonly. He’s much too
charming and personable that they all like calculating to lose control of his temper like
him anyway. that. In the event that he accidentally kills a
He used to collect protection money bystander, he plants a gun on their body
from his squad car. Then the Mob told him and presto! Instant thug.
this was attracting too much attention, so
now he has to put on a mask and do it by
night. This annoys him. His father was a
cop and he did things the old fashioned
way. His grandfather was a cop and he did
things the old-fashioned way. It was good
enough for them—why isn’t it good enough
for him? Has the world gone crazy?

282
 (+9), Knowledge (Streetwise) 6 (+7), Notice
8 (+9), Profession (mafiosi) 5 (+6), Stealth
9 (+11)
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll
3, Diehard, Improved Disarm, Improved
Grab, Improved Grapple, Improved Pin,
Instant Up, Power Attack, Prone Fighting,
Redirect, Second Chance (failed Willpower
Saves to resist being scared), Stunning
Attack, Startle, Sneak Attack
Equipment: Brass Knuckles, (Melee
Weapon, 2 Damage; Extra: Mighty), Comlink
(Radio Reception, 1 mile radius), Flash-Bang
Pellets (Dazzle 3, Visual and Auditory, 15
foot burst), Lock-Release Gun, Night Vision
Goggles (Super-Senses: Darkvision)
Complications: Will put the beat-down on
anyone who fails to show him respect
Background: A lesser-known counterpart
to the Hammer of Justice, the Midnight
Shadow patrols Greely Point, and never
ventures across the river. He’s even more
mysterious than the Hammer of Justice, but
we do know a few things about him for
sure. He focuses his efforts on protecting
the old residential neighborhoods at the top
of the Hill, up around Moon Avenue and
Lurman. That’s a mob neighborhood, but
he never seems to crack down on organized
crime. Local businesses seem to pay him
for his services.
In fact, just like a smaller-scale,
lower-key version of the Hammer of Justice,
he’s a one-man protection racket, shaking
people down for cash and running errands
for the Mafia. He’s much less directly
confrontational than the Hammer of Justice,
“Geez! Stop bleeding all over the however. Usually his mere appearance is
place. It’s embarrassing.” enough to frighten people into paying up or
to scare non-whites out of the
Real Name: Varies (different people wear neighborhood. If he does need to get tough
the suit at different times) but these days with someone, he relies on stealth and hits
it’s most often Dino Spagnolli them from behind, or leaves a sinister
PL: 6 warning on their pillow while they sleep.
Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3) This is a wise policy on his part. He doesn’t
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 16 (+3) have any actual powers, and barely any
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 7 Defense: 5 special training.
Toughness Save: 6 (3 if caught Unlike the Hammer of Justice, the
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 Midnight Shadow isn’t a single person, he’s
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6 a bunch of guys from the Gorganzua crime
family, and a mask. Different guys wear the
Skills: Acrobatics 6 (+8), Bluff 5 (+8),
outfit at different times. Anyone can do it,
Gather Information 3 (+6), Intimidate 6

283
so long as they have the right build. Lately, before they finally lay their hands on him
however, one of the guys has taken to and discover that he’s just some jerk in a
wearing it more than the others. funny costume.
Dino Spagnolli is a crazy, If the PCs ever manage to take
weightlifting, wifebeating dope fiend. He’s down the Hammer of Justice, the Midnight
desperate for respect above all else, and he Shadow will suddenly expand his range
feels like he gets it when he wears the suit, across the river, and they’ll have a whole
so he volunteers for it as much as possible. new crooked vigilante nipping at their
The other guys think this is silly and a little heels—one with a very different style and
weird, but not eccentric enough to have him very different secrets.
killed over it, yet. Whenever he dons the
suit, Dino makes sure to get wasted on his
own special blend of PCP and crystal meth,
which actually does give him a significant
edge in combat. He is also a big, strong
guy with some combat experience in Iraq.
He’s still not up to fighting a PL 10
superhero, although he may be crazy
enough to try.

Using the Midnight Shadow in your

Campaign: The Midnight Shadow works
best as a kind of red herring. If the PCs
start to suspect that one or more of
Bedlam’s vigilantes may be working for the
mob, you can use him to draw attention
away from the Hammer of Justice. Or in a
scenario where all of Bedlam’s superheroes
show up at once for some important job,
and one of the group betrays the others, it
can help to have more than one NPC hero in
the room as potential suspects.
The Midnight Shadow has a
reputation for being shadowy and secretive,
and you should play this up. If anyone but
Dino Spagnolli is wearing the suit, the
Midnight Shadow will avoid coming to grips
with the PCs, appearing and vanishing
mysteriously. Where the Hammer of Justice
confronts rival superheroes, the Midnight
Shadow evades them. He also has the
uncanny ability to survive his own death In 1998, the Redevelopment Commission
(they wash the costume and give it to tried their final scheme to bring the city out
somebody else.) of impoverishment and obscurity. They
To encounter him, you have to go attempted to lure a nationally recognized
to Greely Point. Even Dino knows better superhero team to Bedlam. After many
than to cross the river into Scarpia territory. failures and false starts, they managed to
He has no desire to encounter the Hammer find a team that was in the process of
of Justice in a cranky mood. reorganizing itself after some losses and
Because he can’t stand up to even a some bitter infighting. Formerly the “Street
single Player Character in a fight, you should Saviors”, they had just adopted the new
try to delay the final battle as long as name “Justice Xtreme” after their new team
possible, building the tension like crazy leader, “Mister Extreme.” A nineties kind of
name for a nineties kind of team, he felt

284
(although in fact he called it a “new-jack everyone involved if the team had failed
team for a new-jack world”, which sort of right then. Instead, Smashface (see his
tells you all you need to know about poor description on Page 344) came lumbering
silly Mister Extreme.) into town. Justice Xtreme mobilized to fight
The team had reached an unstable him. This was to be their first major battle.
point in its history. Most of the original And their last.
lineup was gone. This left Mister Extreme Mr. Extreme refused to leave the
the leader by default (you can find his stats Citadel. He was still feuding with the city
and background on Page 298.) Some about the statue and didn’t want to do
people would contend that he was not equal anything that might prejudice the lawsuit he
to the job. Shortsighted, self-centered and was planning against them. But he did run
not terribly bright, he knew a lot more about interference for his inexperienced group
marketing and getting corporate from inside their base, alerting the media
sponsorships than he did about being a and coordinating his team of publicists to
hero. Only new recruit Suicide Lad and the make sure the fight got the absolute
mysterious Doctor Oculus stuck by him. maximum amount of coverage.
He was actively engaged in As the battle was joined, Smashface
recruiting new members when the team knocked Suicide Lad to the ground. Kid
relocated to Bedlam. Almost immediately Infinity happened to be standing closer than
Bedlam’s home-grown superhero “Lord of any of his other teammates, so he stepped
the Blacktop” (Blacktop for short) joined up forward, prepared to engage Smashface,
and began to quarrel with Mr. Extreme. A and froze. He lost his nerve—couldn’t make
poor kid from the Section Eight housing on himself intervene. And Smashface killed his
Ellmore Place, Blacktop was everything Mr. teammate right in front of him. Suicide
Extreme wanted to be—urban, streetwise, a Lad’s last words were “Help me, Kid
real ghetto kid who knew how real ghetto Infinity!”
kids actually talked. Mister Extreme Mister Extreme had done a good job
despised and feared him at once. of alerting the press. Half a dozen TV crews
The Redevelopment Commission filmed the whole incident. Things actually
wanted to change the team’s name to went downhill from there. Smashface
“Maximum Extreme” but Mr. Extreme strolled deeper into the city, the rest of the
thought that sounded stupid (mostly team made desultory attacks on him from
because he hadn’t thought it up himself.) time to time but failed to have any
This caused a lot of needless friction. discernable effect on him at all.
Things got worse when new recruit “Kid Blacktop managed to provoke
Infinity” said he liked the new name, and Smashface into toppling an abandoned
Suicide Lad agreed with him. building on himself. But all this did was to
At the public expense, Bedlam built kill a homeless family that had
the team a crime-fighting headquarters (unbeknownst to Blacktop) been living there
downtown, (the “Citadel Xtreme”) with a and end his own crimefighting career.
gigantic statue in front. It’s still there, Smashface killed eight more civilians
deserted and caked with insulting graffiti. and twelve policemen before he got bored
The statue has been encased in cement to and walked back out of town.
protect it from vandals. Only its feet This was bad, but to make matters
protrude from under the ugly concrete worse, within a day, local news acquired
block. footage of Mister Extreme telling one of his
That statue nearly caused the contacts at the Redevelopment Commission
team’s demise—Mr. Extreme didn’t like it, that now that Suicide Lad was dead and Kid
thought it was too generic, and although he Infinity was in disgrace, he was pleased to
never said so, would almost certainly have say there was no longer any support for
preferred a statue of himself. This was changing the team’s name. This callous
nearly the last straw for the city behavior did not endear him any further to
government. It might have been better for the public.

285
 Convinced that one of his The Street Saviors, Bedlam’s Other
teammates had leaked the story to Superhero Team
embarrass him, Mister Extreme fired Not very many people know that Bedlam
everyone and announced that he was almost had a second superhero team. After
building a new team from scratch. The Justice Xtreme collapsed, the vigilante
Redevelopment Commission refused to known as the Hammer of Justice took some
accept this, so he sued them. Meanwhile, of the surviving team members under his
public outrage against Mr. Extreme, Justice wing and offered to train them. He insisted
Xtreme and the Redevelopment Commission that they weren’t a team and that he wasn’t
reached such a fever pitch that the Bedlam really their leader—he was just showing
police warned every member of the team to them how to survive. The Hammer of
stay out of town for their own protection. Justice works alone.
Their headquarters sat incomplete, the city’s They agreed, hoping to be able to
funds were withdrawn, a hastily written resurrect the Street Saviors after they had
court order banned Mister Extreme from learned how to function as a unit and had
Bedlam and the head of the Redevelopment really become ready to take on the
Commission moved to Israel to pursue her challenge. But the group was plagued with
lifelong dream of working on a Kibbutz. bad luck. The Hammer of Justice kept
Months later, a young man hanged leading them into ambushes and deadly
himself outside the gates of the Citadel situations and more of them kept dying. It
Extreme. The body has never been was almost like he was trying to get them
identified, and the dead boy’s identity killed. The two surviving team members left
remains a mystery to this very day. But no town in a hurry, never to return, and the
one ever saw Kid Infinity again. Scarpia Crime family congratulated the
Blacktop vanished too, consumed Hammer of Justice for having done such a
with self-loathing and shame. He had good job of keeping the capes away from
gotten into the superhero game to help the Bedlam.
folks society ignored, and wound up killing
them instead.
Mister Extreme will tell you that his
team still exists, that he is recruiting a band
of Extreme new heroes for an Extreme new
century (although his search is on
temporary hiatus while he tries to get more
funds and pursues other projects) and that
they’ll soon be back, bigger and badder and
more extreme than ever. But of course no
one listens to him any more.

286
The villains in this section are all native to the tabloids are starting to take an interest,
Bedlam (or are intimately linked to its which might prove to be unwise…
history—like Mister Twisted) , but none of The Nowhere Men are a collection
them are critical to the setting. The of misfits and outcasts who live in the
Ratcatcher, Capricorn and the Scarlet Man tunnels underneath Bedlam. They steal
all play roles in Bedlam’s secret history, but food to survive and occasionally come to
since you don’t actually have to use that blows with gangs who prey on homeless
back-story, you don’t need to include them people. Setting derelicts on fire used to be
if you don’t feel like it. a popular way for the city’s youth to spend
We have one team for you (the their evenings, but it isn’t any more.
Nowhere Men) and a handful of Out of the three Nowhere Men, only
independent villains. As we’ve said the one called Grim Diddle is actually
elsewhere, Bedlam isn’t really big enough to dangerous, and even he isn't precisely evil—
support a huge supervillain community of its just muddled and insane.
own. Most of the super-threats that turn up The one called the Ratcatcher is a
here come stealing and murdering their way sort of urban shaman who lives in
into town from somewhere else. communion with the city and can feel
disturbances in the flow of its systems.
Some time last year he detected a pair of
strange presences, lost and hungry,
wandering through the tunnels beneath the
streets. He was curious about these
strangers, and had the city lead them to his
lair. They were a weird but friendly
Membership: Woodchuck Man (A woodchuck-man and an insane old derelict
scrofulous, lice-ridden and unsavory human whose skin glowed blue in the dark. The
woodchuck, who prowls the city’s alleys late three of them banded together for mutual
at night, looking for food), The Ratcatcher support and they have been looking after
(arch-wino and urban shaman, he one another ever since.
communes with the pavement and knows all Once they started getting in fights
the secrets of the rat, the pigeon and the with gang-kids, the Ratcatcher came up with
roach), Grim Diddle (a hapless, insane old the idea of painting their name on their turf,
derelict who moans instead of speaking, and to show that certain locations were under
who has been cursed with the ability to their protection. That way they wouldn’t
drain the life force out of others.) have to get in fights all the time—the kids
Background: They say that something would know to avoid Ash Street and leave
haunts skid row. Even the gang kids won’t the homeless people there alone. This
go there after dark in groups of less than policy has worked, although it has also led
ten. Bums whisper to one another that to rumors and urban legends about the
something has claimed the territory for its “Nowhere Men” and may lead superheroes
own, and although none of them will say the to come investigate them.
name, they all know where to find the fresh Bedlam's homeless population
graffiti that reads “The Nowhere Men.” Now doesn't know much about them, apart from
the name, although they are certainly aware

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that someone has been keeping the gangs a tiny bell next to his ear and wake him if
off their case. Most of the city's derelicts anyone approaches them while they sleep.
would be willing to aid and shelter the The Ratcatcher can detect intruders with his
Nowhere Men in a crisis, particularly the powers, but he’s often too drunk to do it.
Ratcatcher, who has long been a semi-
mythical folk hero to the wretches on Ash Organization: The Nowhere Men can
Street. barely be said to have any organization at
We don't know quite where Grim all. They don't exactly have a leader, since
Diddle and Woodchuck Man came from— each of them has personal limitations that
neither one of them can speak articulately. prevent them from playing that role. Grim
When the Ratcatcher found them Diddle is too crazy, the Ratcatcher is too
Woodchuck Man was already trying to care drunk and Woodchuck Man can't speak. In
for Grim Diddle on his own. For the GM's any case they don't really seem to need a
convenience we're going to leave it leader. They just share their meager
undetermined. Perhaps they both broke out resources and give one another support.
of the same bio-warfare lab or perhaps The Ratcatcher watches over Grim
Woodchuck Man just found Grim Diddle Diddle while Woodchuck Man is off stealing
lying in an alley somewhere and decided food and Woodchuck Man watches over
that he needed help. them both when the Ratcatcher is too drunk
to be of much use. They like one another
Threat Level: Scary though they can seem, and they get along very well—even Grim
the Nowhere Men aren’t much of a threat to Diddle seems comforted by the presence of
anything. They want to be left alone, and the other two.
to keep any more bums from getting burned
alive. This seems to be the limit of their Tactics: If they are trying to fend off a
ambition. They aren’t even particularly group of young toughs who are intent on
interested in hurting the gangs—they just setting winos on fire, the Nowhere Men will
don’t want them to set anyone else on fire. try to act as frightening as possible when
Grim Diddle can be a menace if left to his they attack, while at the same time
own devices, but they try to keep that from roughing the kids up as little as they can.
happening as much as possible. Still, there The Ratcatcher’s ability to control rats,
are occasions when Woodchuck Man is out roaches and pigeons works well here, as
scavenging for food and the Ratcatcher is does Woodchuck’s Man’s foul smell and
too drunk to keep Grim Diddle from floating fearsome appearance.
off on his own, moaning and muttering and If they are about to scare off some
spreading fear as he goes. kids, then the Ratcatcher will summon up a
swarm of roaches, rats or pigeons, make
Base of Operations: The Nowhere Men them spell out some kind of threatening
live in the storm sewers under Bedlam, near message, and then once everyone is already
Ash Street. Seldom do they sleep in the freaked out by the sight, Woodchuck Man
same place twice. They don't need much and/or Grim Diddle will suddenly pop up and
space, just enough for the three of them to look scary. This is the only strategy they
lie down. The Ratcatcher is inhumanly have. It has always worked, every time
gifted at finding them one good niche or they use it, the kids all run away. The
other in which to hide. Nowhere Men have no idea what they would
Wherever they have set up their do if they tried it and the kids didn’t run—
lair, it looks much the same—a pile of they’d probably get scared and flee the
flattened out boxes with old clothes heaped scene themselves.
on top of them to provide a sleeping space, In any actual brawl they will all fight
with empty bottles of inexpensive wine as individuals, with no coordination
scattered all around. whatever, but they’re much more likely to
Woodchuck Man will probably have panic and try to get out of there.
set up a web of threads nearby, which ring

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Using The Nowhere Men in Your The homeless folks who inhabit the area
Campaign after dark aren’t willing to say much about
The Nowhere Men are a mystery to be the Nowhere Men, but they are willing to
solved as much as an enemy to fight. point out the graffiti which the Ratcatcher
Even though they aren’t that leaves to mark their turf. As soon as the
tough, the GM can make them plenty PCs see the graffiti, the Nowhere Men
scary by keeping them mysterious. notice them and strange stuff starts to
Adventures that involve the Nowhere Men happen. Rats and crows seem to watch
should have lots of dark, dingy alleys, them. Swarms of roaches cross their
hissing steam grates, figures glimpsed for path. Perhaps they catch a brief glimpse
an instant on rooftops, roaches and rats of Woodchuck Man watching them from a
scuttling around in a weird and unnatural rooftop, or hear Grim Diddle moaning and
way (the Ratcatcher loves to scare people muttering in the storm sewers beneath
off by having his little friends spell out them.
“Stay Away” or “The Nowhere Men.”) Then, while they are out patrolling
Everything should happen at night. for signs of the Nowhere Men, the PCs
Once the Players have solved the come across a bunch of cruel rich
mystery of who and what the Nowhere teenagers from Stone Ridge (under a
Men are, they will then have to resolve bridge or in a vacant lot or possibly even
the more difficult question of what to do in the tunnels under the street, if the PCs
about them. They really don't mean have gone there), who are nervously
anyone any harm, yet they have to steal trying to work themselves up to doing
to stay alive. something—the PCs can’t quite see what
It's not going to be possible to it is. They are whispering about the
reintegrate Woodchuck Man into normal Nowhere Men, and why nobody does
human society, especially if sinister forces “this” anymore, but it’s all too unclear to
are ready to drag him off to a secret lab make out. There’s a lot of nervous
the moment he resurfaces. Grim Diddle's giggling.
chances look almost as bleak, and Then a swarm of roaches erupts
Woodchuck Man won’t let anyone take across a facing wall, the rustle of pigeon
him away. wings is heard from everywhere and rats
If the PCs decide to let them begin to scuttle across the edges of the
continue their shadowy existence, the scene. Before everyone’s horrified eyes,
Nowhere Men won’t hold a grudge even if the swarming roaches form the words
the PCs beat them up. “Get Out!” and the rats all squeak at
The Ratcatcher is a wonderful once. Then, Woodchuck Man leaps out
source of information when he’s sober, into plain view, waving his arms and
and could make an excellent part-time chittering freakishly, while Grim Diddle
ally. appears on the other side, glowing and
moaning and floating through the air.
An Adventure With the Nowhere The teenagers scream and run. If the PCs
Men: Guardians of Nowhere choose this moment to intervene the
The PCs are drawn to Ash Street by the Nowhere Men panic and run for it too,
reports of mysterious happenings there. except for poor Grim Diddle.
Or perhaps they have a midnight As soon as the PCs enter the fray,
encounter with Woodchuck Man, stealing they can see that the teenagers were
some edibles from a shuttered fast-food about to set an unconscious bag lady on
restaurant, and the strange creature flees fire. How they deal with this situation is
to Ash Street. up to them.

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 Regenerate 9 (+5 to checks to recover from
Damage, can make a check to recover from
being Injured in one round), Strike 3 (Claws
and teeth)
Complications: Curious, cautious, devoted
to his friends
Drawbacks: Disabled (Can’t talk, and looks
like a filthy great woodchuck, appalling and
distressing anyone who sees him)
Background: A scabby, filthy, lice-ridden
woodchuck-man, who roams the city at
night, looking for things to eat. His hygiene
is appalling, his habits are gross and
uncivilized, he knows nothing of humanity's
laws. Yet he is also friendly and cheerful,
happy and good natured. He can't speak
and only understands a few words of
English, but if approached the right way he's
more likely to offer the PCs some of his
meager food than he is to attack them.
Woodchuck Man is extremely loyal
to the other Nowhere Men, particularly Grim
Diddle, who he senses is unwell and needs
protection. He's better equipped to
scavenge for food than they are and spends
“Squeak! Chee-chee!” (gestures more time away from their lair. He is likely
inquisitively at a PC’s wristwatch) to be the first team member the PCs
"Eep-squeak?” encounter, as he is the one who commits
the most crimes (theft, breaking and
Real Name: Unknown (may not even have entering, skulking around looking like a
one) giant woodchuck, etc.)
PL: 8 If confronted while stealing food his
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 22 (+6) first impulse will be to drop everything and
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 6 (-1) run away. He'll fight if cornered, or if he
Initiative: 8 Attack Bonus: 8 has some item he's unwilling to drop.
Defense: 10 (2 if caught Flatfooted) Not a particularly sophisticated
Toughness Save: 8 (6 if caught tactician, he will always be more interested
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 10 in escape than in hurting anybody. He
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 6 won’t attack non-combatants and he
Skills: Climb 7 (+10), Craft (Structural) 2 certainly won’t take hostages.
(+4), Notice 9 (+11), Search 9 (+11), Woodchuck Man may present a
Stealth 6 (+8), Survival 9 (+11) moral dilemma for heroes who capture him.
Feats: Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2, He’s a lawbreaker, but he’s not malign.
Diehard, Dodge Focus 6, Endurance, Prison clearly isn’t the right place for him
Improved Block, Improved Defense, and removing him from the urban
Improved Initiative, Improved Grapple, environment isn’t really a viable way to help
Improved Sunder, Instant Up, Move-By him. He knows nothing but the city and the
Action, Track, Uncanny Dodge, Weapon sewers. If some well-meaning superhero
Bind released him into the wild he would be
Powers: Burrowing 2, Super-Movement 1 terrified and all but incapable of coping.
(Surefooted), Super-Senses (Accurate Integrating him into human society is going
Hearing, Extended Hearing, Low-Light to be a slow and difficult process. Perhaps
Vision, Scent, Track, Ultra-Hearing), the best option is actually to leave him

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alone, but supply him with enough food so By an odd coincidence he’s a member of the
that he doesn’t have to steal. underground network of cruel young rich
Contrary to what you might expect, he fears people called “Saturday Night Shots” (see
and hates the fast food restaurant “Wunder- Page 204), and he used to set bums on fire
Chuk” and feels deeply distrustful of Wally down on Ash Street with them. He has
Woodchuck, their mascot. actually seen the Nowhere Men once before,
Woodchuck Man bears the scars of and has some idea where to find them. He
many surgical procedures under his fur, but also has some bored, violent young friends
although he’s clearly escaped from some from Saturday Night Shots who would be
kind of illegal lab somewhere, he can’t really willing to help him hunt for the necklace,
explain how or where. and maybe do the Nowhere Men some harm
The GM should feel free to use him just for old time’s sake. Meanwhile Chad
to lead the PCs to whichever mad scientist and his influential family pester the
or secret gene-warfare lab seems authorities and the press about having the
appropriate to the campaign. This will help monster caught and the necklace recovered.
to link adventures together, and to move The Player Characters should enter
the Player Characters from the Nowhere this situation unsure of what is really going
Men to more powerful opponents. on. Then, as Chad, the police and perhaps
an angry mob are about to get into a
Two Adventures With Woodchuck Man confrontation with poor puzzled Woodchuck
Man, the victim wakes up and tells everyone
1) Somebody Stop That Woodchuck! what really happened. But is there still time
One night at around 2:00 AM, Woodchuck to prevent a lethal conflict?
Man finds a woman lying on a street corner
near Terminal Drive. She is dying from the 2) Woodchuck Man to the Rescue
injuries her fiancé gave her while explaining A new Wunder-Chuk restaurant is opening
his concerns about the state of their up on Storch Avenue, near Ash Street.
relationship. Their Grand Opening Ceremony runs on into
Woodchuck Man can tell that she is the evening, and the light and noise attracts
sick, so he brings her to a place where he the attention of Woodchuck Man. He
can see lots of other humans (the coffee watches the festivities from the shadows
shop called the Circle Perk, on Terminal across the street, keeeping a safe distance—
Drive—see Page 192) and leaves her there. he fears and loathes their mascot, Wally
She has a wonderful shiny thing around her Woodchuck, and doesn’t want to come
neck, which he keeps, unaware that it’s a anywhere near its lair.
diamond necklace. He also doesn’t realize Then, disaster strikes. Some poor
that at least twenty people saw him stooped shlub in a Wally Woodchuck costume comes
over her form, and that one of them took out of the restaurant, waves to the crowd,
his picture. and leans down to say hello to a little girl.
Soon the city is in an uproar, panic She cringes and bursts into tears, and
is in the air and everyone is talking about Woodchuck Man completely misunderstands
the monster. His victim languishes in a the situation. Thinking that the other wood-
coma, unable to tell the story of the attack, chuck intends to harm the girl, he over-
but her injuries speak for themselves. comes his fears, races across the street,
Her fiancé, Chad Armitage, is snatches her up and resuces her, running
distraught and wracked with remorse at off down the sidewalk with the shrieking girl
having lost the necklace. It belonged to his slung over his shoulder.
grandmother and it’s supposed to be given Can the PCs catch up with
to the woman who will become his wife—it’s Woodchuck Man before the cops or an
a family tradition. He’s desperate to have it angry mob does?
back.

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 Alternate Powers [Mind Control]; Flaw: only
works on native-born residents of Bedlam),
Trip 7 Flaw: Limited Power [only works inside
Bedlam’s city limits])
Drawbacks: Power Loss (loses all his
superhuman powers when outside of Bedlam)
Background: A grinning, filth-smeared wino
who wears a motley assortment of
mismatched clothing. He looks a bit like a
clown with his comical assemblage of clothes,
and his five-o-clock shadow and constant smile
reinforce this effect. The Ratcatcher
communes with the city's living heart and
knows its hidden ways. He can speak the
language of the pavement and learn who
walks or drives upon her. He is friend to the
pigeon, the rat and the roach. He speaks their
secret tongues and can see through their eyes.
He doesn’t much care for violence,
but he will reluctantly protect his two
“Well sit yerself down young feller. The comrades if he must, smiling and uttering
city told me you’d come—whispered it to strange drunken/wise pronouncements about
me on her reeking asphalt breath. I the city all the while. He’s not a sadistic man,
know you’re here to kill me, but yer still and would never take hostages or endanger
a guest until you do, so pull up one a innocents. While he can call upon swarms of
them cushions an’ let's us talk a while.” vermin to protect himself and his compatriots,
the Ratcatcher only does this as a last resort—
Real Name: Jacob "Jake" Bukowski he's afraid of getting his little friends hurt.
PL: 7 While he is usually drunk and often
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 12 (+1) incoherent, he knows an enormous amount
Con: 8/22 (-1/+6) Int: 16 (+3) about the city and will gladly share his
Wis: 14/24 (+2/+7) Cha: 14 (+2) knowledge with anyone who cares to ask.
Initiative: 8 Attack Bonus: 3 He's almost always happy and has a kind of
Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 8 (6 if jovial Zen-like calm, having found
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 7 Enlightenment in the bottom of a wine bottle.
Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 7 Rats and roaches crawl across him constantly
Skills: Concentrate 5 (+12), Diplomacy 8 and he treats them like his children. Is he the
(+10), Disable Device 4 (+7), Knowledge living incarnation of the city's spirit? That's
(Streetwise) 12 (+15), Sense Motive 5 (+12), hard to say—he didn't just appear out of
Stealth 3 (+4) nowhere, he has a birth certificate and parents
Feats: Defensive Roll 2 and a former life. If he is some kind of living
Powers: Animal Control 5 (Power Feat: urban deity then he became one, rather than
Mental Link; Extra: Sensory Link; Flaws: being born that way. If the Player Characters
Limited Power [Only works on vermin, only approach the Ratcatcher as a friend rather
works inside the Bedlam city limits]), than an enemy, they’ll find him to be an
Comprehend 2 (Animals, Objects; Flaw: incredibly useful source of information, when
Limited Power [only works inside Bedlam’s city he’s coherent enough to talk. Befriending him
limits]), Enhanced Constitution 10 (Flaw: is easy. Helping him get off the streets is
Limited Power [Only works inside the Bedlam difficult. He prefers to live in the tunnels and
city limits]), Obscure 5 (cloud of bugs and he wants to remain a drunk. In fact his
pigeons; Flaw: Limited Power [Only works powers and his role as an urban shaman are
inside the Bedlam city limits]), Super-Senses, both dependant on his being a kind of arch-
(Danger Sense, Detect Life [2 ranks, works at derelict and he doesn’t want to neglect his
range], Detect Superhuman Powers [2 ranks, duties as the city’s secret confessor. If he isn't
works at range], Magical Awareness, there to listen to the city's awful hidden
Precognition) Telepathy 7 (Power Feats: agonies, who will be?

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 Grim Diddle doesn't even have what it takes to
survive as a bum.
Instead of speaking, he moans. His
skin is pale and glows faintly in the dark. His
eyes do not look human.
Woodchuck Man and the Ratcatcher
tend to him, try to calm him through his
nightmares and see that he is fed. They are
amazingly patient and understanding with him,
and somehow he senses their affection, and
knows not to use his powers on them. Yet
from time to time he escapes their care and
wanders off to attack people at random.
Grim Diddle has been cursed with the
ability to suck the lifeforce out of anyone he
comes near. Constantly cold, he craves the
warmth of others and when he isn't curled up
in a heap or rocking back and forth muttering
to himself, he roves aimlessly around seeking
warmth to drain. His companions try hard to
keep him from wandering off and drawing
attention to himself, but Woodchuck Man is
often gone and the Ratcatcher is frequently
too drunk to know what's going on.
Although he won’t attack his
caregivers, no one else is safe from him.
When he comes floating down the street at
midnight, glowing a ghostly blue and
“Unnnh! Maaaaa! Whether up through mumbling insane nonsense, look out! He isn’t
my skins of flaming heart burning so much merciless as he is unaware of the
burning so cold over the sky—Lutes! harm that he does—perhaps incapable of
Lobsters! Nuuuuuuuuh!” understanding. In combat, he really doesn’t
use any tactics at all. He directly approaches
Real Name: Unknown (does not remember it his chosen target, but can get distracted if
himself) some other warm body gets in the way. If
PL: 9 hurt, he retreats. If cornered, he lashes out.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 26 (+8) Int: He won’t take hostages or threaten non-
6 (-2) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 6 (-2) combatants—that’s far beyond his mental
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 9 Defense: 9 capabilities. No one but the other Nowhere
Toughness Save: 8 Fortitude Save: 8 Men can reason with him, even via telepathy,
Reflexes Save: 1 but he’d respond well to Emotion Control.
Willpower Save: -1 (8 vs. mental attacks) No one really knows where he came
Skills: Notice 3 (+2) from or how he got his powers. The other
Feats: Diehard Nowhere Men have no idea, and if anyone
Powers: Drain Constitution 10 (Power Feat: ever manages to cure his shattered mind,
Slow Fade; Extra: Range), Flight 2 (Maximum they’ll find huge gaps in his memory that
Speed: 25 mph), Mind Shield 9, Paralysis 9 effectively obscure it.
(Extra: Range), Super-Senses 4 (Blindsight) Like Woodchuck Man, Grim Diddle can
Complications: So crazy that his behavior is be used as a bridge to the monster-making
almost random. Frequently a danger to mad scientist or secret government laboratory
himself and others. of your choice. Once the PCs have subdued
Drawbacks: Disabled (completely nuts, can’t and studied him, they can follow the clues (his
take care of himself, doesn’t understand surgical scars, the place where Woodchuck
anything going on around him) Man and the Ratcatcher found him) back to
Background: A lost, tormented street the master villain (or sinister conspiracy)
psychotic, incapable of taking care of himself. responsible.

293
 Instant Up, Move-By Action, Power Attack,
Quick-Draw, Startle, Taunt
Equipment: Huge Knife (Melee Weapon, 4
Damage; Extra: Mighty), Bag of razor blades
and broken glass (prop for “Rapidfire” Power
Feat)
Powers: Enhanced Dexterity 4, Super-
Speed 10 (Power Feats: Alternate Power
[Strike 10], Rapid Attack, Rapidfire, Water
Run)
Complications: Misogynist, will always
attack any woman in a group of opponents
first and hardest. Doesn’t yet realize he has
superpowers
Background: A supervillain in the making,
Luca Stegnetti hasn’t yet figured out that he
has superpowers. In fact he’s a speedster,
and he’s going to discover this fact when-
ever it would be least convenient for the
PCs.
Luca isn’t a Made Guy yet, but he’s
on his way. A crazy, wild-eyed speed freak,
he’s already picked up the nickname
“Stabbo the Clown” among the Scarpias and
their associates long before he discovers his
abilities. They call him that for his crazy
sense of humor, his demented laugh and his
hair-trigger capacity for violence. He loves
to stab people and he does it at the drop of
a hat. In fact, he’s so stab-happy that it’s
“I’m a one-man stab-tacular circus of actually holding his career back. Dapper
blood! Ha-ha-ha-huh-ha-heh!” Donny is a cautious guy and he wants to
make sure Luca can hold it together before
Real Name: Luca Stegnetti he lets him in the family. For now, Luca is
PL: 4/11 something like the Scarpias’ wacky mascot,
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16/20 (+3/+5) always hanging around Donny’s favorite
Con: 16 (+3) Int: 14 (+2) arcade and making people laugh with his
Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) nutty antics.
Initiative: 45 Attack Bonus: 8 Unlike most of the Scarpias’
Defense: 15 Toughness Save: 4 (3 if associates, Luca was never a member of the
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 5 Coronets, the Viscounts or any of the other
Reflexes Save: 14 Willpower Save: 5 Stark Hill street gangs. Instead he was a
Skills: Acrobatics 4 (+9), Bluff 5 (+7), loner and a misfit and a nut. His mom was
Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge (Popular a useless, violent drunk and their house was
Culture) 4 (+5), Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 a filthy pit of squalor and everyone teased
(+4), Notice 5 (+5), Perform (Comedy) 4 him about both these things. After getting
(+6), Profession (gangster) 1 (+3) picked on from kindergarten through the
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, eighth grade, he reinvented himself in high
Chokehold, Connected, Defensive Roll 1, school, trying to be the craziest and the
Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Fast Overrun, wildest and the funniest kid around. At first
Fearless, Improved Grapple, Improved he got beat up regularly, but by his junior
Overrun, Improved Pin, Improved Trip, year most of the gang kids thought of him
as a funny diversion. He started stabbing

294
people for them at around this time. Now discover that this isn’t true, and that in fact
he’s twenty-five and he’s hanging around it doesn’t bother him at all. What a relief!
with their fathers and uncles.
A couple of stints in juvie and some Using Stabbo the Clown in Your
failed relationships with girls have left Luca Campaign: At first, Luca is the kind of
with a huge pile of anger under his giddy minor villain Player Characters love to hate
charm. His meth addiction makes this and love to beat up. He’s annoying, scary
worse. Over the years he has found that and vile all at once, if you play him right.
there are women who will put up with him, But the first time the Player Characters get
but they’re all passive lumps. None of them in a fight with him, he’ll discover that he has
are the funny, charming girls he craves. superpowers and become a vastly greater
This and his hatred of his mother have menace. What happens next depends on
made him a dangerous guy for women to be how the PCs react and on how you want to
around. Any girl foolish enough to succumb use him.
to his giddy charm will get beaten on, a lot. He’ll love his new powers, start
In fact his current girl, Marie Tucci, has wearing clown makeup and embrace the
suffered so many savage beatings that her name “Stabbo the Clown.” Then depending
face is barely recognizable as human on the circumstances, he’ll either go on a
anymore. He teases her about this, calling rampage, lie low and wait for a chance to
her “the Elephant Girl” and he doesn’t let strike back at the PCs, or become a fast-
her go out in public any more. He learned rising power in the Bedlam mob. Dapper
from his mom how to terrorize someone Donny doesn’t want anyone in the family
smaller and weaker than you into obedience who would draw unwanted attention or who
and it seems unlikely that Marie will escape might eclipse his own stature, so he will put
him before she dies. He hasn’t actually off making Stabbo an actual “Made Guy” for
killed any of his girlfriends before, but once as long as he can. He certainly won’t help
he does, it’ll become irresistible to do it Luca if he’s running around on a public
again and again. rampage, making headlines and getting
In person, Luca resembles a superheroes involved. He may even want
homicidal Jim Carrey, flailing around and the PCs to put his former mascot away—
acting out and trying to get attention. He’s although he certainly won’t want him to
actually pretty funny. Constantly flirting testify. If Stabbo has to work outside
with any attractive girls he sees, Luca Dapper Donny’s organization, he’ll soon
doesn’t know when to stop harassing them. assemble his own crew and start trying to
His flirting always has an aggressive, mean carve out as big a piece of the underworld
undertone. He’s forever grabbing women for himself as he can. He’ll surely lose in
and trying to force them to dance with him. the long run if he starts a war with the
An unnerving opponent, he doesn’t seem to Scarpias—they can afford to hire an
care whether he wins or loses a fight. The unlimited number of supervillains to bring
harder you beat him, the louder he laughs. him down, but he’s certain to do a lot of
He may abuse women, but he hates damage along the way.
people who hurt children and he may Stabbo works best if the PCs
actually go kill an abusive parent or two encounter him several times in different
once he gets his superpowers. While he is sessions, and get to watch him grow and
capable of any crime at all against adults, mature as a villain. At first he’s a
Stabbo claims to have a soft spot for kids memorably unpleasant mook, then he’s a
and animals. He can’t bring himself to kill rampaging supervillain, then he’s a crime
either one, he says. But the very first time lord and possibly even a worthy arch-
he has to kill a child or an animal, he’ll nemesis.

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 [Disintegration 6], Homing, Indirect,
Precise), Deflect (All Ranged Attacks) 12,
Element Control (Flame) 12, Fatigue 8
Equipment: 1 pt of armor (Costume), 4pts
Sensory Protection Goggles (visual)
Complications: Compulsive pyromaniac
Background: He's not really a doctor, he's
quick to say, just a creepy little pyromaniac
with a bad case of attention deficit disorder.
It is unusual to find a pyromaniac who has
this much of a sense of humor about
himself, but then again it's also unusual to
find one who can set fires with his mind.
Doctor Scorch is a pyrokinetic—
which perfectly suits his personality and
hobbies. Unlike many people with his
ability, he isn't immune to the effects of his
own powers and is covered with small burn
scars from various accidents.
Not exactly a career criminal, in that
he makes no money from his crimes, Doctor
Scorch burns things purely for the sheer
twisted joy of it. His favorite targets include
odd or eccentric looking historic buildings,
big tacky fiberglass statues used to
advertise stuff, and anything that looks like
it would be really tough to burn. He’s
grown adept at seeing what a particular
structure would look like on fire, and he’s
become quite a connoisseur.
"The world is on fire, the air's full of Most pyromaniacs set fires to hurt
screams and the Doctor is in!" and dominate people, but Doctor Scorch just
likes watching things burn. He actually tries
Real Name: Seymour "Sparky" Sanders hard to keep bystanders from getting
PL: 12 harmed by his obsession. While he is
excited by all the screams and running
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) around that a fire produces, he gets no thrill
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 8 (-1) from burning people. Alas, the nature of his
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus:10 obsession makes it difficult for him to keep
Defense: 10/6 Flatfooted from hurting innocents, and despite his best
Toughness Save: 3 with armored efforts he has caused more than one death
costume/ 2 without costume Fortitude over the years. If an orphanage is unlucky
Save: 8 Reflexes Save: 7 Willpower enough to be situated in a really beautiful
Save: 3 old building, look out!
Skills: Craft (chemical) 11 (+12), Escape He’s aware of how bad his
Artist 9 (+11), Knowledge (tactics) 11 compulsions are, and that it would be better
(+12), Notice 8 (+9), Stealth 9 (+11) for everyone if he were locked up again.
Feats: Distract, Dodge Focus 4, 5pts of Yet he honestly can’t control the urge to
Equipment, Evasion 2, Improved Aim, burn things. Nor can he really suppress the
Improved Critical (with Blast power), Precise urge to be free, since he can’t burn things
Shot when he’s in custody. It is lucky for him
Powers: Blast of Flame 12 (Extras: Area, that his powers are easy to suppress.
Selective; Power Feats: Alternate Power Otherwise they would have lobotomized or

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killed him long ago. As it is, a simple untold damage and mayhem. It’s not
combination of anti-hallucination drugs Doctor Scorch. “Torchy the Firebug” (see
keeps his powers in check, although it also Page 270 for more information on his
gives him the shakes and messes up his fine career) committed some of his worst crimes
motor coordination. By now he has spent while the Doctor was behind bars. Anyway
about two thirds of his life institutionalized. his MO is completely different. Seymour has
They made the mistake of releasing him some good insights into what motivates
only once, but he does have a disturbing “Torchy”, which he’d be happy to share if
tendency to get loose during the periodic anyone wants to ask. He doesn’t like
mass prison breaks that super-prisons and Torchy. The guy strikes him as very, very
mental asylums seem oddly prone to. cruel—something that Dr. Scorch has always
Rueful and self-deprecating, he is tried not to be.
clearly ashamed of the stuff he does. When
confronted, he’ll greet the PCs by name and Using Doctor Scorch in Your Campaign:
say something like “Gee, I’m kind of glad Doctor Scorch is a good recurrent opponent
you guys are here. I sure screwed up this for less experienced superteams. The
time.” nature of his powers and his habit of putting
His attention deficit disorder is lots of innocent lives at risk makes him
clearly visible. Manic and excitable, he can capable of holding off a much bigger group
never keep still, his hands and eyes are of heroes that his PL would indicate. A
always moving and he makes big wide Doctor Scorch plot-arc is usually pretty
gestures as he speaks. A chronic fidget, simple. Escape, rampage, get locked up,
instead of doodling or biting his nails, he repeat as needed. Things can suddenly get
sets things on fire. He wears a costume, not a lot more complicated if Sparky Sanders
only because he needs as much protection ever remembers who he really is. In fact
from the heat as he can get, but because he he’s the living incarnation of the trickster-
finds it really exciting. fire-god. The thing the ancient Norse called
While he does want to be stopped, “Loki.” He has a mother and a father here
he won’t go down without a fight. Doctor on earth, he was born, rather than falling
Scorch prefers not to hurt his opponents too from the sky, but he’s Loki all the same.
badly, so instead of attacking them directly If some other reincarnated Norse
he will try to undermine whatever they are god ever recognizes him (and it’s not certain
standing on, drop burning trees on top of they will—that’s entirely up to the GM) then
them and so forth. He is as adept at Sparky will suddenly become a PL 16 energy
figuring out how a fire will behave as any projector, with roughly the same powers but
fireman, and can launch indirect attacks jumped up to a higher level, and he will get
with great precision. He won’t take a whole lot more ambitious. If the GM
hostages, but if cornered he’s not above wants, Loki may be interested in things like
setting a nearby building or vehicle on fire ruling the world or blowing it up, but he’s
so that the PCs will have to leave him and more likely to want revenge on any other
go rescue whoever is inside. surviving Norse deities.
Doctor Scorch has threatened His personality won’t change,
Bedlam on many occasions. These days although he’ll get both craftier and more
he’s locked up in the Crawley State Hospital self-confident. He likes to burn things even
for the Criminally Insane (see Page 103) more, but he’s better at keeping the impulse
and isn’t trying actively to break out. In fact under control (buy off the weakness with
he wants to stay confined and he wants to some of his extra points.)
get better. But he’s not very good at If you would like to use this plot
controlling himself, and if he had an thread, but the god Loki already plays
opportunity to escape, he’d probably take it, another role in your campaign, then Doctor
even though he would know that it’s the Scorch is his son. He can still undergo a
wrong thing to do. An unknown firebug has sudden leap in power and change in
plagued Bedlam for fifteen years, causing objectives once he figures this out, as
above.

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 Background: Some people are born to be
superheroes. Selfless, noble and brave,
blessed with an innate sense of fairness and
justice, they may take up the cape even if
they don’t have any special powers. Mister
Extreme was never that kind of guy. His
superhuman abilities haven’t really made a
hero out of him, despite his best efforts.
Not terribly bright, easily distracted by fads
and fashions, he’s much too shallow to keep
from being petty. Driven to seek success,
and cursed with an enormous ego, he’s
incredibly jealous and vain. The only thing
that has kept him from realizing that he’d
make a better villain than a hero is his lack
of imagination.
He speaks in a kind of fake skate-
punk slang that he’s picked up from
commercials and Saturday morning
cartoons, and which was already out of date
when he started using it in the nineties. He
particularly overuses the word “extreme”
and heroes who have worked with him say it
“Is that extreme enough for ya—I makes him embarrassing to be around.
mean twisted enough for ya?” He’s the son of the late “Mister
Amazing” whose exploits thrilled the world
Real Name: Dick Reed in the 1960s, and he grew up in the
PL: 10 superhero community. He was admitted to
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 34 (+12) the “Street Saviors” partly because of his
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0) father’s reputation and partly because he
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8 had inherited enough money to be one of its
Defense: 12 Toughness Save: 12 (10 major sponsors. When half the team
Impervious) Fortitude Save: 12 resigned all at once he was the closest thing
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 4 they had left to a leader and became their
Skills: Bluff 7 (+7), Craft (Electronics) 5 de-facto chief. The first thing he did was
(+5), Craft (Mechanical) 5 (+5), Disable change their name to “Justice Xtreme”, after
Device 5 (+5), Escape Artist 9 (+12 [+17 himself.
with Elongation bonus]), Knowledge Mister Extreme was not up to the
(Business) 5 (+5), Notice 2 (+2), Profession challenge of leading the group. The only
(celebrity) 3 (+3), Stealth 5 (+8) mission he had the chance to organize was
Feats: Defensive Attack, Distract (linked to a sickening disaster, and caused the team’s
Bluff), Improved Block, Improved Grapple, final dissolution in a flurry of lawsuits (see
Improved Pin, Improved Dodge, Improved Page 284.) As mentioned on those pages,
Trip, Taunt, Wealth his team’s half-completed headquarters still
Powers: Elongation 5 (Maximum Range stands in downtown Bedlam. It’s possible
100 feet), Impervious Protection 10, Super- that the PCs may try to move into it. If they
Movement (Permeate [Flaw: Limited, can do, Mr. Extreme is going to go berserk—but
only pass through an objects with at least it may not even take that much to make him
one small hole in it, for example a door with their enemy.
a keyhole or a chainlink fence], Slither) In the years since Justice Xtreme
Complications: Crazy with jealousy and fell apart, he has sulked on his father’s
resentment of any superhero who can estate, bitterly nursing his anger. You
succeed where he has failed would never know he’s brooding if you

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spoke to him. He remains as outwardly Using Mr. Twisted in Your Campaign:
cheery, upbeat and enthusiastic as ever. He You can use Mr. Twisted as a largely off-
says that Justice Xtreme will be back soon, screen nuisance, hassling the PCs at a
with an extreme new lineup of extreme new distance and defaming them in the press.
heroes for an extreme new world. In the Or he can turn into an active threat,
meantime he’s pursuing other projects. If haranguing and mocking them in public,
you ask him what those other projects are playing grotesque stunts on them and
his mood darkens. The truth is that no one popping up whenever it would be least
wants to work with him anymore, his convenient. His pranks may stay harmless
father’s business empire is slowly falling but annoying, or they may get steadily more
apart and his life has gone completely to dangerous and irresponsible, depending on
hell. the direction the GM wants to take the
If he sees some other team start to character. If they keep defeating him he
clean up Bedlam, when he failed, it’s going may become meaner and crazier and
to drive him into a crazy jealous rage. If graduate to actually trying to cause them
they move into his old headquarters it may harm, or even to stalking their loved ones.
unhinge him completely. He’ll start by suing It’s hard to damage him and it’s
them, and trying to get court injunctions hard to keep him confined. But the best
against them. If this seems not to be way for the PCs to neutralize him might
working, or if the public reacts negatively, actually be to try and discover why he hates
then he may snap and try a more direct them so much, and possibly win him over.
form of action. He’ll modify his costume They will have to proceed with care if they
(see the illustration,) take the name “Mister try this. For if he ever mistakenly thinks
Twisted” and become their supervillain they’ve discovered his true identity, and are
nemesis, using every opportunity to screw about to reveal it to the world, he may
them up. abruptly become suicidal, or homicidal.
Mister Twisted won’t directly As a variation on the theme, you
challenge them to a fight, but he’ll play can have him assemble a group of villains
vicious pranks on them, set booby traps for who have all been defeated or humiliated by
them, throw pies and dead animals at them the Player Characters, and call it his “League
when they make public appearances and of Twisted.” The sole purpose of this
generally try to make them look absurd. twisted league is to take vengeance on the
He will never admit that he’s really PCs. He’ll initially want to do it by publicly
Mister Extreme and the PCs shouldn’t be humiliating them, but if some of the other
aware of it at first. If they manage to lock guys want to take revenge by, for example,
him up, Mr. Extreme will of course disappear eating the PCs’ children, then he’ll get swept
and stop suing them, which may get them up in the moment and go along with it.
curious about whether or not there is some
kind of link. They may also notice that Mr.
Twisted and Mr. Extreme have the same
powers, although Mr. Twisted uses them in
much grosser and more offensive ways.
For his part, Mr. Twisted is really
starting to enjoy being a crazy villain,
cackling maniacally and doing disgusting
things with his stretching powers. Why had
he never thought of this before?

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 Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Defensive Roll 3, Endurance, Fearless, Hide
in Plain Sight, Improved Block, Improved
Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved
Sunder, Instant Up, Inventor, Move-By
Action, Skill Mastery (Craft [Chemical], Craft
[Electronics], Craft [Mechanical],
Investigate), Takedown Attack, Uncanny
Dodge, Weapon Bind
Powers: Boost 2 (Any one attribute at a
time; Flaw: Limited Power [only works on
himself]), Device (Armored Costume; Effect:
2 Protection), Device (Retractable Swinging
line; Effect: Super-Movement 1 [Swinging]),
Device (Stun-Gas Aerosol Can; Effect: Stun
10, Super-Senses 3 (Danger Sense, Tracking
2 [move at full speed])
Equipment: Gas Mask (Effect: Immunity to
Suffocation 1), Night Vision Goggles (Built
into his mask, these give him Super-Senses
1 [Low-Light Vision]), Radio Com-Link (Can
monitor police channels and intercept cell-
phone communications), Power Array (Utility
Belt containing the following equipment as
Alternate Powers: Flash-Bang Grenades
[Audio and Visual Dazzle 4; Extra: 15 foot
radius effect], Smoke-Bomb [Visual Obscure
5; Extra: 20 foot Radius Effect])
Complications: Obsessed with redeeming
himself. Has a chip on his shoulder the size
“The thing about criminals is, they’re
of the Rock of Gibraltar. Wants no other
morons. But then so is everybody
superheroes to outshine him in Bedlam.
else.”
Drawbacks: Disability: Cannot Swim
(Effect: +5 to Swim DC), Power Loss (Loses
Real Name: Terrance Martinez
all non-device powers when outside urban
PL: 10
environment)
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 18 (+4) Con: 16 (+3) Background: Ten years ago, the “Lord of
Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 14 (+2) the Blacktop” was a rising local hero, looking
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 12 to do his part to make Bedlam a better place
Defense: 12 Toughness Save: 8 (5 if for ordinary folks. Then his whole life came
caught Flatfooted, 3 if caught Flatfooted crashing down.
without his body armor) Fortitude Save: 8 He’s from the public housing ghetto
Reflexes Save: 10 Willpower Save: 10 called Ellmore Place—the city’s worst
Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+14), Climb 6 (+9), neighborhood apart from the Country Club,
Computers 6 (+10), Craft (Chemical) 6 and he grew up dirt poor. There was no
(+10), Craft (Electronics) 6 (+10), Craft single moment or violent trauma that
(Mechanical) 6 (+10), Craft (Structural) 6 pushed him into becoming a masked
(+10), Disable Device 8 (+12), Escape Artist vigilante. It just seemed to him that the
5 (+9), Gather Information 6 (+8), cops and the superheroes alike ignored the
Intimidate 9 (+11), Investigate 6 (+10), problems of folks like his family and friends
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 4 (+8), on Ellmore, so he set out to see if he could
Knowledge (Streetwise) 7 (+10), Knowledge make a difference himself.
(Technology) 6 (+10)

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 He was a bona-fide kid genius, and horrendous disaster that Blacktop turned his
a talented athlete as well, but it’s still hard back on being a vigilante for the next ten
to explain how he was able to cobble years. See Page 284 for the awful details.
together the incredible devices he used to In brief, a homeless family died because of
fight crime. Some people have suggested a decision that Blacktop made.
that he is in fact a mutant or a psychic with The very next year he considered
the ability to mentally manipulate machines. coming out of retirement. He had heard
He may even be a sort of urban elemental that the Hammer of Justice had quietly
like the Ratcatcher. We simply don’t know recruited some former members of Justice
(so it’s up to the GM.) We do know that he Xtreme and was leading them on nighttime
met with spectacular success, despite his patrols. He had also gone back to calling
limited resources. His old costume was just them the “Street Saviors,” which was a
a hooded sweatshirt with a black mask much less embarrassing name than “Justice
underneath and at first his gadgets seemed Xtreme.” But it soon became clear to
to be made from household objects and Blacktop that the Hammer of Justice had not
junkyard scraps. experienced a change of heart about his
Although the mask completely racism. Worse, while Blacktop couldn’t
covered Blacktop’s face, The Hammer of prove anything, it looked to him as though
Justice immediately figured out that he was the Hammer of Justice was actually trying to
African-American, and the old bigot tried to get his inexperienced new students killed.
run him out of Bedlam. This embittered And in fact within two years every member
Blacktop, but he was too stubborn to run of this new version of the Street Saviors was
away. His big break came just a few dead or had left town. Most people aren’t
months later. Mister Extreme was recruiting even aware that the team ever existed in
a whole new superhero team from the that form.
remnants of the Street Saviors. Blacktop Blacktop toiled away at low-paying
joined up and at once began feuding with jobs for ten years and tried to find a new
Mr. Extreme. direction for his life. He got a degree in
Blacktop may have been young, but Social Work from Bedlam Community
he was pretty streetwise, and it was clear to College, but he was too angry and
him that the team leader was a poseur and judgmental to be any good at that job. He
a fool. Plus, Mister Extreme kept trying to also got married, but he was no better at
talk to Blacktop in faux hip-hop slang that being a husband than he was at being a
was so awful and embarrassing it made him social worker and that soon ended, too. At
physically cringe. Just to annoy the boss, one of his crummy jobs he actually worked
Blacktop announced that he liked the name next to Torchy the Firebug, Bedlam’s most
“Maximum Extreme.” notorious arsonist, without ever realizing it
He was actually preparing to (if Torchy is ever caught and his identity is
challenge Mister Extreme for leadership of at last revealed, Blacktop is going to be
the team when their first mission pretty angry.)
unexpectedly fell into their laps. The Finally, in desperation, he has
supervillain known as Smashface had come decided to go back to doing the one thing
walking into Bedlam and was crushing he was good at—fighting crime. He has
everything in his path (for no particular worked for two years to put together a sleek
reason—he just felt like crushing some new costume and some gadgets, and at last
stuff.) he thinks he may be ready. He’s a lot
Mister Extreme was sulking in their meaner and more self-righteous than he
new headquarters so Blacktop wound up was in the old days, and he’s going to view
trying to lead the fledgling team against any other superheroes working on his turf
Smashface. The results were such a

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as a threat. In fact, the moment the PCs you’re in the wrong, he’s totally implacable
turn up in Bedlam he’s going to try to chase and he’ll never let up about it—in fact he
them away. hasn’t spoken to his own mother in years
because of some argument he couldn’t back
Using Blacktop in Your Campaign: down from. And he’s so aggressive, prickly
Blacktop hasn’t come out of retirement yet. and easy to offend that you’re almost sure
It’s up to the GM as to when precisely he to get on his bad side.
will feel ready to put his mask back on. But this is not the only way fate is
Seeing the Player Characters stomping conspiring to make him your PCs’ opponent.
around Bedlam might very well be enough As soon as Blacktop comes out of
to provoke him to return. He’s fated to be retirement, both the Hammer of Justice and
the PCs’ deadly rival and perhaps their Mister Twisted (the former Mister Extreme—
nemesis. see Page 298) will try to turn the authorities
He may come off as a big jerk, but against him. Mister Twisted will actually get
he isn’t evil the way, for example, the so jealous and angry that he’ll impersonate
Hammer of Justice is evil. Yet he is Blacktop and frame him for a crime. And if
probably going to come into conflict with the the PCs try to bring Blacktop in, or even just
Player Characters. He is so desperate to to question him about the crime, he will
redeem himself and so intolerant of any refuse to cooperate and things will almost
competition for “his” town that he’ll actually certainly turn violent.
try to physically intimidate the PCs into Rod Anger, Bedlam’s favorite right-
leaving. You might think these are bad wing radio talk show host, will get into the
lessons that he learned from the Hammer of act as well, calling loudly for Blacktop’s
Justice—that he actually thinks it’s the way arrest and trying hard to turn public opinion
masked vigilantes are supposed to operate. against him. This plus the Hammer of
But in fact Blacktop is much too smart to Justice’s efforts to have Blacktop declared
have ever been taken in by that an outlaw will probably result in Ellmore
psychopath’s line of crap. He’s really just Place’s protector getting hunted by the
being a bastard. authorities and likely the Player Characters,
It’s tough to have a civil too.
conversation with Blacktop. He’s used to
being the smartest person in the room, used
to being surrounded by idiots and used to
being the only person who understands
what is going on. This makes him
automatically discount anyone who
disagrees with him as a fool. It actually
makes sense for him to take this attitude.
Most of the people who have disagreed with
him really have been fools, compared to his
own massive level of intellect, and some of
them (like Mister Extreme) have been
dangerous fools, whose moronic advice will
get you killed. As a result, Blacktop can
never admit that he’s wrong about anything
or that anything is his fault (except for the
tragedy that destroyed Justice Xtreme—that
he’s still stricken with guilt over to this very
day.) Once he thinks you’re an
unreasonable idiot, that he’s in the right and

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 Fearless, Fearsome Presence 5, Improved
Grapple, Improved Pin, Quick-Draw,
Ritualist, Startle, Takedown Attack, Taunt
Powers: Device (Big Knife, Easy to Lose;
Melee Weapon; 5 Damage; Extra: Mighty
[increases Strength Damage to 8]),
Enhanced Constitution 12, Regeneration 2
(Can make a recovery check against being
Injured in 5 minutes), Super-Movement 3
(Permeate)
Equipment: Pistol (Ranged Weapon; 4
Damage)
Drawback: Normal Identity (full action to
change)
Background: In the seventies and eighties,
Bedlam was intermittently terrorized by a
masked serial killer who taunted the police
and the press with letters and phone calls.
He challenged them to figure out where he
would strike next, and sent them elaborate
coded messages with weird occult
overtones. No one is really sure why he
called himself “Capricorn”, and his code has
never been broken.
Every three years Capricorn
returned, always between the months of
December and January, ready to kill another
nine people. In 1981 the Bedlam Police
caught a suspect named Wilbur Coote, and
the murders stopped. Coote always
maintained his innocence and there were no
eyewitnesses, but a huge amount of
circumstantial evidence linked him to the
crime. Then in 1984 the killings continued.
“Good Evening Bedlam. This is Capricorn’s new letters were in the same
Capricorn. I’ve been gone, but now handwriting as the old ones, and he
I’m back, and I have all kinds of new performed the same strange and senseless
stuff to show you.” mutilations on his victims—including things
that no detective had ever told the press.
PL: 10 Wilbur Coote was released, although he was
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) murdered shortly thereafter by the father of
Con: 22/10 (+6/+0) Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 one of Capricorn’s victims.
(+4) Cha: 16 (+3) In 1987 a reporter figured out the
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 8 pattern to Capricorn’s killings. He was
Defense: 12 Toughness Save: 10 (6 if drawing some kind of huge diagram across
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 12 Bedlam, marking each vertex with a corpse.
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 8 Acting on this information, the police
Skills: Bluff 6 (+9), Disable Device 4 (+6), managed to capture him at the scene of his
Intimidate 9 (+12), Knowledge (Arcane next crime. To this day there is controversy
Lore) 5 (+7), Notice 8 (+9), Search 8 (+9), as to whether or not they let him kill
Sense Motive 6 (+10), Stealth 4 (+5) another victim so as to be able to catch him
Feats: All-Out Attack, Assessment, in the act. Capricorn fought vigorously, and
Defensive Roll 4, Diehard, Endurance,

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it was only with the help of the Vigilante fingerprints don’t match anything in any
known as the Blue Shield (now known as police database. Neither does his DNA.
the Hammer of Justice) that they were able There was no ID on his body and no one
subdue him. His costume was very has ever come forward to identify him.
elaborate—real supervillain stuff, and its He’s a white male, about five feet,
gaudy look proved instrumental in his ten inches tall, weighs 160 pounds and has
apprehension. He was much easier to spot shoulder-length brown hair. More than this
in that outfit than he ever would have been we do not know. For now, Capricorn resides
in his street clothes. in the Crawley Asylum, where he does not
Capricorn never said anything after participate in his therapy and barely
being taken into custody. No one has ever responds to stimulus at all.
been able to figure out who he is. His As you may have guessed, the
murders are about to begin again.

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Using Capricorn in Your Campaign: clearly Capricorn. It’s his voice, his
handwriting and he’s performing the same
ritual mutilations on the corpses—including
the ones the cops never released to the
public. But how can that be?
If Capricorn is back and there is
blood on the moon, it will mean that the
Player Characters are just one or two steps
away from learning some very deep dark
secrets about Bedlam (see the section on
Capricorn in the “Horrible Secrets” chapter
on Page 390.) You may or may not allow
them to uncover those secrets. It’s largely
up to the GM. Either Capricorn has left no
trail leading back to the forces he really
serves or else he has.

Capricorn is only scary if the Player

Characters have already heard about his
reign of terror before they have a chance to
encounter him. For that reason he probably
shouldn’t be the first villain they ever fight.
They should have heard at least vaguely
about his baffling and heinous crimes, in
addition to the rumor that he had
superpowers.
Feel free to hold some things back—
they’ll almost certainly start looking through
old newspaper and police files as soon as
the first bodies turn up, so it’s good to have
a few facts in reserve for them to discover.
There is an old tradition in the
comics that Capricorn fits into neatly. He’s
the villain who commits crimes and leaves
baffling clues as to where he will strike next,
taunting the PCs to stop him, like the
Riddler, the Clock King, Two-Face, etc. Can
our heroes crack his fiendish code and catch
up with him before he kills again?
There are two ways to re-introduce
Capricorn to Bedlam. Either the nameless
man in the Crawley Asylum suddenly
escapes, or someone completely different
takes up the mask. In either case, it’s

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 Senses 5 (Magical Awareness, Blindsight),
Teleport 6 (Maximum Range: Anywhere in
the City of Bedlam; Power Feats:
Dimensional, Change Direction, Change
Velocity; Flaw: Can only make Extended
Range Teleports)
Complications: Thirsts for girls and opium.
Can’t read.
Background: Some cities, like some
superheroes, get really spectacular arch-
enemies. Fiends with diabolical schemes
and cunning plans and a lust for conquest.
Poor old Bedlam has to make do with the
Scarlet Man.
Zebediah Scarlett founded the city
of Bedlam. Reverend Scarlett led an
obscure sect of fanatics, back in the late
18th century (or the 19th, depending on
where Bedlam is located—see the Timeline
on Page 24.) He took his followers into the
wilderness where he could control them
better and where the world’s prying eyes
would not peer too closely at his business.
His vices of choice included underage girls,
opium and sinister occult rites. He indulged
“Gnaah! Girls! Dope! Gimmie!” all three quite freely in the settlement he
founded, until he was betrayed and
Real Name: Zebediah Scarlett murdered by his chief henchman, Rule
PL: 12 Hardwick. He thirsts for revenge—but not
very hard. He thirsts for girls and opium a
Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a
whole lot harder.
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 28 (+9)
From time to time his unclean spirit
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense:
appears to the city fathers in their dreams
12 Toughness Save: 8 Impervious
and threatens to lay waste to Bedlam. Then
Fortitude Save: n/a Reflexes Save: 8
they do their best to placate him. If he did
Willpower Save: 14
ever attempt to destroy the city, he’d get
Skills: Intimidate 8 (+17), Knowledge bored and distracted and give up halfway
(Arcane Lore) 16 (+16), Knowledge through—but of course Bedlam’s leading
(History) 3 (+3), Notice 6 (+8), Profession citizens don’t know that. For the past few
(depraved old preacher-man) 6 (+6) decades they have been trying to keep him
Feats: Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate), from coming back, using one occult
Fearsome Presence 5, Ritualist, Startle technique after another—some of them very
Powers: ESP 6 (Senses: Sight and Hearing; shameful indeed. (See “Capricorn” on Page
Range: anywhere in the City of Bedlam; 390.)
Power Feat: Dimensional), Flight 3 By now Lucius Hardwick and his old-
(Maximum Speed: 50 mph), Immunity 30 money associates have figured out that the
(Immune to all Fortitude effects), Scarlet Man probably doesn’t have the
Insubstantial 4 (Incorporeal; Affected by power to annihilate Bedlam, but he certainly
magical attacks), Magic (Effect: Illusions 12; has the power to kill all of them, so they will
Power Feat: Dimensional, Alternate Powers: continue to do whatever it takes to appease
Mental Blast 6, Nauseate 12, Telepathy 12) him or ward him off. Keeping him at bay
Protection 8 (Extra: Impervious), turned out to be a better plan than
Regeneration 5 (Resurrection; Doesn’t work appeasement. The last time they paid him
if he is killed by a Magical attack), Super-

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off, the surviving girls formed the Sisterhood feel alarmed. But then when actually meet
of the Screaming Stars and caused Bedlam the Scarlet Man, they’ll find that he’s only a
no end of woe. Any time the GM chooses, moderately powerful villain. He’s also really
Mr. Hardwick’s efforts to keep the Scarlet lazy, and kind of an idiot.
Man out of Bedlam may fail. While he’s certainly capable of
Not very smart, Zebediah Scarlett commiting unthinkable atrocities, he’s not
never did learn how to read and he’s easily very good at thinking them up. It won’t, for
distracted or fooled. While the GM can example, occur to him to try and find a
present him as a looming threat, he isn’t Player Character’s loved ones and hold them
anything like the equal of his reputation. hostage. And if it did, it would sound like
too much work. Nor will he think of taking
Using the Scarlet Man in Your hostages, or of threatening to kill one
Campaign random person every hour if his demands
are not met or any other such stuff. Instead
of launching complicated schemes and
cunning plans, he’ll just show up, demand
girls, drugs and perhaps alchohol and try to
scare you into giving them to him. If he
ever discovers game shows or crack he will
immediately become addicted to them, and
somewhat easier to deal with (since he’ll be
more interested in watching the Game Show
Network and smoking crack than in taking
his revenge on anybody.)
It’s impossible to make an ally out
of the Scarlet Man. He’s too selfish to grasp
the concept. Nor would anyone who gets to
know him want him as their friend. He
always works alone.
Lucius Hardwick really should have
called in the superheroes to deal with this
problem long ago. But to do so would have
been unthinkable—airing his family’s private
matters in front of some vulgar person in a
cape! Just imagine! Far more acceptable to
have Capricorn stalk helpless victims in the
night.

A looming threat with a twist. The Player

Characters shouldn’t even know about the
Scarlet Man’s existence until they start
plumbing the depths of Bedlam’s secret
history. When they learn what the Phantom
Empire was really up to, what Lucius
Hardwick and his cabal of creepy old coots
have been trying to ward off, they should

307
“Yer gettin’ a lump of fist in yer Improved Trip, Power Attack, Takedown
Christmas stocking, ya bum.” Attack
Powers: Enhanced Strength 26, Impervious
Real Name: Jack Grady Toughness 4, Leaping 9 (x1000), Mind
PL: 15 Shield 5, Protection (Extra: Impervious) 6,
Str: 48 /20 (+19/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) Super-Strength 8 (Power Feats: Shockwave,
Con: 46/20 (+18/+5) Int: 12 (+1) Thunderclap)
Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 Complications: Devoted father, just wants
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 to be left alone
Toughness Save: 17 (12 Impervious) Background: The house at 665 Turpin
Fortitude Save: 15 Reflexes Save: 10 Lane is falling apart. Boards cover most of
Willpower Save: 6 (11 vs. Mental Attacks) its windows. A tall, badly constructed fence
Skills: Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), slumps and sags around the property. The
Sense Motive 6 (+6) trees are all dead. The house, the dead
Feats: All-Out Attack, Assessment, gray lawn and the remains of the fence are
Defensive Attack, Improved Grapple, all covered with signs. GO AWAY! NO
Improved Pin, Improved Takedown, TRESPASSING! STAY OFF LAWN! VICIOUS

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DOGS LOOSE ON PROPERTY! His only other contact with humanity is the
TRESPASSERS WILL BE VIOLATED! Shadwell Drive Gentleman’s Club (see Page
If there were any neighborhood 195) where he goes to drink at night with
kids, they would stay far away. But this is his new buddy, Jimmy Hoover.
the Country Club, and more than half the An old time Irish thug, Jack speaks
houses on this block are completely in gravely 1940s slang (“shaddup ya bum!”)
deserted. There don’t seem to be any dogs and curses a lot. He always tried to be a
on the property, but sometimes at night you stand-up guy, not to kill innocent bystanders
can hear something growling. For this is the if he could help it, not to let his team down
lair of Eat ‘em Up Jack, a former supervillain or show up drunk for a job.
who is now just trying to be left alone. He’s If he got into a fight these days he’d
not ready to be around people yet. try even harder not to cause any
It’s pretty dangerous for him to hide unnecessary harm. Unless the guy he’s
out in Bedlam. Some years ago a young clobbering is a wifebeater. Jack truly
County Prosecutor named Cord Killingsworth despises guys who beat on women—it
set Jack up for a vicious murder. This reminds him too much of his pop.
gravely offended him. He supposed it was He’s pretty powerful—one of the
okay if society wanted to punish him for few guys who might be able to take
crimes he’d actually committed, but it wasn’t Smashface in a fight. If some crisis gravely
fair to send him up for something like that— threatens Bedlam, or worse, threatens Moira
something he never would have done. In a or Jimmy, he’ll come roaring out of
rage, he tore Killingsworth’s arm off right retirement to save them. But even if he
there in the courtroom. Killingsworth has gets to save the whole city, DA Killingsworth
wanted him dead ever since. will relentlessly attempt to have him sent to
These days Killingsworth is Bedlam’s death row.
District Attorney and his hatred for Eat ‘em Jack still has the costume the feds
Up Jack has turned outwards toward all gave him and he thinks its pretty swell, even
superhumans (see Page 92.) though it’s really just a sarong and a utility
While Jack was on death row, he belt. He uses the pockets on the utility belt
was approached by people who claimed to to store his smokes. If he has to give up his
work for the government. They offered to life or his freedom doing something heroic,
fake his death, and spirit him out of prison, he might just put the costume on one last
if he would go kill Osama bin Laden for time.
them. Jack agreed, so they arranged for
him to be declared dead and then dropped Using Eat-‘em-up Jack in Your
into Afghanistan. Campaign: This character is meant to be a
It soon became clear that there was rabbit you can pull out of a hat when the
no way to find his target, let alone kill him. occasion requires it. He’s a fairly
Jack was sure his new bosses would execute sympathetic villain and he’s as likely to try
him whether he accomplished the mission or to help the PCs as he is to work against
not, so he walked away. He’d wanted to them, particularly if the city is being
quit being a supervillain for years, anyhow. menaced by some huge looming threat.
Now he finally had a chance. He walked Ideally the PCs should feel at least a little
into China and managed to hide on a conflicted about bringing him in. After all,
freighter bound for the states. By a weird he just wants to be left alone and only takes
twist of fate, he wound up in Bedlam, where action to protect the people he cares about
his daughter Moira lives. (or his privacy.)
These days she’s nearly his only link To help build him up as a foe, let
with the outside world. She buys him the PCs find out about his past and his
groceries and batteries and talks to him connection to the DA before they ever have
through the door. Right now he’s resting, a chance to meet him.
trying to get his head together, trying to
avoid opening all of his old mental scars.

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 to 250 five-foot cubes]), Flight 10, Immunity
34 (all Fortitude effects, Dazzle Effects,
Critical Hits), Magic 20 (Spells: Neutralize
[Magical Powers Only]; Power Feats:
Additional Spells [Disintegrate, Drain any
one stat, ESP, Immaterial, Obscure, Strike
[Extra: Aura], Teleport [Range: Anywhere in
the Universe; Extra: Dimensional])
Impervious Protection 18, Super-Senses
(Magical Blindsight, Darkvision, Detect Life)
Background: She has come to blot out the
stars and drown the world in silence. Where
she walks, she leaves emptiness. The
Queen of Skulls is a world-devouring
nightmare-villain of the first rank. She does
not want to rule the earth, or be
acknowledged as its greatest inhabitant.
She cares nothing for worship or for insults
or for anything else, apart from oblivion.
You can yell all the pithy quips you like at
her. She won’t react at all. Fortunately she
doesn’t exist quite yet, but she may appear
in Bedlam soon.
If the GM likes, the Sisterhood of
the Screaming Stars may be plotting to
bring the Queen of Skulls into our universe
so that she can destroy Zebediah Scarlett
and the city he founded. Whether she also
destroys the world is really none of their
concern.
If you are using this plot-thread
then the most important question is, who is
she? The Sisterhood arranged for her to be
reincarnated some years ago, but she
doesn’t yet know who she is. She thinks
“Fear not. Your cares are at an end.” she’s a mortal, and if someone doesn’t
remind her of the truth, she may live and
Real Name: To be determined die as one. At the GM’s option, the Queen
PL: 20 of Skulls could be Lawanda Corby, or Dr.
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: - Ramona Blackmore, or Madison Nylander or
Int: 20 (+5) Wis: 34 (+12) Cha: 30 (+10) Jane Tharp or the “Red Queen”, or Yolanda
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 15 Washington or even Naked Man (he
Defense: 9 Toughness Save: 22 (18 suddenly realizes that he’s not supposed to
Impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a be the Man in Nothing—he’s supposed to be
Reflexes Save: 0 Willpower Save: 20 a man in a dress!) Pick whichever one
Skills: Intimidate 20 (+30), Knowledge seems most dramatically appropriate, and
(Arcane Lore) 15 (+20), Notice 1 (+13) don’t tell your PCs.
Feats: Fearless, Fearsome Presence 25, The circumstances that could trigger
Ritualist her transformation vary according to who
Powers: Blast 20 (Power Feats: Alternate you pick. Dr. Stone might figure it out in
Powers: [Blast 2; Extra: Homing], the course of her researches at the Crawley
Progression 3 [on “Area” Extra]; Extras: Asylum. Jane Tharp might try to kill herself
Area [Blast Covers a Shapeable Area of up

310
when the police come to break up the Sisterhood to bring her into the world, or
Murder Club, only to rise, reborn. you can have them try to stop her from
One particularly dramatic way to do destroying Bedlam once she has already
it is to have her visit the Serpent Room at appeared.
the Lurman Gallery. Whoever she is, she You probably only want to use this
will get weirdly excited and happy as she villain on your PCs once they already know a
wanders through the gallery’s collection of bit about Bedlam’s secret history. They
heinous obscenities, and when she comes at should at least have a chance to figure out
last to the Serpent Room, she will vanish in what they’re dealing with, what she wants
its depths. It the PCs go searching for her, and how they might stop her. Please
she will suddenly reappear with a very remember as well, the Queen of Skulls
peculiar smile on her lips. “I remember,” doesn’t even have to exist in your game
she says “I finally remember who I am.” world. She’s here only if you decide to use
And the Queen of Skulls is born. that plot thread.
Her personality is much like you
would expect for a Goddess of Night and An Adventure With the Queen of
Death. She is not particularly cruel. Pain is Skulls: Doom Comes to Bedlam
much too active an emotion for her to feel Once she appears in Bedlam, the Queen’s
anything but disgust for it. Incapable of first objective is to find the Ratcactcher,
lying or deceiving anyone, she has no sense Bedlam’s living soul, and kill him. To do this
of humor and often doesn’t respond to the she will recruit a gang of henchmen, up in
things people say to her. Her only motive is the Country Club. If Doc Zombie or some
the destruction of Bedlam and she won’t do other necromancer has already set up shop
anything which doesn’t serve that end. She there, they will hastily get out of town
holds eerily still when she has no reason to (perhaps Doc Zombie broadcasts one last
move. commercial, announcing his Going Out of
The Queen speaks only when she Business Sale—everything must go!) She
wants something, or to express her absolute will then take over whatever organization
distaste for everyone and everything. Life is they had, which probably includes Bedlam’s
repugnant to her and she reacts to intense only surviving Jamaican posse. They will
displays of it (love, panic, convulsions, etc.) scour the streets for the Ratcatcher, who
by wincing in dismay. That’s the only may in turn come to the PCs for help.
emotion you ever see her express. While If the Ratcatcher dies, the Queen of
she finds intense feelings unpleasant, you Skulls will then go on a big rampage in the
can’t use it to ward her off—that just gets middle of the city, killing everyone and
her attention, and not in a good way. everything in her path. If she gets as far as
If someone asks her why such a devastating Wolverton, the Ghosts of the
solemn and dolorous entity dresses like Del Morocco will rise to fight her, but they
she’s going to Mardi Gras, let alone wears will lose. For silence trumps even the Blues.
black lipstick and nail polish, she replies If the Player Characters can stop
“This is the way you imagined me. Would her, well and good. If not, they can try
you like to see what I really look like?” The summoning the ghost of Zebediah Scarlett
correct answer is “NO!” and feeding him to her. She will be
appeased by this, and go back to wherever
Using the Queen of Skulls in Your
she came from. She might even leave her
Campaign: There are two ways to use the
host behind.
looming threat of the Queen of Skulls. You
can have the PCs try to foil the efforts of the

311
Bedlam doesn’t have a really large
supervillain population. It’s not big enough “Doc Zombie rule the world for you at
and there isn’t enough here to steal. There low-low prices that not possibly can
are a few local villains, like the Nowhere last.”
Men, but for the most part super-criminals
tend to leave town once they get successful Real Name: Dr. John deBlanche
enough to move away (just like everybody PL: 12
else.) However, the general lawlessness
and crooked police force do attract outside Str: 16 (+6) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 18 (+4)
supercriminals from time to time. On the Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 24 (+7) Cha: 14 (+2)
following pages we have a list of villains Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 12
who might show up in Bedlam for a big Defense: 10
score or try to take over the local scene. Toughness Save: 12 Impervious (4
Sort of like Gotham City on the old 1960s without magical defenses)
Batman program, where a new colorful Fortitude Save: 10 Reflexes Save: 8
villain would roll into town each week with a Willpower Save: 13
gang of henchmen and a heap of terrible Skills: Bluff 3 (+5), Concentrate 14 (+21),
puns. “Holy $#!+ on a pogo stick, &*%$- Gather Information 5 (+7), Intimidate 13
Man! The @$$ Meister is back in town!” (+15), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 15 (+15),
The villains listed below vary in Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 3
power from chronic losers to arch-fiends. (+3), Languages (Creole, English, Spanish),
Some have appeared before in other Sleight of Hand 8 (+10), Stealth 7 (+9),
publications from Plain Brown Wrapper Survival 6 (+13)
Games and some are completely new. But Feats: Fearsome Presence 5, Improved
none of them are tied closely to any specific Critical (with Knife), Master Plan, Minions
game setting or “universe,” except of course (gangsters and zombies), Ritualist, Tracking
for this one. Powers: Device (Knife That Has Been
Consecrated to a Thousand Gods of
Darkness; Melee Weapon; 3 Damage
[Extras: Mighty, Penetrating Attack 6) ESP
12, Force Field 12 (Impervious), Immunity 4
(Disease, Magical Transformation, Poison),
Magic 12 (Effect: Summoning; Power Feat
[Alternate Powers: Insubstantial, Mental
Blast, Drain any one Stat, Nauseate,
Suffocation, Teleport), Mind Control 12,
Super-Senses (Darkvision, Detect Magic,
Magical Awareness, Precognition)
Background: The “creepy rumor” about
the dead walking the streets of the Country
Club is really meant to let you place your
own necromancer up there. However, if you
don’t have one you’d already like to use,
here’s Doc Zombie to fill the gap. He
showed up in the Country Club quite
recently, drawn by Bedlam’s pain.
Something worse than a mere murderer, he
brings the dead howling back from beyond
the void and bends them to his will.

312
 PCs who work with ghosts on a You All” in red. People who check the web
regular basis will find that every haunt in address on the billboards find that his
Bedlam fears whatever it is that has moved MySpace page is infrequently updated and
into the Country Club, though none of them makes no sense. You could say the same
know its name. But most of the living do. about his blog.
As soon as he slithered into town from parts As soon as the commercials start to
unknown, Doc Zombie started running ads play in regular rotation, Doc Zombie will
on local television. seize control of about half of Bedlam’s one
Cheaply made and widely ridiculed, remaining Jamaican posse (see Page 261.)
they show Doc Zombie sitting in a finished Then he’ll start killing the other half and
basement, surrounded by trashy, touristy turning them into the living dead.
looking voodoo paraphernalia and what His objectives are rather less
appears to be a giant skull-shaped bong. shadowy and mysterious than his
“Doc Zombie has the power!” He solemnly reputation. He wants money, power and
intones “The power of the juju, the power of respect. His objective in coming to Bedlam
the snake, the lion, the worm. All life am is to take over its underworld, and he’ll try
bow to Doc Zombie. All fall on bended knee all sorts of schemes to do it. He owes fealty
before the Macumba Man!” to no particular faction and fears neither the
There is a poorly-made video effect Jigsaw Man nor the Mafia. Once he gets
resembling thunder and lightning. Then a firmly rooted in the Country Club Doc
man and a woman (both wear dreadlocks) Zombie can become a fixture on Bedlam’s
turn toward the screen, hold up wads of crime scene for a long while. Or he can
money and say “Thank you, Doc Zombie!” suddenly pull up stakes and leave town, for
A grandmother bursts out of a very no apparent reason.
fake-looking grave, surrounded by her
grinning relatives. “Thank you, Doc Using Doc Zombie in Your Campaign:
Zombie!” they all say, and hold up big He can be a short-term villain who appears
handfuls of cash. just long enough to go on a rampage or he
A man dressed like an evil chicken can be a lasting foe. Vengeful, he will
appears above a baby’s cradle and crows. certainly want to make life Hell for any
Doc Zombie steps into the shot and holds up superheroes who foil his plans.
his hand. “Enough!” he cries, and the He’s one of those master villains
chicken utters a feeble hiss and tries to who goes everywhere surrounded by hordes
cover its face with its wings. A full-grown of henchmen, but he’s also pretty
man in a baby bonnet rises from the cradle formidable on his own. No crime is beyond
holding fistfuls of cash, “Thank you Doc him, no scheme is too dastardly or too
Zombie!” he says. improbable or too insane. He actually has
Then a whirling occult design terrible judgment and isn’t really very bright,
appears on the screen with a lurid flashing despite his impressive command of arcane
skull in the middle. “I’ve got something for lore.
you!” a voice cries. He always speaks in a slow, creepy
Is this an advertisement? A boast? monotone and he never shows any emotion
A threat? It’s all so weird and so behind his sunglasses. You can undercut
incompetently made that it’s impossible to this for humorous effect by having the PCs
tell for sure. Other commercials follow, but come across him while he is doing some
they are just as incomprehensible. Some totally normal thing like brushing his teeth
people report feeling nauseated by his or picking up his dry-cleaning or standing in
commercials, but this might just be because line at the DMV. He mostly kills other
they are nauseatingly bad. criminals, but he’ll gladly make an exception
Soon Doc Zombie starts renting in your case if you trifle with him or stand in
billboard space, and puts up giant posters of his way.
his face with the words “Doc Zombie Get

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An Adventure With Doc Zombie: in some supernatural muscle of their own,
Deadfellas unleashing God-knows-what on Bedlam.
In fact they ask their contacts in the
Catholic church to ask for help, and the
Church puts them in touch with the maniacs
who run the Opus Ombra. (you can find out
more about these unbalanced monster
hunters on Page 205.)

In his effort to take over the Bedlam

Underworld, Doc Zombie hits on a plan so
fiendish it actually makes him giggle (and
normally nothing is capable of making him
crack even the faintest smile.)
He manages to locate a secret Mob
graveyard where the Scarpias have been
burying their enemies, and he brings the
Igglioni Family back to life. Living corpses
with gold chains and thousand dollar suits
start rising from the dead, eager for a little
of their favorite Sicilian pastime—Vendetta.
The resurrected Igglionis are only
semi-intelligent, but they remember how to
talk and some of them can aim guns and
drive cars and all of them know where to
find the Scarpias. Soon terror stalks the
streets of Stark Hill. Known members of the
Scarpia family are being dragged out of their
cars, yanked away from their tables at
sleazy restaurants and strip clubs, and eaten
alive.
Why should the Player Characters
care? First, because innocent people are
getting caught in the crossfire and second
because the Scarpias are sure to try to bring

314
 Knowledge [History]), Startle, Taunt, Wealth
3, Well-Informed
Equipment: Concealed body armor (3
Protection), Luger Automatic Pistol (Ranged
Weapon; 4 Damage), Cane (Melee Weapon;
3 Damage)
Background: Contrary to popular belief,
the chief architect of the Holocaust is alive
and well and living in Damascus, where he
has advised the Syrian intelligence services
for the past fifty years. Alois Brunner was
Adolph Eichmann’s second-in-command—
the man given direct oversight of
implementing the Final Solution. He
pursued these duties with zeal, and unlike
Eichmann, he never claimed to have been
“just following orders.” When Paris Match
interviewed him in 1995, they asked him if
he had any regrets. He replied: “not having
killed more Jews.” For him the Holocaust
was both a duty and a joy, a place where
his personal inclinations meshed perfectly
with his job.
After the war he spent a little time
in Paraguay, a little time in Spain, but as
soon as the state of Israel came into being,
“The dust of burning nations makes a he moved to Syria, which suddenly had
splendid sunset.” need of his talents. These days he lives in a
penthouse suite at the Hotel Ambassador,
Real Name: Alois Brunner the finest address in Damascus. That’s sort
PL: 8 of a relative term. In fact the hotel has
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 8 (-1) seen better days and looks a lot like the VIP
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 18 (+4) lounge of a 1960s airport. But he cares little
Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 4 for luxuries in any case.
Defense: 5 Toughness Save: 3 (-1 Herr Brunner is remarkably fit for a
without body armor) Fortitude Save: -1 man in his nineties and has yet to retire.
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 12 He’s slim and white-haired and has an
eyepatch (courtesy of the Mossad, which
Skills: Bluff 8 (+12), Concentration 5 (+9),
nearly managed to repay him for his past
Diplomacy 6 (+10), Disable Device 5 (+8),
kindness in the seventies), and he walks
Gather Information 10 (+14), Intimidate 10
with a cane. He dresses impeccably—he’s
(+14), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+5),
the sort of older European gent who turns
Knowledge (Business) 6 (+9), Knowledge
up for breakfast in a suit and tie.
(Civics) 8 (+11), Knowledge (History) 7
While Brunner still freelances as a
(+10), Knowledge (technology) 4 (+7),
part-time consultant for the Syrians, he
Notice 5 (+9), Profession (administrator) 8
spends most of his efforts running a
(+11), Profession (spy) 10 (+13), Search 3
worldwide mutual support network for
(+7), Sense Motive 8 (+12)
former members of the Third Reich.
Feats: Assessment, Beginner's Luck,
Originally called “Der Spinner” (the Spider)
Connected, Contacts, Distract (linked to
these days it more often goes by the name
Bluff), Fascinate (linked to Bluff), Inspire,
of Oktopus. His code name within the
Leadership, Master Plan, Second Chance
organization is the Black Eagle. Oktopus
(Gather Information), Skill Mastery
has resources all over the world.
(Concentrate, Bluff, Gather Information,

315
 If there is already a secret destroying weapon is at stake, he’ll never
underground Nazi cabal in your game world, leave Syria to fight them directly. His usual
then they are separate from it, but they method is to throw assassins and
know them and can sometimes get help supervillains at his foes, and then to send
from them. The Oktopus are not interested them threatening, boastful postcards if he
in world domination, or restoring the Third fails. While he is an evil, spiteful old man,
Reich to power, although if an opportunity and has no objection at all to murdering his
to actually do either of those things came enemies’ children, spouses, etcetera, he
within their reach they would certainly give loves a good opponent and will say so in his
it a try. For the most part, they care about letters.
staying alive and maintaining their wealth in If the PCs ever encounter him in
a hostile world. person, it should be at the end of a long,
Oktopus does not have a lot of dramatic series of adventures. They should
contacts in the neo-Nazi movement. They already know him well from his letters, and
actually find skinheads scary and weird. be itching to give him the comeuppance he
They do however know where to hire some deserves. As an added twist, perhaps he
of the world’s best assassins and they will dies just as they are about to confront him.
meet any challenge to their existence with Or perhaps he has had his head transferred
lethal force. They also know where a lot of onto a PL 10-13 cyborg body and gives
old Nazi wonder-weapons are buried, and if them a fight they weren’t expecting! Here’s
anyone gets too close to uncovering one a sample cyborg body, in case you decide to
they will act to snuff out the intruder. And go that route.
there is one in Bedlam.
Doctor Gertrund Harder (see Page The Iron Eagle
359) was a pediatrician who conducted PL: 12
some truly obscene experiments on children Str: 36 (+13) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a
at Buchenwald concentration camp, and she Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 18 (+4)
learned some incredible secrets in the Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 12
course of her researches. She lives in Stone Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 16 (10
Ridge—by an odd coincidence her house is Impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a
directly across the street from Young Junior Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 12
Gorganzua’s. Skills: Bluff 8 (+12), Concentration 5 (+9),
Hale and hearty in her 100th year of Diplomacy 6 (+10), Disable Device 5 (+8),
life, she is one of the leading lights of the Gather Information 10 (+14), Intimidate 10
Stone Ridge Garden Club. She still practices (+14), Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+5),
pediatric medicine, at Beth El, although I Knowledge (Civics) 8 (+11), Knowledge
doubt you’d want her as your own child’s (History) 7 (+10), Knowledge (technology) 4
doctor. Dr. Harder knows the location of a (+7), Profession (administrator) 8 (+11),
prototype weapon she took with her to Profession (spy) 10 (+13)
America, and could have it operational in Feats: All-Out Attack, Beginner's Luck,
less than twelve hours. What and where Connected, Contacts, Distract (linked to
this weapon might be, we leave up to the Bluff), Fascinate (linked to Bluff), Inspire,
GM. She is still in regular contact with Leadership, Master Plan, Power Attack,
Oktopus and anyone who threatens her Second Chance (Gather Information), Skill
comfortable suburban existence is in grave Mastery (Concentrate, Bluff, Gather
jeopardy. Information, Knowledge [History]),
Takedown Attack, Wealth 3, Well-Informed
Using the Black Eagle in Your Powers: Immunity 30 (all Fortitude
Campaign: Brunner is a long-range villain. Effects), Protection 16 (Extra: Impervious
Tucked safely away in Syria, he’ll play 10), Super-Senses 5 (Darkvision, Detect
deadly chess games with the PCs from Heat Sources, Radio, Ultravision) Super-
halfway around the globe, but unless a Strength 8 (Maximum Lift: 400 Tons)
miraculous youth formula or a world-

316
 didn’t look so much like a chicken. Then
again, perhaps not.
He’s experimented with using the
name “Night Raven,” but most of the time
he’s Captain Condor. Widely thought of as a
joke by superheroes and villains alike, he’s
struggled hard to find work as a costumed
criminal and even harder to find respect.
His high-strung, foolhardy, self-important
personality doesn’t help.
Captain Condor’s origin story has
changed a lot over time. He used to claim
that he was bitten by a radioactive condor.
Then when people made fun of that story he
said he was an ornithologist whose jealous
colleagues refused to accept his radical
theories about the Red-Breasted Piping
Plover, so he turned to a life of crime.
These days he says that he is the
reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian warrior-
priest, who worshipped the condor god.
This actually makes even less sense than
“I’m not a chicken, damnit! I’m a the one about the radioactive condor but he
condor!” stubbornly sticks to it.
His personality is about what you’d
Real Name: “Rhode Island” Red Pullette expect from a muscle-bound thug who
PL: 10 dresses up like a chicken (no, wait, I mean a
Str: 14/18 (+2/+4) Dex: 14/22 (+2/+6) condor—or is it a raven?) When he’s not
Con: 16 (+3) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) wearing the suit you can see that he has a
Cha: 10 (+0) Initiative: 9 mullet and a big gap between his front
Attack Bonus: 15 (Melee) 10 (Ranged) teeth. He dresses with expensive bad taste.
Defense: 13 (8 if he is caught Flatfooted) $500 silk shirts in garish colors, heavy gold
Toughness Save: 10 (6 if caught chains, etc. His spiky mullet somehow
Flatfooted, 3 if caught Flatfooted without makes him look even more like a chicken, as
armor) do his weak chin, skinny neck and beaky
Fortitude Save: 7 Reflexes Save: 13 nose.
Willpower Save: 2 (8 vs. Mental Attacks) He loves being a villain and tries to
Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+18), Craft rant like one, but whenever he comes up
(Mechanical) 3 (+3), Escape Artist 7 (+13), with some pompous long-winded speech his
Gather Information 1 (+1), Knowledge lack of education shows. He doesn’t really
(Streetwise) 3 (+3) know enough about birds to have ever been
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack, an ornithologist, nor does he know enough
Attack Focus (Melee) 5, Defensive Roll 4, about Egypt to have lived there in another
Dodge Focus 5, Elusive Target, Evasion 2, incarnation. It seems likely that he in fact
Improved Initiative, Move-by Action, acquired his incredible suit by stealing it.
Takedown Attack 2, But that begs the question of who would
Powers: Device (Flying Condor Suit, hard build a flying suit that looks like a chicken in
to lose; Effects: Enhanced Dexterity 8, the first place.
Enhanced Strength 4, Flight 5, Mind Shield Stubborn, bull-headed and foolishly
6, Protection 3 [Impervious], Strike 2 [Extra: determined, he has read a lot of self-help
Mighty]) books and believes everything the say about
Background: People might take Condor not letting obstacles stand in your way. He
Man a lot more seriously if his costume will keep fighting after a battle is lost, he

317
will refuse to flee when his team retreats. A no intentions of blackmailing the country
bit like a rooster, actually. Yet his courage with a nuclear bomb or taking over the
sometimes abruptly fails him. He routinely world. In fact, if he learned that his boss
gets himself into trouble with his big mouth were about to do something that bad, he
and then has to run for his life. would seriously consider betraying them to
He’s not casually murderous. In the PCs.
fact he’s prone to sudden, impulsive, Ideal for those hard-to-reach places,
sentimental acts of kindness. But if he gets you can also enlist Captain Condor in any
frustrated or scared he’s capable of any “ad hoc” teams you might need to throw
stupid, vicious atrocity. If he kills a hostage together to fight your PCs or to attempt
or an innocent bystander, he’ll feel really some really big crime. His idea of a big
bad about it until he gets distracted by crime would be knocking over an armored
something else. truck, not replacing the President of Sweden
A manic depressive, he lapses into with a robot duplicate, although frankly he’d
long periods of gloom between jobs. But be no less likely to screw up either job.
when he’s working on a heist he’s cheerful, Captain Condor would be glad to be
wildly enthusiastic and fun to be around (so a Player Character’s arch-nemesis if
say a number of his ex-girlfriends.) Hitting somebody puts that thought into his head.
girls is against his “Condor Code.” He If it’s a really well-known PC he’ll be
absolutely won’t hit women unless he’s incredibly proud and grateful to be their
really mad or really scared or lashing out in greatest foe, and he’s sure to call them up
a fit of drunken depression. all the time and try to keep them on the
phone for way too long, getting sentimental
Using Captain Condor in Your over all the times they’ve fought, all the
Campaign: Mainly intended as a hireling incredible adventures they’ve shared (on
with a touch of comic relief, Captain Condor opposite sides) etc. He’s actually more
might try robbing a bank or a jewelry store unpleasant to be around when he’s trying to
on his own, but he’s more likely to hire on be your buddy than when he’s trying to kill
with a master villain and do their evil you.
bidding—or try to as best he can. He has

318
“I makes a scruddly chuddly Radiation), Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision,
experiment on you, I makes it real Ultra-Hearing), Transformation 11
tasty-like.” (Transforms a narrow group of targets into
a narrow group of results [makes ordinary
Real Name: Doctor Tetsuo Fearington people into brain-damaged superhumans,
Blood, Jr. (but see below) does not work on anyone who already has
PL: 11 innate superhuman abilities]; Extras:
Str: 30/20 (+10/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) Continuous [lasts until it is reversed], Flaw:
Con: 30/20 (+10+5) Int: 8 (-1) Wis: 8 (-1) Limited Power [Only works one time in
Cha: 14 (+2) three, requires a lengthy, bloody and
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 11 disgusting surgical procedure])
Defense: 8 Toughness Save: 10/5 Equipment: Headquarters (see below),
Fortitude Save: 10/5 Reflexes Save: 6 Second Headquarters (which he can retreat
Willpower Save: -1 to in a dire emergency—it has the same
Skills: Intimidate 7 (+9), Notice 7 (+6), stats and apalling sanitary conditions as the
Profession (mad butcher) 5 (+4), first one), Long Cruel Hollow Needles, which
Stealth 6 (+8) he inserts under his fingernails (eew!)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Diehard, Distract (Transfer Constitution 10), Rusty Surgical
(Linked to Intimidate), Endurance, Tools (Melee Weapons, do from 1-6 Damage
Fearsome Presence 5, Improved Grapple, depending on which one he uses)
Startle Headquarters: A grotty underground set
Powers: Enhanced Strength 10, Enhanced of rooms, usually off a subway tunnel or in
Constitution 10, Immunity (Aging, Disease, the basement of an abandoned building, a

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typical Doctor Frightful Headquarters will be find out why they had powers. Also it was
Huge in size, have a Toughness of 8 and the the most fun.
following Features: Concealment, Holding Frightful did his best to help, but he
Cells (really just a bunch of fraying, grue- was clumsy and got mad sometimes and
encrusted dentists' chairs, where forgot how easy Father’s parts could break.
superhumans sit drugged and swaddled in After a while Father got to be really scared
yards of tape), Infirmary (although you of him and this made Frightful even more
wouldn't want to seek medical treatment mad.
there), Laboratory, Workshop, Extra 7 levels Father stopped talking or doing
of Snare on Holding Cells, to keep "patients” experiments and after that he got broken so
immobilized. bad that Frightful couldn’t figure out how to
Complications: Crazed irrational weirdo fix him. So Frightful decided that he would
who thinks he's a master criminal, incapable have to be the Doctor now and make
of functioning in normal society experiments and build laboratories and
Drawbacks: Hideous (moderate, very things. For a while he carried Father around
common), Moderate Vulnerability to Dazzle with him to see if he could find a way to fix
Attacks him, but then Father fell apart and his
Background: He doesn’t really have a pieces got lost.
name. Father called him “Frightful” or “My Now Doctor Frightful grabs guys
First and Worst Mistake” and kept him with powers and makes experiments on
chained up in a little room behind the them whenever he can. Sometimes they
laboratory. He would peek under the crack hurt him and he has to run away and make
of the door and watch Father make a new laboratory, but they’ve never caught
experiments, and hear the lovely screams him.
and smell the lovely smells. He kept
breaking his chain and trying to get out of Using Doctor Frightful in Your
his little room, which made Father angry Campaign: A brute who thinks he’s a
and afraid and meant he had to have many master villain, Doctor Frightful is tragic,
beatings and shocks from the awful hurt- horrible and macabre. He stalks and
stick. He did not like that stick, but he loved snatches unsuspecting superbeings, both
Father. hero and villain alike, and subjects them to
Sometimes when people had been disgusting, pointless and fatal surgical
bad, Father would put them in Frightful’s procedures until they die, get rescued or
little room and he would play with them and break loose.
make experiments on them himself. The authorities completely
One day bad men in capes with misunderstand what Doctor Frightful is.
terrible powers came to hurt Father. Feel free to feed your players the following
Frightful snapped his chain and came out of “official story” before they come to grips
his room and did things to them. The with him.
laboratory was ruined, but Frightful and Doctor Frightful is widely supposed
Father escaped and built new labs in many to be a neurosurgeon of British-Japanese
places, mostly in the tunnels under the city, ancestry named Doctor Tetsuo Fearington
far from the cruel light of the sun. Someday Blood. Doctor Blood grew up and attended
Frightful will climb up there and crush that medical school in Tokyo. He received his
sun, when he isn’t so afraid of it. MD some time around 1935. He would be
After he helped Father with the men at least ninety years old by now.
in capes, he didn’t have to stay in his room Despite all the prejudice he endured
much anymore and he helped Father with over his European heritage and occidental
his experiments and to catch new test appearance, Doctor Blood was ruthless,
subjects and fight off bad men in capes. It determined and smart enough to get
was best of all to do experiments on bad assigned to a secret Japanese medical
men in capes, Father told him, so they could facility in Manchuria, where he participated
in some of the most cruel and depraved

320
experiments ever performed on human While he’s crazy and incapable of
beings. Their hapless patients appeared on dealing with the world, he did participate in
official records as “logs” so the doctors a lot of Doctor Blood’s experimental work,
jokingly called their facility “the Sawmill.” and at the GM’s discretion he may still know
Not one log ever passed out of the Sawmill a few techniques by rote, or still have a
alive—a record of absolute evil that even the supply of a miracle serum (or some such
Nazi death-doctors never quite achieved. substance) that actually does have an effect
To this date Doctor Blood is the only on parahuman abilities.
physician to ever have been prosecuted for Doctor Frightful also has a secret
these crimes. The others went on to vice. He likes to drain the juices from
prominent positions in medical schools or parahumans directly into his own tissue,
became the heads of pharmaceutical firms with a set of hollow needles that he inserts
or otherwise prospered. Some of them are under his own fingernails. He claims that
still enjoying a comfortable old age in the this gives him their powers, but of course it
Tokyo suburbs as we speak. doesn’t. Instead it gives him sick thrills and
Doctor Blood’s ancestry made him a the occasional STD. Some people think this
scapegoat, however, and he was called to habit is his least appealing trait, others say
account for his crimes before an American it’s not that easy to choose one.
military tribunal. Instead he vanished, Doctor Frightful is too addled to
taking his secrets with him (or perhaps was really serve as anyone’s nemesis, but if
spirited away by unscrupulous elements somebody hurts him he will remember it
within the War Department, depending on and if he encounters them again he will try
how paranoid a campaign you are running.) to punish them for it. Although he’s not a
Whatever happened, in 1961 he long-term enemy, he does have a bad way
somehow turned up inside the United of getting obsessed with one or another
States, carrying on his dreadful experiments parahuman, stalking them relentlessly until
in a secret lab beneath the streets of your he finds a chance to snatch them.
campaign’s home city! Over the next ten His “laboratories” are generally
years he fought superheroes from time to located underground (or sometimes in an
time, and killed or lobotomized a few. He abandoned building if he can’t find a
also made some breakthroughs in the suitable location beneath the streets.) None
understanding of parahuman neurophysio- of them look like the kind of place you’d
logy, although the details remain unclear. want to have surgery.
For a while he vanished altogether,
and when he turned up again in the early An Adventure With Doctor Frightful:
1970s he seemed to have undergone some Pookie Went Down to Frightful-Town
kind of horrible transformation (although in Fleeing from the bad men in capes and the
fact he had been replaced by his hulking, terrible light of the sun, Dr. Frightful
freakish lab assistant.) He wanted to be stumbles onto one of Father’s old lairs,
called “Doctor Frightful” now, presumably which still holds the tools, drugs and
because of his hideous appearance, and he instructions for a parahuman enhancement
was worse than ever. technique that actually works. Well, it
The GM should remember that no almost works, anyway. The technique will
one knows the true story, so sinister give subjects both psychic powers and
organizations, the Mob and possibly even horrible brain injuries, if it doesn’t kill them
rogue elements of the US intelligence outright. The sickeningly unsanitary
community may still come to seek the conditions in the operating theater and Dr.
Doctor’s expertise and be willing to bargain Frightful’s sloppy surgical technique don’t
with him, despite the fact that he’s effective- make things any better.
ly nothing but a psychotic, unpredictable Nonetheless, once he starts
torture-killer. He’s perfectly willing to tell snatching late-night riders off the Bedlam
the PCs the truth about himself if they fall Subway and subjecting them to the process,
into his clutches.

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enough of them live through it to cause Mrs. Querioz is incapable of understanding
havoc. human speech, or of doing much else apart
A derelict floats up into the air from crawling in one direction and setting
above a rush-hour crowd and starts things on fire.
mentally commanding people to kiss his At the GM’s discretion other such
shoes. His head is all raw and bloody from incidents may happen as well. The PCs
some kind of crude surgery. After a few should quickly figure out that Dr. Frightful is
minutes of having his feet kissed, he falls to back in town. But they’re not the only ones.
the ground and expires from a brain A rising organized crime boss (and
hemorrhage. high-school principal—see Page 136) named
A family man from Stone Ridge Dandy Joe Slorkin decides that he would
named Thad Thaler vanishes for a few days, very much like to have superpowers. Dandy
and then tries to rob a bank, screaming Joe has a reputation for taking insane
inarticulately about the Lord Jesus putting gambles. He and his crew have suffered
radioactive sand in his brain so that he could some reverses at the hands of his arch-rival,
receive secret messages from Congress. Mr. Little Junior Gorganzua, and he thinks that
Thaler is carrying a shotgun that he’s stolen becoming a supervillain may be the trick
from a sporting goods store, but he also has they need to turn everything around. As far
telepathy, pyrokinesis and a kind of as Dandy Joe knows, Dr. Frightful is an evil
telekinetic force field. He’s twitching and genius who can give guys superhuman
salivating uncontrollably and can’t perform powers, so all he has to do is to make
any fine motor skills with the left side of his contact with the man and pay him enough
body. All the hair has been (crudely) money and his fortunes are sure to change
shaved off the back third of his head, and (boy, are they ever!) Alas, Dandy Joe’s
there are sloppy, badly placed sutures and chief henchman Pookie (a gigantic bald-
medical staples across a number of recent headed ex-biker with a lot of tattoos of cute
wounds on his cranium. furry animals—see Page 250 for more
A cleaning lady named Elvira information on him) is annoyed with him
Querioz disappears from the Terminal Drive and tells Little Junior all about the plan.
rail platform at two in the morning. Some Little Junior is a fat, sweaty, ball of
other bleary-eyed late night riders heard her lard, better to suited to planning scams than
scream, and someone on a passing train to getting in street fights, and it seems to
swears they saw a terrible, gigantic shape him that it might not be wise to directly
drag her off into the tunnels. confront an arch-villain like Dr. Frightful. So
A week later she climbs out of a instead he tips off the PCs. However, once
manhole on Davis Avenue, bald and he figures out that Dandy Joe will probably
bleeding, and crawls down the street, die from the treatment Dr. Frightful is going
moaning softly. Everything she looks at to give him, he sends Pookie down into the
bursts into flames (PL 3 flame attack.) Poor sewers and has him warn the good doctor
that the PCs are coming.

322
 loudspeaker that you can use to listen to the
brain’s thoughts. At least so the story goes.
The truth of the matter is that while
that really is Der Fuhrer’s brain, preserved in
some kind of cloudy, vile-looking fluid, it’s
been dead for more than sixty years. In
fact it was dead when it was placed in the
tank. Yet one or another scoundrel keeps
passing it off as a living, thinking being,
broadcasting their own commands out of its
loudspeaker and duping fools. Quite a few
Nazis old and new have been tricked into
giving up their money and in some cases
their lives in the service of Hitler’s long-dead
brain.
When you look at the fake life-
support contraption hooked up to the tank
you may feel a pang of doubt. The thing
looks extremely shabby and ramshackle.
But when the speaker crackles to life and a
voice with a harsh Austrian accent starts
bellowing out of it, most true-believers are
prepared to put their doubts aside, fall to
their knees and worship it.

Using Hitler’s Brain in Your Campaign:

More of a stage-prop than a villain in its own
right, the Brain can cause minor wars
“Glug! Glug! One blood demands one between Nazi villains eager to possess it, or
Reich! Gurgle!” it can turn up in the hands of a con artist
who needs to recruit some fanatical
Toughness: 3 (Tank)/ 5 (Support followers. Or both. You can take a minor
Machinery)/ 0 (Hoses) menace and turn him into a big one by
Attack, Defense, Initiative, Saving putting the brain in his hands and letting
Throws, Skills: n/a (see below) him use it to recruit a huge army of lunatics.
Feats: Benefit (Object of worship for If the Black Eagle (see Page 315)
countless hate-crazed idiots) ever learns that the brain is out there, he’ll
Background: The rumors are true. When stop at nothing to retrieve it, although it’s
the Soviets found Hitler’s corpse, his brain unclear whether he really thinks the brain is
was already missing. That’s why Stalin kept alive or just wants to use it to increase his
having the body exhumed and re-examined. legitimacy.
He wanted to see if there was some way to The best way for the PCs to destroy
figure out what had happened to Hitler’s the brain’s effectiveness isn’t to smash the
Brain. thing, it’s to reveal that it’s a fraud. They
Either Martin Bormann or the Nazi could even try to use it for their own
supervillain of your choice smuggled the purposes, if they’re unscrupulous enough.
brain out of Berlin in a hastily-assembled For example, what if they were to use the
tank of nutrient fluid. One villain or another brain to “prove” to the neo-Nazi community
has gotten their hands on it since then. The that Hitler’s spirit repents his former anti-
damn thing turns up like a bad penny, Semitism, and has returned from the
wherever megalomaniacal evil is found. beyond with a message of peace, tolerance
At some point in the mid forties, and love for all mankind?
someone outfitted the tank with a

323
 Strike 5 (Extra: Mighty), Super-Senses 6
(Darkvision, Precognition)
Complications: Goes out of her way to be as
evil as possible

God-Boy’s Stats
“No, baby, you’re not bad! What you did
to that kitten—that’s not you. Now just
put the little girl down and let’s talk.”
PL: 10
Str: 24/12 (+7/+1) Dex: 22/14 (+6/+2)
Con: 30/14 (+10/+2) Int: 12 (+1)
Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
Initiative: 10 Attack Bonus: 10
Defense: 8 Toughness Save: 12 (8
Impervious, 10 if caught Flatfooted)
Fortitude Save: 10 Reflexes Save: 10
Willpower Save: 6 (8 vs. Mental Attacks)
Skills: Drive 3 (+9), Knowledge (Popular
Culture) 3 (+4), Notice 2 (+4)
Feats: Defensive Roll 2, Improved Initiative,
Interpose, Power Attack, Quick Draw
Powers: Device (Flaming Sword; Easy to
Lose; Strike 5; Extra: Mighty), Enhanced
Constitution 16, Enhanced Strength 12, Flight
6 (Maximum Speed: 500 mph), Immunity 1
(Suffocation), Impervious Toughness 8, Mind
Shield 6, Super-Senses 6 (Darkvision,
Precognition)
Complications: Scrupulously moral, but
Hell-Girl’s Stats absolutely devoted to protecting Wanda from
“I’m no good for you! I’m bad! I mean herself
just look what I did to that little girl’s Background: Two young superhuman kids on
kitten!” the run, they might come crashing into Bedlam
PL: 10 in a pile of wreckage and dysfunctional
Str: 24/8 (+7/-1) Dex: 22/12 (+6/+1) hormones at any minute, if the cops don’t gun
Con: 34/14 (+12/+2) Int: 12 (+1) them down on the highway first. Neither one
Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 18 (+4) is sure where their powers come from. They
Initiative: 10 Attack Bonus: 10 got them in a car accident, back in Indiana.
Defense: 8 Wanda talked her boyfriend Wayne into
Toughness Save: 12 (8 Impervious) dropping acid and playing chicken with a
Fortitude Save: 10 mysterious black car that had been terrorizing
Reflexes Save: 10 kids along the back roads and farm lanes. You
Willpower Save: 6 (8 vs. Mental Attacks) would have had to have been under the
Skills: Bluff 4 (+8), Intimidate 6 (+10), influence of drugs to want to go anywhere
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+4), Notice 6 near that car, let alone antagonize it. No one
(+8), Stealth 3 (+9) knew who the driver was—some kids swore it
Feats: Attractive, Fascinate (linked to Bluff), must be Death.
Fearsome Presence 5, Improved Initiative, Even back then Wanda knew she was
Power Attack, Taunt bad and that she didn’t deserve Wayne. She
Powers: Enhanced Constitution 16, Enhanced tried to talk him into charging the mystery car
Strength 12, Flight 6 (Maximum Speed: 500 in order to prove that she was too bad for him,
mph), Immunity 1 (Suffocation), Impervious that he couldn’t really love her.
Toughness 8, Mind Shield 6, Nauseate 10, They both closed their eyes at the last
second before the impact. When they opened
them, the mystery car was gone, never to

324
return to that part of Indiana. They noticed the boy about it and asked him why he
their superhuman powers almost immediately. wouldn’t go save the poor drowning dog.
Wanda’s eyes didn’t look human anymore, and Didn’t he really love his dog? Was he letting
they glowed. Wayne had wings. Neither one the dog die because he didn’t love him
of them is sure where their costumes came enough? Then Wanda threw the boy in after
from, but they’ve been wearing them pretty the dog, to “help” them both.
much ever since. For the past few months Wayne arrived and saved both the
they have both been wondering if they really dog and the boy, despite Wanda’s efforts to
died in the car crash. If anything that has fight him off. Then he grabbed Wanda, who
happened to them since has been real. But it was sobbing that she was bad and that he
is. couldn’t possibly love her, and held her and
Wayne seems to have become some comforted her. This wasn’t really her, he said.
kind of angel, and Wanda, well…she seems to She isn’t bad. He promises.
have joined the other team. But of course she They get in terrible fights and he has
was always kind of demonic, constantly trying to wrestle her down to keep her from going on
to get Wayne into trouble and lead him astray, another maniacal killing spree. Sometimes he
to prove to him that she was no good. wins these battles and sometimes she does.
Not long after the incident with the Wayne will protect Wanda to the death,
black car, Wanda burned Wayne’s house down although he can’t bring himself to actually kill
to show him that she was too bad to love. His anyone and would be utterly horrified if he
grandmother died in the blaze and he knew caused someone’s death by accident. If
that he was going to have to take Wanda on Wanda saw Wayne in serious danger, she’d
the road to keep her safe from the police. He probably run away, weeping that she isn’t
was only half-right. The cops think he did it. worthy to die for him.
In fact they have blamed him for nearly all True love is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?
Wanda’s subsequent crimes and think he may
be holding her hostage. Using Hell-Girl and God-Boy in Your
Hell-Girl and God-Boy have cut a Campaign: Rampaging villains with a twist,
jagged arc across the country ever since the you can use Hell-Girl and God-Boy as a one-
night Wayne’s house burned down. They can shot villainous duo who appear, briefly disrupt
both fly, but they need a car to carry their life in Bedlam and then get gunned down or
stuff, so they’ve been stealing them. Wayne dragged off to prison. Or they can show up
always makes some feeble effort to pay for the several times in a row, possibly seeking
food and vehicles they have stolen, or at least revenge on a Player Character for things that
to do something nice for the people they’ve happened in previous encounters.
ripped-off. They aren’t hirelings and they don’t
Wanda on the other hand tries to hurt have any grand master plan. Instead they are
everyone they come into contact with. After driven by their own strange, dysfunctional
she has committed some heinous deed she’ll relationship. Because that’s the most
sob in Wayne’s arms, crying that she’s bad, interesting thing about them, the PCs should
she’s evil, that he can’t really love her, that get a chance to figure out what makes them
she doesn’t deserve him, while he comforts tick. They should hear about Hell-Girl and
her and tells her that she’s good and tries to God-Boy before they ever meet them. They
think of some way to make amends for her should come across the aftermath of at least
latest awful crime. He cares a lot about one awful thing Hell-Girl tried to do and hear
people, hates hurting them, hates stealing confusing reports from eyewitnesses about
from them, but he loves Wanda and he’s how God-Boy stopped her and then helped her
desperate to save her from herself. to escape, telling her over and over again that
Here’s an example that illustrates how she isn’t evil, that this isn’t really her.
the dynamic between them works. Wanda If one of them gets killed or
once met a little boy with a puppy, standing imprisoned, the other will surely try to rescue
on a pier. She talked to the boy for a while, or avenge them (although for very different
found out that he couldn’t swim and then reasons.) It goes without saying that God-Boy
kicked his puppy into the water. She teased isn’t nearly as ruthless a long-term foe as Hell-
Girl.

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 (Electrical; Extra: Mighty, combines with
Strength for a Damage 14 attack)
Complications: Thinks he’s a Norse
thunder god. Doesn’t believe you think he’s
a Norse thunder god. Kills anyone who
doesn’t think he’s a Norse thunder god.
Note on Thor’s Powers: Thor’s hammer is
the source of all his powers, but since it
teleports instantly back to his hand if it’s
taken away from him, it doesn’t count as a
“Device.”
Background: He’s Thor, son of Odin, god
of thunder. He insists on it.
An electrician by trade, Delton
Voeltz worked at nuclear power plants
around the country, leading an itinerant,
aimless life, until he realized that he was
Thor.
He’s not actually the first person to
come across the Thunder Hammer, and
whoever picks it up seems to get afflicted by
the same delusion. He’s the latest in a long
line, but he seems to have a particularly bad
case.
The Thunder Hammer first turned
up in the hands of the Allies during World
War Two. It seems strange to some people
“Bow, mortals, before the unthinkable that it wasn’t a German weapon, but in fact
cosmic might of Thor… Stop laughing! it seems to have been smuggled out of
You stop laughing right the #@%& Norway while the Nazis were invading. It
now!” looks a lot like a stage prop and doesn’t
much resemble any artifact from the age of
PL: 12 the Vikings. But it certainly works, although
Real Name: Delton Voeltz not for everyone who picks it up. Some-
Str: 34/10 (+12/+0) Dex: 14 (+2) times it kills its wielder with a massive jolt of
Con: 18 (+4) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) electricity. Sometimes it does nothing. But
Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 sometimes the person who lifts the hammer
Attack Bonus: 10 Defense: 8 becomes imbued with superhuman powers
Toughness Save: 14 (Impervious) and decides that he’s Thor. Every one of
Fortitude Save: 14 Reflexes Save: 8 the hammer’s wielders has suffered from
Willpower Save: 6 the same delusional pattern, which is oddly
Skills: Craft (Electronics) 5 (+5), at variance with the actual Norse Eddas in
Knowledge (Physical Science) 2 (+2), some small details.
Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+4), Profession The first was British Captain Rex
(electrician) 6 (+6) Lockhardt, who used the hammer in a raid
Feats: All-Out Attack, Improved Grab, against German forces in Norway in 1941.
Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Improved The raid was a disaster, Lockhardt treated
Sunder, Power Attack, Weapon Break the lives of his own men with casual
Powers: Blast 14 (electrical), Enhanced disregard and many of them died. When he
Strength 14, Leaping 7 (x100), Protection returned to Britain he demanded to be
(Extra: Impervious) 14, Super-Strength 8 treated as a god, and started killing anyone
(Maximum Lift: 800 tons; Power Feats: who refused. He was taken into custody by
Shockwave, Thunderclap), Strike 2 British Military Police while he slept, and

326
within a few years of being kept separate legendary deeds of Thor.
from the hammer, returned to sanity. A The first thing most people notice
broken man, he drank himself to death in about Thor is that he’s a surprisingly little
the fifties. guy for the god of thunder. His voice is
The hammer disappeared from high and tends to squeak when he gets
British custody before the war’s end, and excited. He speaks in a fussy, precise way,
next turned up in the United States in the and never uses any contractions. He always
mid sixties, where a West Coast cult leader refers to himself in the third person (as in
named Thurgood Sparks somehow came “Thor wills it”)
into possession of it. An African-American,
he christened himself “Black Thor”, and set Using Thor in Your Campaign: If the
about building a network of worshippers— Norse Gods already exist in your campaign
most of them young hippie girls. People and this version of Thor doesn’t fit the
mistook him for a superhero for a while, but pattern, you can still use him. The “real”
his casually murderous attitude toward his Thor may laugh at his pretensions or regard
followers and anyone else who didn’t them as a deadly insult. But he works even
instantly obey him soon revealed the truth. better if the PCs don’t know if he’s for real
He was the toughest version yet, or not.
and the one who retained the most of his Thor doesn’t really want to take
original personality. It took a coalition of over the world or destroy it. He wants
Bay Area heroes to bring him down, and he people to acknowledge that he’s Thor. It
took his own life rather than face capture. would also be nice if they worshipped him
The hammer disappeared again. It as a god.
remained lost until last year when Delton If he shows up in Bedlam, he’s
Voeltz somehow acquired it. either on a pointless rampage, killing
Touchy, high-strung and extremely anyone who doesn’t fall down and worship
aggressive, Thor wants you to believe that him—and also anyone who does (he can see
he’s really a god, but there’s no way to they don’t really mean it.) He may try to
convince him that you do. If you say you challenge the most powerful superheroes in
don’t, he’ll become hostile. If you say you the vicinity to come acknowledge his
do, he won’t believe you, and he’ll become greatness and then try to beat them into
even more hostile. There is no way to avoid admitting that he’s Thor. If they claim to
the topic and no way to satisfy him. already believe that he’s Thor, he’ll accuse
He treats people like slaves and them of lying and attack them anyway. He
expects instant obedience. He kills anyone might also attack the Crawley Asylum (see
who shows him the slightest disrespect. He Page 103) and try to kill Doctor Scorch,
also kills people for things like not obeying convinced that the Doctor is his evil brother
him fast enough, or looking like they resent Loki.
obeying him. Fussy, fastidious and If Dr. Scorch and Thor ever meet
obsessively tidy, Thor is also extremely vain face to face, the Doctor will suddenly
about his appearance. Getting mud on his remember that he really is Loki (see Page
costume or his perfect boots is a sure way 297.) But of course that doesn’t mean that
to provoke him into a homicidal rage. Thor is really Thor.
He’s familiar with Norse mythology, There are always a few sad pathetic
but the version he knows doesn’t quite cultists who follow Thor around, despite
correspond to the tales in the Eddas. Some what unsafe company he is. He kills them
observers think he may have learned it from for all sorts of trivial reasons. Perhaps the
a children’s book instead. Yet if you read PCs could be drawn into a conflict with Thor
his mind, he genuinely has memories of when the worried parent of one of his
fighting the Frost Giant Thrymn, defeating followers contacts them?
the Midgard Serpent and all the other

327
 Notice 10 (+14), Search 8 (+12), Sense
"Go on, beg me to stop—that would Motive 4 (+8), Stealth 8 (+14)
make this perfect!" Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff, All-
Out Attack, Assessment, Connected,
PL: 10 Contacts, Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll
Real Name: Willy Zeiss; although his real 4, Dodge Focus 3, Endurance, Evasion 2,
name isn’t known to anyone (including Improved Block, Improved Disarm,
himself) and no one who remembers him as Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Willy Zeiss is still alive. Improved Initiative, Improved Throw,
Improved Trip, Move-By Action, Power
Str: 20 (+5) Dex: 22 (+6) Con: 18 (+4) Attack, Prone Fighting, Redirect, Sneak
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 14 (+2) Attack, Startle, Stunning Attack, Takedown
Initiative: 10 Attack Bonus: 14 Attack, Taunt, Tracking, Weapon Bind
Defense: 13 (6 if he is caught Flatfooted, Powers: Device (Easy to Lose; Shield 4,
without his shield) Toughness Save: 8 (4 if Melee Weapon [+3 Damage; Extra: Mighty],
he is caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 8 Mind-Shield 4)
Reflexes Save: 13 Willpower Save: 4 (8 Complications: Talks too much
vs. mental attacks with his shield) Background: He doesn’t actually have a
wife to beat, he quickly assures anyone who
Skills: Acrobatics 12 (+18), Bluff 6 (+8),
asks. But he has worse habits. He’s
Escape Artist 10 (+16), Intimidate 9 (+11),
dedicated his whole life to the art of vicious

328
atrocity and he’s proven himself to have a worth to them as a tough, determined
rare talent for it, time and again. hireling with a refreshingly complete lack of
A self-made supervillain, Code scruples.
Name: Wifebeater always dreamed of being His German accent and threatening
a thug for hire and he's had to struggle long appearance always served him well here.
and hard to become one. He’s an amazingly Within a few years he had enough contacts
competent solider, disciplined, talented and in the supervillain world to go out on his
determined, but the supervillain own as an independent consultant. He
underground is full of other guys who can hired an ad firm to design him a costume,
shoot like Olympic marksmen and kick Navy bought some illegal wonder-weapons and
SEALS to death with their hands tied behind got some very expensive tissue implants
their back. It’s his brilliant sadism that taken from captured superheroes. On the
makes him stand out from the rest. advice of an arch-villain called the Hammer
All of his hard work and tireless self- of Doom, he selected the most hostile and
promotion have finally paid off. From the offensive code name he could think of, to
smoke-filled back rooms of Tokyo to the make himself more memorable. He is now
sordid alleys of New York, the whole in the process of building a client list and a
criminal underworld knows that if you want good investment portfolio for his nascent
a really dirty job done fast, call Code Name: business.
Wifebeater. He can be hired for any job, no
No one is precisely sure of his matter how dirty. In fact, he's trying to
origins. He speaks English, Spanish and carve out a niche for himself as the guy you
French with a German accent. People who can go to for jobs no one else will do.
have heard him speak German say that he To help reduce his vulnerability and
sounds like an upper-middle-class person make himself immune to blackmail, he
from Brandenburg. He talks a lot about systematically hunted down and killed his
himself, so anyone who spends much time whole family, as well as every childhood pal,
around him will learn that he was a former girlfriend, elementary school teacher,
skinhead, that he beat a Turkish immigrant etc. that he could find. Then he hired a
to death and had to go into hiding, that he psychic he had once done some work for to
joined the French Foreign Legion in order to erase all his early memories. Now there is
hide out, and that they recognized and no one who could ever be used as a hostage
cultivated his phenomenal talent for against him, no one who knows his secrets
violence. He served two tours in their elite (including himself), no human being left
paratrooper regiment and saw combat in alive that he ever felt any sentimental
Africa on a number of occasions. It was as attachment to. He can't reveal his own
good as he had always hoped. name under torture because he doesn't
He either left the Legion to pursue know what it is. He boasts about these
his dream of being a freelance killer, or else things to prospective clients and to anyone
he got kicked out for being a loudmouth and else around him, in the hope that it will give
for bullying new recruits. Sometimes he him a competitive edge.
tells the story one way, sometimes he tells it Absolutely loyal, but not entirely
another. fearless, he would never reveal an
After he left, Wifebeater came to employer’s secrets for money but he’s not
the United States, where all the best muscle sure he wouldn’t if his life were at stake. To
jobs could be found. He hired on with a big, keep himself from blabbing under torture,
scary security firm that has contracts to he has purchased an expensive set of
provide bodyguards for the State mental blocks (form the same psychic who
Department, covert operations squads for erased his memory) that prevent him from
the Department of Defense and hired thugs ever betraying a client. It is important that
for dubious parties worldwide. In this everyone know this, friend and foe alike, so
capacity he served on the personal staff of a he tells anyone who will listen.
number of master villains, and proved his

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 He is manic, hateful, cruel and him talk to them while they fight, or call
never seems to stop talking. This is partly them on a payphone to chat while they’re
a pose, intended to make him stand out trying to track him down. It’s probably
against the competition. There is no such easier to let him offend them with his
thing as bad publicity, he is keenly remarks than it is to let them see him
aware—especially in his occupation. commit some unthinkable atrocity—letting
Anyway he’s a bullying blabbermouth by him throw a baby carriage into traffic will
nature so he may as well try to make it just upset your players. Then again, if
work to his advantage. some villain or organized crime figure
Code Name: Wifebeater speaks wants an unspeakable deed committed,
very good English, although his French is he’s the guy they’ll call.
even better. In any of these three Strictly a villain for hire, he doesn’t
languages, he is adept at coming up with normally go around robbing banks and
inventive taunts and threats. Cheerfully jewelry stores on his own. Nor will he run
violent, devoid of mercy and honor, he’s amok in public, unless that’s part of the
capable of any vicious atrocity, but he job. If you encounter Wifebeater, he’s
won’t go crazy on civilians or cause sure to be on a mission for somebody,
wanton damage without a good reason. pursuing some objective with ferocious
He may look totally out of control, but it’s determination. The objective itself could
an act. He’d never do anything that might be almost anything. While he likes dirty
give him a reputation for being unreliable. jobs best, he’ll take on any assignment
He often chats with his victims he’s given. Anybody from the Invincible
about his own private affairs—the stocks Ya-Ya Posse to Wolfram Aerospace might
he’s thinking of investing in, the hire him.
difficulties of finding office space in New
York, the way a canker sore inside his
mouth bothers him. He never drops any
information that you could use to
inconvenience his employer, but he’s
weirdly open about everything else. He’s
also a busybody, constantly asking
teammates and enemies alike about their
personal lives and offering them scary,
useless, bad advice (“You look like life has
got you all grumpy and frowny-face. You
should find a woman and stab her. That
will turn your frown upside-down, yeah?”)

Using Code-Name Wifebeater in Your

Campaign: A hireling who can turn up
for any kind of job, his gimmick makes
him stand out from the crowd (or at least
we hope it does). He’s really, really evil.
So evil that it’s often funny, if you play it
the right way. To let your PCs experience
how outrageously unpleasant he is, let

330
 Damage), Squad Car (see below on Page
331 for its stats)
Background: We don’t know where it
comes from or why. People have suggested
that it might be the vengeful ghost of a cop
who was killed by his crooked partners or
perhaps the living embodiment of our
collective fears about the police. But all we
know for sure is that it is malignant, that it
wants our blood and souls. Nobody is quite
sure who came up with the name “Officer
Friendly” to describe it, but the name
somehow fits.
Officer Friendly wears a police
uniform that doesn’t quite look like the ones
the Bedlam cops wear. Nor does his patrol
cruiser have the right emblem on the side,
and it’s hard to say what model of car it
might be. His badge bears the number 0
and the image of a skull. He wears what
appears to be a white stocking over his
head, with a smile crudely painted on. No
one has seen what his face looks like
“Are you sure you’re not guilty of underneath.
something, sir? Think carefully.” He doesn’t seek out confrontations
with superheroes. Instead he pulls over
Real Name: Unknown ordinary citizens, late at night, asks them to
PL: 10 step out of their cars, subjects them to cruel
and humiliating abuse, and then executes
Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 34 (+12)
them with either his nightstick or his gun.
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1)
He always behaves as though his
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8
victims have committed some kind of crime,
Toughness Save: 12 Fortitude Save: 12
and he is punishing them for it. But none of
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 8
them have. In fact he seems to specifically
Skills: Intimidate 8 (+9), Notice 8 (+9),
select people who haven’t done anything.
Search 8 (+9), Stealth 4 (+5)
He’s amazingly cruel, and often plays
Feats: Chokehold, Diehard, Endurance,
sadistic tricks on his victims, offering to let
Fearless, Fearsome Presence 5, Improved
them go if they confess to something or
Grapple, Improved Pin, Quick-Draw
perform some gruesome act of self-
Powers: Device (Nightstick, Easy to Lose;
abasement. He never actually lets them go,
Melee Weapon; 2 Damage; Extra: Mighty
of course. If you agree to make a confes-
[increases Strength Damage to 12]),
sion you can never guess what it is he
Immunity 9 (Life Support), Impervious
wants you to admit to (because there is no
Toughness 12, Regeneration 4 (Can make a
right answer). If you consent to do some
recovery check against being Injured in 5
horrible thing to yourself in the hopes that
minutes; if killed, he can make a
he’ll let you go, he’ll act disgusted and beat
Resurrection Check within a day; Cannot be
you harder.
Resurrected if his remains have been
He can talk, but he rarely says
cremated), Super-Strength 8 (Flaw: Super-
anything apart from threats, commands or
Strength only counts toward grappling and
cop clichés (“Step out of the car, please.”
does not allow him to lift extra weight)
“Freeze! Hands on your head.” “Do you
Equipment: Handcuffs (Toughness 12),
know how fast you were going, sir?”) He
Flashlight, Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
never takes hostages—he doesn’t

331
understand the concept, because he doesn’t Using Officer Friendly in Your
grasp the idea that one human being might Campaign: The nice thing about this
want to prevent another from coming to villain is that you have absolute control over
harm. He has no objection to killing where and when the PCs encounter him.
innocent bystanders, but he makes no They may not even have heard of him
particular effort to eliminate witnesses to his before one of his victims comes running to
crimes. While he doesn’t get fixated on them for help, or they encounter him at
revenge, he will sometimes get very focused random.
on killing a particular victim, and he will He works best if you give him a
pursue them relentlessly for days, weeks, or long, slow, ominous build-up before the
however long it takes to catch them. This fight. You can have the PCs stumble across
could of course give a Player Character a the aftermath of one of his crimes or you
chance to stop him, when someone he’s can give Precognitive PCs visions of him
stalking comes to them for help. drawing closer to Bedlam. If one of the PCs
Officer Friendly seems to have few is a psychic investigator they can track him
interests, apart from murdering and and play cat-and-mouse with him for a while
torturing people. He doesn’t commit before a big climactic encounter. His
robberies or blackmail cities with death rays. motives are simple. He wants to hurt
This makes him hard to catch, since no one people. But you can easily come up with
knows where he’ll strike next. In fact few enough variations on his MO to keep him
people even know that he exists. The from getting repetitive. There are a lot of
tabloids have published rumors about him bad things we fear cops might do to us,
for years and urban legends about him after all.
circulate by word of mouth, but not many If the PCs ever unmask him, they’ll
superheroes are aware that he is real. find out that he has no face, just a smooth
PCs who try to figure out what he is blank expanse of skin. If captured, he sits
are in for a puzzle. He’s not a robot, he’s silently and passively, refusing to respond to
made out of flesh, but he doesn’t have a anything until he gets a chance to escape.
heartbeat or a pulse. If you try to run DNA
tests on him, they come back “anomalous” Officer Friendly’s Squad Car
or else the samples disappear from storage. Strength: 40 Speed: 6 Defense: 9
If you read Officer Friendly’s mind Toughness: 12
you can tell what he intends to do next in Features: Remote Control (Officer Friendly
combat or whether or not he’s going to try can somehow give it instructions with his
to escape or other things that relate to the mind)
present moment. You cannot, however, use Defensive Powers: 8 Impervious Defense,
telepathy to learn the secrets of his origins. Insubstantial (and confers the benefit of
Probe his memory and you’ll find that he being Insubstantial to anyone inside.)
doesn’t remember where he came from or Movement Powers: Super-Movement
where he goes when he disappears. He (Wall-Crawling—the car can drive straight
remembers lots of driving and committing up or down a wall, or along the ceiling),
many horrible crimes and that’s about it. Teleport 10 (Flaws: Extended Teleport Only,
Like his dialogue, his inner monologue is all Limited Power [can only teleport when no
a string of ominous clichés. one is looking at it])

332
 them as hirelings, or as random forces of
evil who decide to tear up Bedlam for no
reason, or even as recurrent villains with a
grudge against the PCs. Because they don’t
have a long-term agenda of their own, you
can set whatever temporary agenda works
best
(aka Stupid and Violent) They’re weak enough that most PC
groups can probably beat them, but tough
Teenaged psychopaths turned supervillain, enough that they won’t drop on the first
Captain Violent and Doctor Stupid would like round. This lets them fight dirty and take
to be feared and respected as professional hostages and generally make things
criminals. However, they spend as much exciting, but the PCs will almost certainly
time causing random havoc and misery as have the satisfaction of beating them silly by
they do committing crimes for gain. They the end of the scene. And they’re so
might rob a bank, but they are just as likely despicable that beating them should be very
to set an orphanage full of retarded children satisfying indeed.
on fire.
Captain Violent is the dominant Adventure Seed: Captain Violent and
partner. He thought up their names, he the World Vengeance League
plans their crimes and directs their actions. At a certain point, Captain Violent may take
Back in school Doctor Stupid was the bully it into his head to start a supervillain team.
who picked on Captain Violent. Now it’s the If he gets a lot of money through some
other way around. heist or other, he’ll try to hire $#!+face,
They don’t yet have a stable base of #@%&face, Captain Condor, and the Brain-
operations or a lot of contacts in the Raper to join his new team, which he’ll call
underworld, but they are looking hard for the “World Vengeance League.”
both (in between acts of pointless mayhem.) They’ll try to find some kind of
They would love to hire out to some bigger headquarters in Bedlam. Possibly the
villain or underworld organization, but Country Club or the Citadel Xtreme, or the
Captain Violent hates authority so much and Gorman Building, and begin a bloody and
has such a hard time taking anything incompetent crime wave. Except for
seriously that he probably wouldn’t do a #@%&face, who will be desperate to get
good job as a henchman. Doctor Stupid along with everybody, they won’t make a
follows his lead. good team or a good bunch of roommates
Captain Violent is still a minor, but and they’ll fight one another as much as the
that almost doesn’t matter. The crimes heroes.
these two have committed are so heinous Then Captain Violent will get the
that any court in the country would try them idea to start filming life around their
both as adults. headquarters, and posting it on the web as
a reality TV show. And then unscrupulous
Using Stupid and Violent in Your network executives get in touch…
Campaign: Rampaging psychos with no
particular ambitions, Stupid and Violent are
extremely flexible antagonists. You can use

333
 Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+6),
Knowledge (Technology) 4 (+7), Notice 4
(+5)
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, All-Out Attack,
Distract (Linked to Intimidate), Dodge Focus
4, Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Improved
Initiative, Sneak Attack 2, Startle, Taunt
Powers: Blast 10 (Extra: Area [Cone-
Shaped Attack]), Enhanced Strength 10,
Force Field 7, Super-Strength 5 (Maximum
Lift: 2,800 Pounds)
Complications: Constantly tries to be as
evil as possible
Background: As far as Captain Violent is
concerned, there’s no such thing as
collateral damage. It’s all good! In fact, the
more civilian casualties he can cause, the
more misery he can spread around, the
better he likes it. As he says, it’s just not a
good day if he can’t screw it up for
somebody. Perhaps later he’ll calm down,
but right now he’s still reveling in his powers
and in all the destruction and hurt he can
cause with them.
He’s actually a lot more dangerous
with his partner around, because he’s
anxious to impress him with his savagery.
On his own, he isn’t nearly so bad. Nobody
is safe from him while Doctor Stupid is
there.
Articulate, sarcastic and cruel, you
can tell that he’s a psychopathic kid from
the suburbs the moment he speaks. He
“Something about your face just suffered a lot of teasing and bullying about
makes me want to slap the $#!+ out of being an Asian nerd during Junior High and
it. I know you must get that a lot…” High School. Victor was on the verge of
going messily postal when an angel with
PL: 9 fifty eyes and a hundred wings appeared to
Real Name: Victor Rhee him in a dream, and offered him something
better.
Str: 14/24 (+2/+7) Dex: 14 (+2 )
The angel said Victor had been
Con: 14 (+2) Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 12 (+1)
chosen for his greatness of spirit to become
Cha: 14 (+2)
one of the world’s mightiest heroes,
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8
protector of the innocent and defender of
(4 if caught Flatfooted)
the downtrodden—if he felt worthy. He
Toughness Save: 9 (2 without his Force
agreed to give it a try, and the angel led
Field) Fortitude Save: 9
him on a series of five mighty challenges to
Reflexes Save: 8 Willpower Save: 8
test the strength and purity of his soul. Each
Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+10), Bluff 10 (+12), of the five challenges was marked with a
Craft (Chemical) 4 (+7), Craft (Electronic) 5 letter, and the letter was always “V.”
(+8), Craft (Mechanical) 3 (+6), Gather V for Valor, the angel explained. V
Information 5 (+7), Intimidate 10 (+12), for Vigilance. V for Vigor. V for Veracity.
Knowledge (Life Sciences) 3 (+6), And lastly, V for Virtue. He passed every
Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 5 (+8),

334
challenge and woke up with the power of battle, Charlie’s abusive alcoholic
a minor god. The costume was waiting. stepfather got killed, and Charlie thought
He put it on and gleefully started that was pretty great. So they became
committing crimes. pals.
He didn’t want superheroes to The angel appears to Victor nearly
come pound the crap out of him, so he all the time now, even when he’s awake,
made sure to sneak over into the next begging him to stop his vicious rampage.
town, where no one knew him, before Lately it has begun to sound more tired
engaging in acts of twisted mayhem. He and mournful and depressed, although he
vandalized a children’s mural, burned still has a lot of fun teasing it.
down an art museum, roasted a seeing- Captain Violent would like to be a
eye dog or two and killed an old lady’s pet well-known supervillain. He supposes that
parrot. means hiring out his services to organized
It wasn’t long before the angel crime and pulling off spectacular robberies
came back and demanded to know what and making lots of money. But he’s just
he was doing, why he was abusing his as interested in savage, pointless acts of
power so terribly. Victor disagreed, destruction. Ruining famous works of art,
saying that he felt he was using his destroying public landmarks, blowing up
powers correctly. His actions were the children’s petting zoos—that kind of thing.
deeds of a hero, he explained, and it And the more people it hurts, the better.
gratified him to know that the angel had A couple of things might bring him
chosen so wisely. to Bedlam. The Mafia or some other
The angel asked him who his crime network might make the mistake of
worst enemy might be. He thought for a hiring him. Or he might get wind of the
moment, and then explained that this fact that a pirate broadcaster in Stone
would be Charlie Platz, the bully who had Ridge is using the name “Captain Violent”
tormented him since preschool. He hoped and take umbrage. Or Stupid and Violent
the angel would go give Charlie might just show up looking for kicks, since
superpowers so that he’d have an arch- Bedlam is such a notoriously dangerous
nemesis to fight. His prayers were place.
answered. His parents have figured out that
Victor went looking for his old he’s Captain Violent and they are still
enemy a couple of days later and found looking for him, convinced that he must
that Charlie had grown so big he feared to have gone insane from his powers or even
leave his house. They fought and neither been demonically possessed. If he gets
one could beat the other. In the course caught, they will find the best lawyer they
of the can for him.

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 Skills: Intimidate 5 (+7), Knowledge
(Popular Culture) 2 (+2)
Feats: Improved Grapple, Power Attack,
Startle
Powers: Enhanced Strength 14, Impervious
Toughness 10, Protection 6, Super-Strength
8 (Power Feats: Shockwave, Thunderclap)
Complications: Trying way too hard to act
tough
Background: Charlie Platz was always
sullen and big. The popular kids all avoided
him, so every day he'd find some poor little
nerd who no one wanted to hang out with,
act like his friend, push him around all
afternoon and then kick the crap out of him.
This didn't give him much pleasure, truth be
told, but it was the only thing that kept him
sane.
His drunken stepdad Luther was
always on his case, always trying to be his
buddy and trying to beat him silly at the
same time. Charlie loved Luther, he hated
him, he wanted to be him, he wanted to kill
him, but most of all he feared him. Victor
Rhee was one of his favorite targets. The
look of fear and hatred in his eyes was
irresistible. But in high school Victor started
wearing a long black trenchcoat and talking
about guns all the time, so Charlie eased up
on him.
And then, one night after Luther
had kept Charlie up late, beating on him and
buddying up to him and forcing him to
watch the same episode of "The Virginian"
over and over again, an angel appeared in
Charlie's room. It was beautiful and
“Will you look at that? I can’t believe I terrifying and sad. And it had fifty eyes.
actually tore a goddamn baby in half. I The angel said that time was running out
SAID LOOK AT IT!!!” and the powers of evil were loose in the
world. Would he accept the mantle of the
Real Name: Charlie Platz Earth's protector and fight the forces of
PL: 10 darkness?
Str: 34/20 (+12/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) He hoped this included Luther, so
Con: 18 (+4) Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) he eagerly agreed. The angel explained
Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 that there had been a terrible mistake, that
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 a wicked person had been given great
Toughness Save: 12 (10 Impervious) power and that it would be Charlie's
Fortitude Save: 10 Reflexes Save: 8
Willpower Save: 6

336
job to fight them. To his surprise, the angel wear on him.
told him that his new nemesis was Victor Charlie is capable of nearly any
Rhee. The angel then took him on a cosmic atrocity, but only if Victor is looking. He's
voyage where he was to take five tests of an ill-tempered sullen thug at the best of
his purity and will. He failed the first two times, but he's no maniac. He just has to
tests miserably, so the angel act like onein front of Victor. He actually
curtailed that part of the process and told tore a goddamn baby in half! He still can’t
him that time was too short and he could believe he did that.
have the power anyway.
When he woke up, the costume was An Adventure with Doctor Stupid: Only
waiting. And he was eight feet tall. He Losers Take the Bus
couldn't leave the house like this, so he hid For laughs, Doctor Stupid tries to knock a
in his room and tried to figure out what to schoolbus off the freeway overpass by
do, while Luther beat on his mom Industrial Drive. But the joke’s on him. He
downstairs. isn’t nearly heavy enough to stop a
Then Captain Violent tore the roof careening schoolbus and he goes over the
off. They fought and fought. Luther didn't side with it. Captain Violent gets a good
understand what was going on and died chuckle out of this and then he flies away.
while trying to protect Charlie, who was When the PCs arrive at the scene,
both horrified and elated. the bus is lodged vertically in an old
It grew clear to Charlie over the chemical warehouse, with its rear end
course of the fight that he was going to sticking out of the roof. The kids are still
lose, that Victor was just slightly stronger alive, but some of them are hurt pretty
than he was. So he hit on a desperate ploy badly. Doctor Stupid is trapped under the
to befriend him. "Cool," he said, front end of the bus. He’s more than strong
looking down at his stepdad's body. "You enough to lift a schoolbus full of children,
wanna see what it's like to screw a corpse?" but he’s at an awkward angle and can’t get
Victor didn't, but this did get him laughing leverage. If the PCs try to lift the bus out of
and Charlie knew at that moment that he the roof, he will chuckle evilly and ask the
was going to live. PCs if they think it’s a good idea to set him
The last few months have been a loose. How many kids do they think he
nightmare. Captain Violent leads him could kill before they could stop him?
around, acting like a maniac, doing all kinds Clearly the right way to evacuate the kids is
of sick $#!+ and Charlie has to pretend like to carry them out through the bus’ rear
he's into it. It's just the way things were window. But while the PCs are trying to do
with Luther, only worse. Fortunately, this, the chemical warehouse starts to burn.
Charlie has spent his whole life learning how Can they get the kids to safety without
to survive situations like this. And he has to accidently letting Doctor Stupid loose before
admit, Victor can be a lot of fun sometimes, barrels of toxic compounds start exploding
in a twisted kind of way. And all the all around them?
property damage has been pretty cool. But And just to add a little spice to the
that angel keeps showing up, begging him proceedings, while the PCs are in the
to stop Victor, and this is really starting to process of evacuating the kids, Captain
Violent comes back and attacks them.

337
 Powers: Adaptation 4, Confuse 12,
Disintegration 12 (Flaw: Limited Power [only
works on inanimate objects]), Illusions 10
(Flaw: Limited Power [Only creates weird
distorted images, can’t create convincing
false objects]), Obscure 12 (Space seems to
ripple, distort and flow around him), Spatial
Control 12 (Power Feat: Alternate Powers
[Deflect, Speed], Super-Movement (Air
Walking), Telekinesis 12, Transform 12
(Flaw: Limited Power [works only on
inanimate matter—does not work on
sentient robots])
Equipment: Empty Briefcase, Earpiece
(Radio Reception, includes secret channels
used only by the UNICORN), Sunglasses
Complications: Fanatically dedicated to
the cause of militant nudism
Background: Formerly one of the
UNICORN’s most dreaded superhuman
agents, (you can find out all about this
sinister government conspiracy on Page 86),
John Friend got a little weird on a recent
mission and he has dedicated his life to a
whole new endeavor.
He worked for a division of the
“Clothes are Un-American.” UNICORN that conspiracy theorists have
come to call the “Men in Black.” Roving
Real Name: John Friend (although this agents in suits and ties who investigate and
may in fact be an alias, it’s still the name he stamp out unauthorized paranormal
thinks of as his own) weirdness. He doesn’t really remember his
Str: 16 (+3) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) original name—John Friend is the latest in a
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 24 (+7) long string of aliases. He was an ideal
Initiative: 10 Attack Bonus: 10 agent, utterly lacking in remorse,
Defense: 13 Toughness Save: 8 (+2 if imagination or innovative thought. Then
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 12 they sent him to investigate the matter of
Reflexes Save: 12 Willpower Save: 12 Moonbase Zero.
Skills: Climb 6 (+9), Drive 4 (+6), A joint project between NASA’s
Intimidate 6 (+13), Medicine 2 (+6), secret X Division and an agency that doesn’t
Knowledge (Arcane Lore) 2 (+4), have a name, Moonbase Zero was an
Knowledge (tactics) +8 (+10), Notice 7 attempt to simulate conditions on a lunar
(+11), Perform (Oratory) 8 (+15), installation as realistically as possible. They
Profession (secret agent) 4 (+6), Sense constructed an entire base inside a giant
Motive 5 (+9), Stealth 5 (+7) aircraft hanger in the Nevada desert.
Feats: Assessment, Defensive Attack, They didn’t tell the astronauts that it
Defensive Roll 6, Distract (linked to wasn’t real. A few researchers and agents
Perform), Fascinate (linked to Perform), were embedded in Moonbase Zero’s crew,
Improved Aim, Improved Disarm, Improved but they had all undergone extensive post-
Dodge, Improved Grapple, Improved hypnotic suggestion to submerge their real
Initiative 2, Inspire, Interpose, Leadership, identities and themselves didn’t know it was
Precise Shot, Redirect, Startle, Uncanny a simulation. The self-contained moonbase
Dodge module performed well for a year and a
half. Then it came under attack by aliens.

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 The crew claimed to have made in the course of his wanderings, trying
contact with an even older, even more secret to evade his pursuers and convert people to
base (they called it Moonbase Minus One), his lonely nudist crusade.
where the scientific staff had accidentally Nocturne (See page 278 for more
woken up some terrible thing that had lain information on this lonely vigilante) actually
sleeping under the lunar surface for eons. knows John Friend from the old days, and
Moonbase Minus One had already fallen and although he always disliked him, he’ll
Moonbase Zero was now under assault. sympathize with him now and may well try to
This was of course, so utterly help him. If he knows the PCs and they have
impossible that Division X called for the Men in a gadgeteer or mystic on their team, he may
Black. To avoid breaking the simulation, they attempt to enlist their help. He hopes to cure
sent John Friend and his team into the hanger his old colleague’s madness, then learn his
in spacesuits, after putting them through an secrets and perhaps enlist him as an ally.
extremely realistic simulated spacecraft ride.
So realistic that he began to doubt the cover Using Naked Man in Your Campaign: If he
story, and to wonder if Moonbase Zero was in comes to Bedlam, you can play John Friend as
fact real. It was his first original thought, a lunatic on a ridiculous crusade to make
ever, and it deeply troubled him. people take their clothes off, or a tragic figure
They were warned not to remove who they have to rescue from ruthless
their spacesuits if they ever ventured out onto government assassins or both. If he shows up
the fake lunar surface, for fear of completely mad then he’ll start yelling at
compromising the experiment. people in public to undress, that their clothes
Despite their best efforts, the Men in are a trap and that he will set them free. He’s
Black lost the battle for Moonbase Zero. John a strong enough psychic to make them do it,
had to take ever-increasing doses of psi- too, which can lead to all sorts of comic
enhancing drugs in order to fend off the alien silliness. He won’t hurt anyone, except for the
invaders, and the combination of a semi-lethal agents who are chasing him, and his powers
overdose and making contact with the vast are such that he doesn’t even have to hurt
and utterly inhuman minds of the invaders them very badly.
made him snap. When he uses his “Obscure” effect
He staggered out the airlock onto the reality seems to warp and flow and distort
lunar surface, and used his rapidly-escalating around him, making it impossible to aim at
powers to make it bloom, bloom with flowers, anything or judge distances. Blindsight still
through they shriveled in the vacuum and works against it, though.
radiation as fast as he could make them After the PCs have subdued him,
sprout. Then he ripped off his spacesuit, and sinister Men in Black will ask them to turn him
the clothes he wore underneath, and standing over. Here too, you can play the scene as
there in the Sea of Tranquility with the Earth comic (“We’re from the Department of
overhead he screamed into the airless void Inexplicable Phenomena. This phenomenon is
that he was now the Man in Nothing! Then he completely inexplicable, so it falls under our
smashed through the side of the hanger and jurisdiction”) or genuinely ominous.
out into the mercilessly bright Nevada If Naked Man’s captors refuse to give
sunshine. The experiment was proclaimed a him up, the agents will withdraw, for now, but
complete success, and the hunt for the Man in whoever interferes with the UNICORN’s affairs
Nothing began. will themselves become a target. Whether or
Now John Friend wanders the world, not Nocturne gets involved, this could be the
holding his briefcase in one hand, clad only in campaign’s’ bridge to adventures that involve
his earpiece and his sunglasses. He divides his shadowy government conspiracies and weird
time between battling his former bosses and intrigue. Or not, just as you prefer.
running away from them. In his crazier Perhaps the agents who come after
periods, he screams at people that their minds the PCs tell them that John Friend’s story
are a trap, that reality is a trap, and that most about having been a Man in Black is a
of all their clothes are a trap, defining them delusion, and he’s really a used car salesman
the way his black suit defined him. Take it off! from Tucson who developed telepathic powers
Take it all off! He might well come to Bedlam and flipped out. Maybe that’s even the truth.

339
 Powers: Enhanced Strength 14, Impervious
Toughness 4, Protection (Extra: Impervious)
6, Super-Strength 8 (Power Feats:
Shockwave, Thunderclap)
Background: $#!+face will never lead a
normal life, he’s come to realize. He’s
hideous, and everything he tries to hold, he
breaks. Nor has he ever been able to find a
good way to kill himself. This makes him
really depressed. It also makes him drink.
That’s where he got his supervillain name, in
fact, from his constant drunkenness. He’s
not exactly an alcoholic—he’s not dependant
on the booze itself. He just needs
something to shut out his misery, and he
can’t inject heroin through his super-tough
skin. It takes a whole lot of alcohol or
formaldehyde or turpentine or window
cleaner to fuzz him out to where he can deal
with things, so he always seems to be
nipping away at a bottle of something or
other. Or a barrel. Or a vat.
$#!+face would never have chosen
this life. He escaped from some kind of
secret government lab a few years ago and
he accidentally maimed a guard in the
process. After that he was stuck. He had
no ID, no means of supporting himself. If
he had made his way home to Flint,
Michigan, he supposed his family would
have hidden him, but he didn’t want to
burden them like that—they had enough
problems of their own. So he stole, because
“It don’t matter if you lock me up for he had to eat, and tried to keep anyone
ten #@%&in’ years or one #@%&in’ from getting hurt in the process. Inevitably
day. It all feels th’ same to me.” superheroes came to beat him up and he
fought them as hard as he could, desperate
Real Name: Charlie Brown (although
not to be sent back to the lab and dissected.
everyone assumes this is an alias, it’s his
He was only just barely able to stay ahead
actual name)
of the law and figured there might be safety
PL: 10
in numbers, so he hooked up with
Str: 34/20 (+12)/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) whichever criminal masterminds would hire
Con: 18 (+4) Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 10 (+0) him. He had way too much conscience to
Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 be able to work for any of them for long,
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 until he signed on with Th’ Pope.
Toughness Save: 12 (Impervious) Now $#!+face is His Holiness’
Fortitude Save: 10 Reflexes Save: 8 comically drunken and depressed hench-
Willpower Save: 6 (8 vs. mental attacks) thug. He spends much of his time lying on
Skills: Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+5), the floor in a stupor with a bottle or a keg in
Sense Motive 4 (+4) his hand and has to slowly stir himself
Feats: Diehard, Endurance, Improved whenever the Pope asks him to do anything.
Grapple, Power Attack, Well-Informed He’s sort of like Paul Schaeffer to the Pope’s
David Letterman, feeding him straight lines

340
and responding to all his rhetorical questions fluid. Then… well, God knows. He’ll
with “gee, I dunno.” He’s grown very fond probably be drinking from a drum of
of his ridiculous boss and will fight very hard formaldehyde at some point.
to keep the old man out of jail. He normally He would be happy to try being a
tries not to kill people, or to use his full hero instead of a villain, if it doesn’t mean
strength on anyone who can’t take it, but if abandoning Th’ Pope. But of course that
he sees Th’ Pope killed or injured he may go isn’t ever going to work. He’s wanted for
berserk. multiple felonies, the feds would like to have
Amazingly obscene, $#!+face can him back on a table in a lab and no judge in
stick swear-words in the middle of any the country is going to give him amnesty.
sentence, no matter how benign. It’s
almost like he isn’t aware he’s doing it. An Adventure With $#!+face: Drinking
He’s much kinder and much smarter Buddy
than anyone expects. He’s better at playing $#!+face robs a bank. He seems to have
chess than the Pope himself, for example, acquired a sidekick—a big fat unshaven guy
and he will sometimes interject with some in a stained white dress shirt who looks very
ludicrously obscene but very cogent drunk. $#!+face calls him “Pal.”
observation, in between taking sips from a Less than an hour later, they rob
bottle. Try something like this: “No, the another bank, although by this time their
contract language is #@%&in’ simple. both so inebriated that they drop a lot of the
Look, it says the party of the first part money on their way out. Where will they
agrees to pay the party of the second part if strike next? And what the hell is going on
the conditions in clause #@%&in’ three are here, anyway?
met, not unless they’re #@%&in’ met. In fact $#!+face new drinking
That’s what clause mother#@%&in’ fifty buddy is Marvin Slobowski, an unsuccessful
says.” businessman from Stark Hill. They met in
Sometimes he writes poetry, but an alley behind a bar that they had both
he’s shy about showing it to anyone. been asked to leave and they’ve been on a
binge together ever since.
Using $#!+face in Your Campaign: A Poor Marvin owes a lot of money to
sympathetic, hapless villain who’s been a loan shark, who is going to take one of his
screwed by fate, $#!+face won’t strike to kids if he doesn’t pay. $#!+face wants to
kill and he won’t pursue revenge—he help, but he knows better than to just go
doesn’t have the energy and anyway he beat up the loan shark. If he does that, the
doesn’t resent you for beating on him. In Scarpias will surely have Marvin killed and
fact, he kind of thinks he deserves to get they may get his kid, too, just to make a
beat on. If you get the drop on him or hold point. So instead Marvin and $#!+face
his beloved boss hostage, he’ll put his hands robbed a bank. Unfortunately, they didn’t
up, sigh and say, “Yeah, yeah, okay. You get nearly enough money to pay off the
#@%&in’ got me.” debt, so they’re going to rob as many banks
You can play him as tragic or comic, as it takes, unless they get killed or pass out
but he works best if he’s both. To help in a drunken stupor first.
make him funny, each time the PCs see him $#!+face is very protective of
he should be drinking from a larger Marvin and will fight hard to keep him alive
container of even more potent stuff. Start and out of jail. If he has to surrender to the
out with a flask of gin. When next they see PCs, $#!+face will beg them to save his
him it’s a fifth of vodka. Then it’s a quart of buddy’s kid. But that of course is another
rubbing alcohol. Then it’s a gallon of brake adventure.

341
“Wanna see something #@%&ed-up?” shtick. Someday he’s gonna kick that guy’s
@$$.
Real Name: Brandon Weiner He would love to be a mercenary
PL:10 villain, to take on jobs for scary guys in
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 22/12 (+6/+1) castles and corporate boardrooms—maybe
Con: 22/14 (+6/+2) Int: 10 (+0) even help some cackling arch-villain take
Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 10 (+0) over the world. But it's not going to happen
Initiative: 10 Attack Bonus: 10 any time soon. For now he's just a slob on
Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 10 (6 if a rampage.
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 10 It's the story of his whole career.
Reflexes Save: 10 Willpower Save: 2 #@%&face was sixteen when his life went
(10 vs. mental Attacks) careening off its rails. He was over at his
Skills: Bluff 4 (+4), Intimidate 6 (+6), friend’s Pilar’s house, helping her watch her
Notice 6 (+8), Stealth 3 (+9) little stepbrother. While he stayed
Feats: Defensive Roll 4, Fearsome Presence downstairs, drank her dad's beer and played
5, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Startle, Maximum Killer on Nintendo, Pilar got bored
Uncanny Dodge and tried showing her little brother some
Powers: Drain Toughness 10 (Power Feat: new Kung-Fu moves she had thought up.
Alternate Power [Drain Constitution]; Extra: Brandon could hear them wrestling upstairs,
Range), Enhanced Constitution 8, Immunity could hear that they were getting too
5 (Aging, Disease, Poison, Suffocation), carried away, but he didn't think much of it.
Mind Shield 8, Nauseate 10, Super- He was drunk and wrapped up in his game
Movement 2 (Air-Walking, Permeate), and anyway those two fought and wrestled
Super-Senses 3 (Darkvision, Detect Life) all the time. Then he heard Pilar start
Equipment: Huge revolver (Ranged screaming.
Weapon; 5 Damage) He stumbled upstairs, but it was too
Background: The only villain out there late. Pilar's little stepbrother wasn’t
with a ruder name than $#!+face, breathing. They called 911 and they tried to
#@%&face hates $#!+face for stealing his revive the kid with CPR (not that either one
of them really knew how) but he was dead.

342
 The cops didn’t believe that Brandon letters. He has misspelled the word
had been downstairs. They were sure he “Awesome.” And that about sums him up.
must have helped Pilar kill her stepbrother. He supports himself through theft,
When one of them asked Brandon how he because he has no other way to do it, and
could have done such a thing, he dreams of finding some way to make the big
misunderstood her—he thought she meant time. While he enjoys making threats and
“how could you have sat there playing video acting tough, he feels bad about killing people
games while Pilar killed her brother upstairs?” and he would never harm a child. He still has
But in fact she meant “how could you have nightmares about what happened to Pilar’s
beaten a child to death?” little brother. But all those years in solitary
He answered "I dunno. I was drunk." have made him very, very angry. He kills
Those words doomed him. domestic pets whenever he sees them and
Both teenagers were charged with the he’s prone to attacks of savage anger.
crime, and to help save herself, Pilar testified Civilians and bystanders have died when he’s
that Brandon had done most of the beating. lost control of himself. He’s presently wanted
He was tried as an adult and got forty-eight for something like a dozen murders, all of
years. Then a routine test revealed that he them people he lashed out at in a rage.
was a parahuman, and he briefly became a As life continues to frustrate him, he
celebrity—a vicious young supervillain who had gets madder and madder and he’s slowly
beaten a child to death for thrills. losing the ability to keep his rage in check.
In fact Brandon had no idea until the While he’d never admit it, he feels anguish
moment the test results came back that he over every last person he has ever killed and
had the potential to develop superpowers. he’s starting to contemplate committing
Confined to a solitary cell in a secret facility “suicide by superhero.”
somewhere, he raged and wept and plotted
revenge on the whole world. Years later, they Using #@%&face in Your Campaign: A
offered him a deal. If he would participate in loser villain who will hire out to anyone, he has
a dangerous, illegal set of tests to unlock his terrible judgment and can get involved in all
superpowers, they would put him on a black kinds of stupid, ill-advised capers. If an
ops team and let him have exciting adventures obviously crazy villain makes a foolhardy bid to
all around the world. That sounded okay to take over the world, or destroy it, #@%&face
him. is the henchman for the job. He’s so
After a lot of pain and horror, he desperate for respect and comradeship that
became the thing he is now. A weird, ghostly, he’ll ignore how insane or how unspeakably
inhuman creature that walks through walls and evil his current boss is, or how unlikely the
drains the life out of stuff. plan is to succeed.
He screwed his first mission up really He’s also a good villain to have come
badly, and rather than go back to base and wandering into town alone, committing
face god-knows what kind of punishment, he pointless crimes and tangling up with
ran away. It was the year 2002. He had been superheroes. Or he can show up at the
in prison for more than ten years. nightclub called Maxx to catch one of his
These days he dresses like heavy favorite hair-metal bands from the eighties
metal album cover art, and uses the name (see Page 191), not particularly looking for
#@%&face. He never really outgrew his Guns trouble. Or he can go berserk in public in the
n’ Roses phase and he finds newer music hopes that the PCs will come kill him.
weird and scary. It absolutely drives him nuts Normally he tries to avoid hurting
when people mock his favorite bands. civilians, but if he gets frustrated or depressed
Strangely for a guy who looks so odd, he he’ll lash out at whoever is closest with lethal
claims to hate weirdness. By “weirdness” he force. Vindictive by nature, he’ll try to hunt
means anything that isn’t Metal. And by down anyone who has beaten, frustrated or
Metal, he means Metal as of 1989 or so. humiliated him, but he’s an inept hunter and
In a lot of ways he’s still a teenage won’t plan any kind of elaborate revenge. It
stoner. He never really had a chance to grow might or might not occur to him to strike at
up. Across his upper back, he has the words their loved ones, depending on how angry he’s
feeling.
tattooed in elaborate gothic

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 Powers: Enhanced Constitution 28,
Enhanced Strength 30, Impervious
Toughness 16, Leaping 9 (x1000), Mind
Shield 5, Protection (Extra: Impervious) 6,
Super-Strength 8 (Power Feats: Shockwave,
Thunderclap)
Complications: Kills anyone who trifles
with him in even the slightest way. Also kills
lots of people who don’t.
Background: Not long ago, Smashface saw
a nature documentary on lions. He was
fascinated by the way a male lion will chase
off a rival, assume leadership of the pride,
and kill every cub that is not his own. His
new wives may howl with grief, but they
dare not interfere. It was amazing to
watch—he'd been doing the same thing for
years. Now he knew why he always killed
the children of any woman he dated. He
had thought it was to show his mastery of
her, but in fact it was because he had the
heart of a lion. His chest swelled with pride.
Now whenever he throws a new girlfriend's
children out the window, or drowns them in
the tub or crushes them in their beds, he
always explains to her about the lions and
how this act ennobles him—shows that he is
truly a king.
He has about fifty kids of his own
“Guess what color car drives past next, now, he figures. He would have more but a
and I’ll let one member of your family lot of women aren't strong enough to
live.” survive the force of his love. He supposes
that's good and proper, too. Only the
Real Name: Leonard Low-Horn strong should be allowed to bear his noble
PL: 17 seed.
Str: 50 /20 (+20/+5) Dex: 14 (+2) Usually by the time his kids are
Con: 48/20 (+19/+5) Int: 12 (+1) starting to speak in complete sentences,
Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2 he's already moving on for one reason or
Attack Bonus: 10 Defense: 8 another, so he hasn't had much of a chance
Toughness Save: 19 (16 Impervious) to get involved in their lives. But he does
Fortitude Save: 117 Reflexes Save: 10 make sure that all of his boys are named
Willpower Save: 6 (12 vs. mental attacks) Leonard, after him. So are all the girls. He
Skills: Knowledge (Streetwise) 4 (+5), won't allow anything else.
Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 1 Smashface doesn't remember his
(+2), Sense Motive 6 (+6) own childhood very well, although he's sure
Feats: All-Out Attack, Assessment, it must have been awful since every time he
Chokehold, Defensive Attack, Diehard, tries to think about it he gets so
Endurance, Fascinate (Linked to Intimidate), overwhelmed with anger that he starts to
Fast Overrun, Improved Grapple, Improved cry. He does know that he discovered his
Overrun, Improved Pin, Improved Sunder, powers in reform school on an Indian
Improved Takedown, Improved Trip, Power reservation and set about testing their limits
Attack, Takedown Attack after he broke out. His powers were strong.
None of the superheroes who faced him

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were able to stand against him. For a while lived this wandering existence and
he sought them out, one after another, he seems pretty contented by it. He’s
looking for the toughest ones, to see if he surprisingly calm and soft-spoken, in the
could beat them. But then he got bored. way that so many absolute psychopaths are.
These days he walks around and He talks a lot, but the only topic that
does as he pleases. He kills most of the interests him is himself. It has never
people he encounters, unless he doesn't occurred to him to wonder whether or not
happen to feel like it. When policemen try he is an evil person. If someone asks him
to stop him he kills them, too. about it, he will reply that God must want
While he does not really need him to do the things he does, or else God
money for anything, he enjoys having it, so wouldn’t have let it happen. If God wants
he's willing to take on jobs for organized him to do these things, then they must be
crime, and he keeps a few post-office boxes good.
where they can get in touch with him. If A strangely honorable opponent, he
the Bedlam mob gets desperate enough to won’t strike from ambush, won’t take
hire Smashface, they will try hard to isolate hostages, won’t hit an opponent who is
themselves from him. He's prone to killing down. That would be unworthy of him.
people for whims or for reasons that make Then again, he’s never been beaten in a
no sense and that includes his employers. fight, and we suspect he wouldn’t like it at
One of his previous clients paid him all.
by hiring a designer to produce a really Should this ever happen, he’ll
sleek looking costume for him to wear. become obsessed with the person who beat
Smashface liked it so much that he killed the him and start killing all their enemies at the
designer, to make sure that she never made first convenience. He does this because
one as cool for anybody else. While he has they are unworthy to be the foes of his foe.
never been seriously injured in a fight, he There should be room for no one in their
doesn’t like being struck in the eyes, mouth roster of enemies but him.
or nipples—it’s irritating, so his costume
covers his face more or less completely, and Using Smashface in Your Campaign:
armor-plates his upper chest. Here he is, our signature character. The
You might think that the world’s guy from the front of the book.
mightiest heroes would have banded Before the PCs face Smashface, you
together to defeat Smashface long ago. But should let them have a fair warning about
the fact that he kills most of the people he what they’re up against. Give him as much
runs into means that he isn’t very widely dramatic buildup as you can, he deserves it.
known, and the authorities are not aware of Let them find out what happened the last
just how dangerous he is. time he came to Bedlam, let them figure out
It’s also hard to find him. He walks what no one seems to have grasped about
around at random, stealing cars when he him (he’s one of the most dangerous men
feels like it, so it’s difficult to track his ever to walk the earth) before they actually
whereabouts. Sometimes he sees a girl he come across him. He’s so utterly loathsome
likes and moves in with her for a while that the more the PCs learn about him the
(whether she wants him to or not) more they’ll want to defeat him, and this too
sometimes for two or three years at a time. helps build dramatic tension.
He lavishes gifts on his girls, stealing and Because he’s both a rampaging
taking on jobs for other criminals as villain and a hireling, you have complete
required and he is very gentle with his own freedom to spring him on the PCs whenever
children—though he never changes a diaper you like, without them having to go looking
or plays any other kind of role in their care. for him. If they do go seek him out, you
For more than forty years he has have an excuse to make him hard to find.

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 (either a group of ten PL1 maladjusted
nuns, or 5 PL 2 “Cardinals” with a suspicious
number of scars and tattoos), Skill Mastery
(Bluff, Concentrate, Perform, Knowledge
[Theology and Philosophy], Second Chance
2 (with failed Bluff and Perform Checks)
Equipment: Heavy clerical robes (1
Protection), Staff (Melee Weapon; 3
Damage, has a built-in Radio that can pick
up most police bands, can give off an
Electric shock [Stun 8] and can shoot out a
15 foot radius cloud of noisome, reeking
smoke, which counts as Obscure 8 vs. Sight
and Smell), Large hat (often full of food
and/or pornography.) Pad of blank Papal
indulgences. Always has 50 points or so
invested in a headquarters.
Background: We’ll let him explain his
origins in his own words. He looks and
sounds a lot like an unshaven Sidney
Greenstreet in pontifical robes, so imagine
Mr. Greenstreet’s deep, rumbling voice.
“I come to you a former sinner, of
the least lunchitudinous sort. For I was, in
my youth, prey to the most popish sort of
papacies.
I was a two-fisted pope. ‘Kiss my
ring, punk!’ was my motto. I put rocket
“Kiss my ring, punk!” engines and machine-guns on the
Popemobile. I was infallible. And yet I was,
Real Name: His Holiness, Pope Innocent X alas, not a success at my chosen trade.
PL: 8 Indeed, so poor a pope I made that they
have since expunged all records of my
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 16 (+3) name, and would have excommunicated me,
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 17 (+3) Cha: 18 (+4) had I not excommunicated them first*.
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 It was not my crapulence or my
Toughness Save: 8 (4 if caught Flatfooted, obesity, my unshaved whiskers or my
3 if caught Flatfooted without his robes) unlikely sexual practices that brought me to
Fortitude Save: 7 Reflexes Save: 5 this end. The Council of Cardinals did not
Willpower Save: 10 object to my slobbering perversities or to
Skills: Bluff 9 (+13), Concentrate 8 (+11), my habit of paying for meals in restaurants
Craft (Chemical) 10 (+13), Diplomacy 10 with blank papal indulgences (‘Here kid,
(+14), Disable Device 4 (+7), Knowledge have a get-out-of-Hell-free card. Fill in
(Popular Culture) 3 (+6), Knowledge whatever sin you want.’) No one cared
(Theology and Philosophy) 8 (+11), Notice 6 what those stains on my surplice were, or
(+9), Perform (Oratory) 10 (+14), Search 7 where I might have stuck that monstrance.
(+10), Stealth 7 (+9) But I acquired a cruel mistress. One that
Feats: Connected, Defensive Roll 3, Distract has ruined many a man.
(linked to Perform), Elusive Target,
Equipment 15 (75 pts worth), Elusive
Target, Evasion, Fascinate (Linked to *
A hasty field-excommunication—it left me
Perform), Improved Defense, Improved
the Church's only member. In retrospect, I
Initiative, Inspire, Leadership, Minions
might have reconsidered.

346
 Flintstones push-ups. The ‘Yabba- Th’ Pope periodically shows up with
Dabba-Doo Orange’ flavor. Not a pretty a gang of crackheads dressed like altar boys
name, is it? But do not look away. For its or nuns or cardinals or saints (complete with
cruel seductions might yet claim you too. cheesy fake halos) and tries to steal things.
So no matter how appalling you find my Religious artifacts mostly, but sometimes
tale, stop and think, ‘But that might have money. He also loves to play absurd and
been me, if I were Pope, and a monstrous harmless (if disgusting) pranks on officials of
shambling deviate.’ the Roman Catholic Church and on anyone
Since no one but a foul degenerate else who strikes him as an uptight moralistic
Pope would ever want to eat Yabba-Dabba- prig. He seems to have a particular grudge
Doo Orange Flavor Push-ups, I was forever against Bedlam’s chief ecclesiastical officer,
stealing vast sums from the Papal Bank to Bishop Sloat, for some unknown reason.
keep the brand afloat. This too, was not Th’ Pope is a dreadful ham and a bit
enough to doom me. For many Popes had of a sentimental old fool. No one has ever
loaned far greater sums to men with been seriously hurt in one of his capers and
mirrored sunglasses and foreign accents. he’d feel terrible about it if they did. He
And I was, after all, infallible. loves to make jokes about his supposed
Soon the Swiss Guard adjusted to Infallibility or other points of Catholic
the sight of His Holiness emerging from a dogma. He also likes to write papal
heap of empty push-ups and the lowest sort indulgences absolving people for their sins
of porno, blessing all and sundry in a slurry (in fact he carries a pad of them around
bloodshot stupor. The Cardinals grew with him) and he sometimes tries to pay for
accustomed to hearing his Eminence cry ‘I things with them.
worship #@%&! My prayers are filthy No one knows who he really is or
dreams!’ at random intervals. where he comes from. He resolutely sticks
It was when I had the Shroud of to his ridiculous story (an embittered Pope
Turin dry-cleaned that I wore out their turns to a life of crime) and never breaks
patience. I did it in a Yabba-Dabba frenzy, character. At least one part of his story is
all giddy from my vice. ‘What is this filthy true. He really does love those nauseating
thing?!’ I bellowed. ‘Have it cleaned, by “Yabba-Dabba-Doo Orange” flavored
#@%&!’ Flintstones’ push-ups and there’s always a
They begged, they pleaded, but I big pile of empties around him.
was in the grip of Yabba-Dabba-Doo. ‘By all A genuine pervert, he has been
the crimes and bugg'ries in God's infinite seen at some of Bedlam’s Santa Claus
design, it shall be cleaned!’ I cried ‘Are any oriented leather bars (see Page 195 to find
of you infallible? No? Then by Satan's hairy out more about the true meaning of
balls it laundered shall be!’ Christmas.) Yet he only does kinky things
And it was. And so I fell. From the with his fellow grown-ups and would never
pinnacle of popery to the nadir of harm a child. Which is more than we can
nothingness. Til I found the solace that say for some members of the Church
there is in lunch. For Lo! The true God hierarchy.
cares not where you have stuffed your If he’s too weak for your campaign,
rosary beads, nor what he can smell on your try partnering him with the drunken,
breath. God only cares for lunch. I once depressive Powerhouse who calls himself
was lost, but now am found. 'Twas lunch $#!+face, who can act as His Holiness’
that made me free. bodyguard. If they are partners, then Th’
And if you doubt any part of my Pope is very fond of $#!+face and willing to
ghastly tale, check for yourself and see if take a lot of risks to get him out of prison.
the name of Innocent X has not been If the two of them need to go somewhere
expunged from all the records of the Popes fast, Th’ Pope will cry “Quickly $#!+face!
so thoroughly that no trace of him can be To the Popemobile!” And he’ll jump onto his
found. For this proves that it is all true.” giant henchman’s shoulders. Off down the
street they’ll go, with Th’ Pope riding

347
piggyback as $#!+face takes another long Sister Sin (Th’ Pope’s Hench-Person
pull of booze. Extraordinaire)

Using Th’ Pope in Your Campaign: In a

weird kind of way, he’s a classic Silver Age
villain—a colorful mastermind with a shtick,
who turns up with a gang of absurdly
costumed henchmen and tries to rob
something. Like most of those villains, he
has no real superpowers of his own and is
actually kind of fragile if superheroes start
beating on him. To prevent them from
killing him, keep him funny and sympathetic
and don’t let him harm any bystanders.
He’s forever trying to steal sacred
relics and to embarrass officials of the
Roman Catholic Church. But he has no
master plan to conquer the world or
proclaim himself Supreme Pontiff. If he
wants to snatch the Hand of St. Asquniox
the Flayed from the Bedlam City Museum,
it’s not to summon any dark and terrible
forces from beyond. He wants to defile it,
or put it in his collection or boil it down and PL: 10
drink the broth. If it turns out the Hand is Str: 18 (+4) Dex: 22 (+6) Con: 20 (+5)
cursed, or will grant you three wishes or Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 20 (+5) Cha: 16 (+3)
summon things up from other dimensions Initiative: 14 Attack Bonus: 14
he’ll regard this as a mere nuisance. Defense: 14
Toughness Save: 8 (5 if caught
Minions of th’ Pope (Cardinal or Altar fltatfooted) Fortitude Save: 10
Boy or Dubious Nun) Reflexes Save: 10 Willpower Save: 10
PL: 3 Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+14), Disable Device 3
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) (+9), Escape Artist 10 (+15), Intimidate 9
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 12 (+1) (+12), Escape Artist 2 (+4), Knowledge
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 4 Defense: 4 (Theology and Philosophy) 6 (+8), Medicine
Toughness Save: 4 (1 if caught 2 (+7), Notice 4 (+9), Profession (crazed
fltatfooted) Fortitude Save: 3 leather nun) 4 (+4), Search 3 (+8), Stealth
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3 4 (+10)
Skills: Acrobatics 2 (+4), Disable Device 3 Feats: Accurate Attack, Acrobatic Bluff,
(+3), Escape Artist 2 (+4), Intimidate 5 Assessment, Defensive Attack, Defensive
(+6), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) Roll 3, Elusive Target, Evasion 2, Improved
3 (+3), Medicine 2 (+3), Notice 4 (+5), Block, Grappling Finesse, Improved Defense,
Profession (depraved wierdo) 4 (+4), Search Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
3 (+4), Stealth 4 (+6) Improved Initiative 2, Instant Up, Interpose,
Feats: Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 3, Power Attack, Prone Fighting, Startle,
Improved Block, Improved Defense Takedown Attack, Uncanny Dodge
Equipment: Club or religious artifact or big Equipment: Twin Knives (Melee Weapon, 6
floppy rubber sex toy (Melee Weapon, 3 Damage), Rosary, Leather Wimple
Damage), Holy Water, Rosary Background: Once she was one of Opus
Background: Geez, what kind of Player Ombra’s most feared assassins (you can find
character would sock a nun in the jaw, out more about this insane cult on Page
anyway? I guess it’s the kind who would go 205). She did things for them in the name
adventuring in Bedlam. of God that would damn a thousand saints

348
to hell. But she never found the work Opus Ombra has refused to send anyone
fulfilling, was never able to completely after her—they’re so horrified by what she
muffle her conscience in order to do her has become that they’ve stricken her name
duty. She understood that Opus Ombra had from their records altogether and try their
been excommunicated, so her actions cast best not even to think of her.
no stain on Holy Mother Church and that it
was her duty to burn in Hell so that others Using Sister Sin in Your Campaign: Her
might be saved. And yet some small voice primary function is to give the GM a
within her whispered “no.” Then they sent convenient way to beef up Th’ Pope. Her
her after “Th’ Pope.” schtick works well with his and her
Her instructions were to kill him as personality makes her a good minion. She’s
painfully as possible. But instead of jealous of $#!+face and the amount of
murderling him, she became ensnared by attention Th’ Pope gives him, so she doesn’t
his extraordinary personal magnetism. They work well with him.
talked all night, and then he managed to You can of course use her on her
entice her into visiting one of Bedlam’s own if you’d rather. She doesn’t go around
Santa-Claus-Themed leather bars with him. robbing banks or trying to blackmail cities
After just a little etaste of that scene, she at with thermonuclear weapons, but she does
once became the Pope’s most dedicated despise hypocrites enough that she might
minion. take a swipe at a public figure or two.
She has updated her look a bit, to Alternately, the PCs could get
reflect her new love of blasphemy and kink, caught in the crossfire between Sister Sin
and is seen by th’ Pope’s side whenever she and some other villain. A fairly sympathetic
isn’t completely preoccupied with sampling antagonist, she wants to protect th’ Pope,
depraved vices few people even know exist. humiliate puritanical idiots and have a good
She has a passionate (and entirely platonic) time. She does not crave money, power, or
bond with her new boss, but he knows revenge. Hurt her beloved boss or subject
better than to try to keep her around all the her to some brutal, humiliating punishment
time, so she comes and goes. While she and she might start contemplating getting
enjoys giving and receiving pain a great even with you. And if she develops a crush
deal, she has sworn off killing people on a hero (probably a really pure and
entirely. innocent one) she won’t know how to deal
An imposing figure, she’s six foot with it, and may menace them in public to
four in her bare feet and wears huge get their attention.
platform shoes. She won’t kill, won’t endanger
Sister Sin was recruited by the Opus innocents and won’t abandon th’ Pope. She
Ombra straight out of Carmelite convent and would only torture an opponent if she were
she’s still a little naïve about certain things— really mad at them, or sensed that they
she has no idea how to make, for example, were secretly into it.
a dishwasher or a cell phone work and she
tends to trust people a little too readily. Yet
she comes off as totally ferocious, laughing
and snarling and spouting inventively
blasphemous one-liners in combat.

349
 to bother us when stupid humans make
joke?” it says. But anyone can see this isn’t
true and that taunts really get it riled. It is
in fact insufferably prideful, touchy and
petty—easily hurt and easily moved to
murderous rage. It insists that it has no
heart in its chest, but it wears its heart on
its sleeve. It will take tremendous risks to
get revenge on someone for some trivial or
unintended slight, all the while rationalizing
its anger and claiming to lack any human
feelings. Its voice really does sound
inhuman and emotionless. But its actions
speak much louder. Pointing out that it
behaves like a spoiled brat is sure to
provoke its murderous wrath.
“That haircut not am correspond to Master-Bot is officially bent on ruling
criteria for normalcy. Change it or die, the world but never seems to make much
puny human.” progress toward that goal. It’s constantly
getting distracted by petty quibbles and
PL: 13 pointless vendettas. Prudish and small-
Real Name: Master-Bot minded, it is scandalized by anything that
Str: 34 (+12 ) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a smacks of weirdness and mistrusts non-
Int: 30 (+10) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 10 (+0) whites. It wastes a lot of its time following
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 12 and getting indignant over celebrity
Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 16 (8 scandals, which it claims are evidence of
Impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a “How stupid am all Mankind are being.” For
Reflexes Save: 4 Willpower Save: 10 long periods of time it disappears from the
Skills: Computers 15 (+25), Craft scene. It claims to have been working on
(Electronic) 15 (+25), Craft (Mechanical) 15 “mighty plans your stupid mind am not
(+25), Disable Device 15 (+25), Knowledge comprehend.” But it seems more likely that
(Physical Sciences) 15 (+25), Knowledge it just gets really depressed and sits around
(Technology) 15 (+25), Notice 4 (+10) unable to do much of anything.
Feats: Equipment (up to 50 pts worth), Sleek and imposing, Master-Bot
Inventor, Master Plan, Minions 15, Power speaks in a garbled, fractured mass of
Attack, Precise Shot, Skill Mastery (Craft sentence fragments and non-sequiturs (“All
[Electronic], Craft [Mechanical], Disable of you of humanity am stupid, stupid bad-
Device, Knowledge [Technology]), life for to die!”)
Takedown Attack It doesn’t know who built it. In fact
Powers: Blast 15, Immunity 30 (all it claims rather loftily to have built itself, for
Fortitude Effects), Protection 16 (Extra: no mere puny human could have created its
Impervious 8), Super-Senses 5 (Detect astounding magnificence.
Radiation, Infravision, Low-Light Vision, If Master-Bot shows up in Bedlam, it
Radio, Ultravision) Super-Strength 8 will claim to have some kind of plan to
(Maximum Lift: 400 Tons) conquer the world (or to cleanse it of “that
Equipment: Headquarters (and/or vehicle) disease which am called life and like that”)
Complications: Petty, sullen, vindictive, but in fact it’s here to get revenge on
prone to fits of depression and loneliness someone, probably for something stupid and
Drawbacks: Disabled (Color Blind, No trivial.
Sense of Smell) As you might expect, it places no
Background: It claims to have no emotions value on human life and will maim, brutalize
and says it doesn’t care when people make or kill nearly anyone—especially if they have
rude jokes about its name. “Why it am for

350
a funny haircut or “look gay” to it. But it despite all the hours it has wasted playing
won’t take hostages or break its word. them. It keeps meaning to have the Model
Sometimes it keeps captive heroes One-One-One upgraded, but never gets
alive for much longer than is really safe. It’s around to it. On the plus side, they are very
hard to say why it does this, but people cheap to manufacture and you can make a
have speculated that it gets really lonely and lot of them quickly.
wants someone to talk to.
Steel Selina

Master-Bot has manufactured a lot of

different constructs with a lot of different
specialized functions. Here are some of the
ones you are most likely to encounter.

Model One-One-One

PL: 2
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: -
Int: - Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: -
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense: 2
Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: n/a
Reflexes Save: 1 Willpower Save: 3
Skills: Notice 1 (+3), Search 1 (+3), Stealth
1 (+1) PL: 7
Feats: Fearless, Improved Grab, Improved Str: 24 (+7) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a
Grapple, Improved Pin Int: 20 (+5) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 8 (-1)
Powers: Communication 1 (Radio), Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 7
Immunity 30 (All Fortitude Effects), Defense: 7 Toughness Save: 7 (4
Protection 2, Super-Senses 1 (Radio), Strike Impervious) Fortitude Save: n/a
2 (Drill; Extra: Penetrating 2) Reflexes Save: 7 Willpower Save: 7
Complications: Only does what Master-Bot Skills: Acrobatics 8 (+11), Computers 10
tells it—and often does it badly (+15), Concentrate 11 (+17), Diplomacy 5
Drawbacks: Disabled (Color Blind, No (+4), Disguise 10 (+9), Knowledge (Popular
Sense of Smell) Culture) 1 (+6), Knowledge (Technology) 6
Background: Master-Bot’s basic minion (+11), Notice 3 (+9), Perform (Dance) 5
model. Clumsy, foolish and incompetent on (+4), Sense Motive 1 (+7)
their own, they need a lot of instructions on Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Connected, Contacts,
the battlefield, and Master-Bot has always Eidetic Memory, Evasion 2, Takedown Attack
been terrible at real-time strategy games,

351
Powers: Immunity 30 (all Fortitude Destructor-Bot
Effects), Protection 8 (Extra: Impervious 4),
Super-Senses 5 (Detect Radiation,
Infravision, Low-Light Vision, Ultravision)
Complications: Doesn’t like Master-Bot.
Doesn’t know how to repair herself. Never
sleeps.
Drawbacks: Disabled (Color Blind, No
Sense of Smell)
Background: Master-Bot did not actually
design this infiltration-unit. It came across
the plans that a 1930s era villain called the
Hooded Terror had drawn up. The plans
looked very art-deco and Master-Bot was
captivated by the elegant design. He has
built three of them, so far. Two have run
away from him. Steel Selina is thinking PL: 7
about it.
Str: 24 (+7) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: - Int: -
Rather than letting them go about
Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: -
their business of infiltrating human society
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 8
and gathering intelligence, Master-Bot
Defense: 5
always wants to keep them around the lair,
Toughness Save: 9 Impervious
gazing at them rapturously and making
Fortitude Save: +n/a Reflexes Save: 1
awkward attempts at conversation. It’s
Willpower Save: -1
boring, it makes them unhappy and it
Feats: All-Out Attack, Improved Grab,
vaguely creeps them out.
Improved Grapple, Improved Pin, Power
For now, Steel Selina puts up with
Attack
Master-Bot, because she sees no alternative.
Powers: Blast 7, Communication 2 (Radio),
But the moment she gets a human disguise
Immunity 30 (All Fortitude Effects),
and is sent on an assignment, she’s going to
Protection 9 (Extra: Impervious), Super-
run away, move to a big city and try to get
Senses 4 (Blindsight [Radar], Radio, Ultra-
a job.
Hearing), Snare 7, Super-Strength 3
Can a single female robot make it
(Maximum Lift: 6 tons)
on her own as a plucky career gal in the big
Drawbacks: Disabled (Color Blind, No
city? How will her roomates cope with her
Sense of Smell)
constant cleaning and the fact that she
Background: These are Master-Bot’s
never needs to sleep? Will there be a wacky
favorites. His combat robots come in many
neighbor? She certainly expects there to be
different versions, some on legs and some
one. Virtually everything she knows about
on treads, but these Destructor-Bots
human society she has learned from
completely match the criteria for awesome,
watching “classic” sitcoms (Master-Bot finds
as far as Master-Bot is concerned. As a
more recent TV comedies too weird and
result, it’s reluctant to use them because
confusing for her to be allowed to watch
they might get all shot up. They’re also
them).
expensive and difficult to replace. If Master-
Bot decides to bring them out, it’s a sure
sign of desperation.

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 (Perform), Fascinate (Perform), Minions (12
“Dig th’ righteous power of my atomic Disco Pirates), Taunt
disco ray! Outa-sight!” Powers: Device (Atomic Disco Ray; Effect:
PL: 10 Mind Control 12; Extra: Conscious; Flaw:
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 22 (+6) Con: 20 (+5) Limited Power [can only compel victims to
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 26 (+8) dance—and then only in one style]),
Initiative: 14 Dimensional Pocket 10, Illusions 1 (Auditory;
Attack Bonus: 6 (Melee), 12 (Ranged) Flaw: Limited Power [can only generate
Defense: 13 Toughness Save: 10 (+5 if disco music]), Obscure 5 (Auditory; Effect:
caught Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 8 Really loud disco music), Super-Movement
Reflexes Save: 12 Willpower Save: 10 (Dimensional), Teleport 10 (Maximum
Skills: Acrobatics 10 (+16), Bluff 6 (+14), Range: 200,000 Miles; Power Feat: Easy;
Perform (Dance) 15 (+23) Extras: Accurate, 20 foot Portal; Flaw: Can
Feats: Acrobatic Bluff, Attack Focus 6 only make Extended teleports)
(Ranged), Defensive Roll 5, Distract

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Background: From the deepest darkest “Legion of Groovy”, once it was the “Roller
depths of the Disco Dimension comes… Boogie Armada.” He didn’t start committing
Doctor Boogie! Checking in from the weird serious crimes until he hooked up with the
year 197X on our lifeless, gray, nigh-disco- Disco Pirates.
free reality, he’s here to teach us all how to Unlike Doctor Boogie himself, we
get funky. know exactly where the Disco Pirates came
Or so he says. Who and what from, and it wasn’t the deepest darkest
Doctor Boogie really is remains a mystery. depths of the Disco Dimension. In fact it
He can appear out of nowhere with a whole was the deepest, darkest depths of Bedlam.
crew of henchmen, but is he really coming They were one of the weird little costumed
to us from the “Disco Dimension?” Could gangs that turn up in the Shady Meadows
there truly be an “actual factual universe Mobile Home Park. Outrageously gay and
where the seventies never ended—‘cause completely addicted to crystal meth, they
time there is different-like, you dig?” And had pulled a number of flamboyant daylight
while he does speak a version of late 1970s robberies before they ever encountered
hipster slang, he sometimes gets little Doctor Boogie. They look like, well… like a
details wrong. But maybe it’s because he’s bunch of disco pirates. Each one dresses a
from a parallel universe. He is capable of little differently, but they all find ways to
making people dance against their will— incorporate both themes into their
sometimes huge crowds of people. And in costumes.
order to compel them to dance, he really As soon as they became his
does have to zap them with a big, silly- henchmen, the doctor changed his MO.
looking beam weapon that he lugs around Now he appears out of nowhere in a swirl of
with him. But could that thing really be an crazy lights and sounds, accompanied by a
“Atomic Disco Ray” the way he claims? It dozen or so of his leering, scurvy crew.
looks like a cheaply-made stage prop for Then, as he zaps people with his Atomic
some Sid and Marty Kroft show. And the Disco Ray and commands them to boogie
noise it makes resembles a poorly-produced down, the pirates run amok and steal stuff.
sound effect. Sometimes they hit antique stores,
Doctor Boogie is always sometimes they hit museums or banks or
accompanied by music. Sometimes these expensive furniture boutiques. Sometimes
are recognizable dance hits from the they attack grocery stores and make off
seventies (for some reason he never plays with food.
“The Hustle”) but sometimes they’re other Some time within the past two
songs in the same style, which no one in our years, Doctor Boogie has acquired a flying
dimension has ever heard before. pirate ship for his crew. It’s all decked out
He first appeared in 1992, long after in eye-searing colors and has an immense
the seventies were over. It used to be that mirrored ball hanging from its bow. The
Doctor Boogie would show up every few figurehead resembles Gary Glitter.
years with a new group of henchmen, and Sometimes they appear with their ship and
give everyone in the area dance fever, sometimes they don’t. It can move without
ranting and cackling like an out-of-control anyone steering it, and it would try to come
DJ as passers-by unwillingly got their freak to their rescue if they got in serious trouble.
on. He particularly liked to show up in No member of the crew has ever
crowded public places full of people who been captured, but if they ever are, they will
weren’t having any fun. The Department of claim not to know who the Doctor really is
Motor Vehicles, the Post Office on Tax Day, or if any of what he says about himself is
and so forth. It was of course illegal for him true. When they vanish into thin air aboard
to force people to shake their booties, and their flying pirate ship, they find themselves
sometimes it was a serious nuisance, but it in some weird otherspace full of music and
was never actually dangerous. swirling color, where they party like mad
He never seemed to have the same until they get bored or run out of food
group of henchmen twice. Once it was his again. Time and perception seem to be

354
strangely distorted there, and none of them Disco Pirate Ship
are ever sure how long they’ve been away. Strength: 100
Then again, they are also taking a lot of Speed: 7
drugs. Defense: 2
Toughness: 12
Using Doctor Boogie in Your Campaign: Size: Colossal
A completely light-hearted villain, he isn’t Features: Remote Control (Doctor Boogie
interested in hurting anyone—he just wants can somehow give it verbal instructions)
to make them dance. He takes defeat Offensive Powers: Visual Dazzle 8 (Extra:
cheerfully and he holds no grudges. Burst Radius; Description: The giant
Revenge isn’t mellow, so he’s not into that mirrored ball hanging from the bow of the
scene. Even his disco pirates aren’t looking ship can blaze brighter than a thousand
for blood. They might tease and hassle the disco suns), Stun 12 (Extra: Cone-shaped
people they rob or even rough them up area; Description: The cannons on board
slightly if they look “square” or say the pirate ship don’t actually launch any
something insulting. They certainly won’t shot, but they do make an incredibly loud
kill them—at least not on purpose. If one of noise, which can stun anyone caught in the
the pirates gets into a blind panic he might blast)
take a hostage, but he wouldn’t actually Defensive Powers: 10 Impervious
harm them. The doctor himself would never Defense
even go that far. Movement Powers: Dimensional
You can play Doctor Boogie and his Movement 1
disco-crazed crew as classic villains in the
Silver Age mode (can Our Heroes chase
them off before they finish looting another
Ikea?) without ever worrying about who and
what they really are. Or you can use them
as a baffling enigma. Who and what the
hell is Doctor Boogie, really? Unless the GM
wants the PCs to find out, they will probably
never even come close to the truth.

Doctor Boogie’s Disco Pirates

PL: 4
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 4
Defense: 4 (1 if caught Flatfooted)
Toughness Save: 4 (2 if Caught
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 4
Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 2
Skills: Bluff 5 (+7), Disable Device 3 (+4),
Gather Information 4 (+6), Knowledge
(Popular Culture) 6 (+7), Notice 3 (+4),
Perform (Dance) 8 (+10), Profession (disco
pirate) 6 (+7), Search 5 (+6), Stealth 6
(+7)
Feats: Defensive Attack, Defensive Roll 2,
Distract (linked to Perform), Dodge Focus 4,
Improved Initiative, Improved Dodge, Taunt
Equipment: Cutlass (Melee Weapon, 3
Damage) or Ray Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
Damage)

355
 center (you can find out more about it on
Page 106.) He was guilty of crimes like
sassing his teachers and staying out late, so
his parents had him committed.
He misbehaved and acted up at
Rainbow Acres, which is not a wise idea.
They gave him lots of therapy, battering and
twisting his mind with drugs that had
horrendous, painful and humiliating side
effects.
Dr. Myra Hluger, who was at that
time the facility’s chief physician, didn’t so
much want to control him or even to punish
him. It was more that he had been
unfortunate enough to catch her attention.
He was particularly defiant, and looked
especially comical staggering around
drooling and spasming from the drugs, so
she loaded him up as heavily as she could
“Gonna rape yer brains! Rape ‘em get away with. And perhaps just a little bit
good an’ sloooow.” more.
Quite by accident, she hit the right
Real Name: Dylan Gerber combination of drugs, intimidation and
PL: 10 trauma to unlock his superhuman powers.
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 12 (+1) She later perfected this process and went on
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 20 (+5) to use it to become rich and respected. But
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 5 she didn’t have time to study Dylan, who
Defense: 8 (3 if caught Flatfooted) broke out of Rainbow Acres and went on a
Toughness Save: 1 Fortitude Save: 5 cross-country rampage. He has calmed
Reflexes Save: 6 Willpower Save: 14 down a bit since then, but he’s still
dangerous to be around.
Skills: Bluff 10 (+15), Concentration 8
Constantly manic and twitchy, he
(+14), Disable Device 3 (+5), Intimidate 8
talks non-stop and his hands always seem
(+13), Knowledge (Popular Culture) 1 (+3),
to be in motion. He had Attention Deficit
Notice 4 (+10), Profession (any) 4 (+6),
Disorder even before he got his powers and
Sense Motive 8 (+14)
it’s gotten a lot worse. He’s a loud
Feats: Dodge Focus 5, Fascinate (linked to
combatant, forever taunting his foes with
Bluff), Inspire, Ultimate Save (Willpower),
hilarious, long-winded, nonsensical rants
Uncanny Dodge
about how badly he’s going to beat them
Powers: Illusion 8 (all senses; Power Feats:
up. But any scary-looking opponent sends
Selective; Flaw: Phantasms), Mental Blast 6,
him into a panic the moment they call his
Mind Control 10 (Extras: Conscious, Sensory
bluff. He’s great at provoking trouble for no
Link), Super-Senses 2 (Danger Sense,
reason, and even better at running away
Mental Awareness), Telepathy 10
once it starts.
Complications: Complete idiot with no
At the first sight of anyone who
plans beyond the present moment
looks like a doctor, or worse, a
Background: We suppose the name really
psychotherapist, he goes into a shrieking
should be “the brain-rapist”, but he fears
frenzy of fear and flees. If confronted by a
and hates the term “rapist.” “The rapist”
hero whose code-name starts with “Doctor”
sounds too much like “therapist”, and
he will cautiously ask them if they’re a
therapists are the one thing he fears.
doctor of psychiatry. If they say yes, he
As a teenager he was imprisoned in the
screams and runs.
Rainbow Acres Retreat—a kid-prison that
masquerades as a psychiatric treatment

356
 Crude and ugly in his behavior You can use him as a very low-rent
toward women, he doesn’t know how to talk hireling, or he can come blundering into
to girls and they make him nervous, so he Bedlam on a rampage, with no particular
throws stuff at them and threatens them. plan in mind, or he can return to take his
But when he says he’s going to “rape yer revenge against Rainbow Acres. It will be
brain” he doesn’t mean anything sexual by tough for him to achieve this last objective.
it. In fact he’s scared of sex and wants He can’t remember where the facility is
nothing to do with it. He means that he’s located and anyway, if he did find it his
going to take control of your mind or send crippling fear of therapists would make it
you ugly, frightening visions. hard for him to attack.
These days the Brain-Raper Sometimes he comes up with a
wanders around without much purpose or grand master plan of his own, but his
plan. He lives in hotels, mostly, ordering schemes never work or even make any
the staff to give him food and spa sense.
treatments. Afterwards he wipes out their Plagued by headaches that always
memories of his having stayed there, and seem to be getting worse, the Brain-Raper
sometimes leaves them with weird has begun to suspect that he’s slowly dying.
compulsions. He steals whatever clothes he He’s right.
likes (he likes white tuxedos a lot) and
wears a turban to cover the scars on his
head where he once tried to cut out part of
his brain (it didn’t work.) While he has
never actually killed anybody it’s because he
has never needed to. If cornered he’s as
vicious as a rat, capable of any deadly,
crazy, desperate act. Surround him on a
street corner and he’ll order pedestrians to
throw their kids into traffic, just to slow you
down. And if he’s sure that he’s about to
get captured, he’ll try to hurt as many
people as he can before you can stop him.

Using the Brain-Raper in Your

Campaign: Supervillains and organized
crime have discovered a safe way to hire the
Brain-Raper, and they sometimes use his
services. A dedicated internet troll, he
hangs around discussion boards, making
stupid and disruptive comments everywhere
from tabletop RPG discussion groups to
sewing-club lists to academic forums on
Noam Chomsky. You can contact him by
responding to one of his posts with a private
message, and while he doesn’t need or use
money, he enjoys going on missions and
he’ll take whatever job he’s offered.
Hopelessly irresponsible, he can’t be
trusted to tie his own shoes without getting
distracted, so mostly he gets hired to
perform very simple tasks. “Create a
diversion” is a typical Brain-Raper
assignment.

357
 (for the GM Only)

It’s all so much worse than you think! But The Bedlam Train Station
isn’t it always? In this section we have all Locker #147 contains a dusty submachine
the secrets too terrible to tell your players— gun and $10,000 in hundred-dollar bills,
things so awful that only the GM can be none of them newer than 1970. Whoever
trusted with the knowledge. These are all left it there, all those years ago, they’re
strictly optional. Because your PCs will probably not coming back.
never read this section (in an ideal world, There is even stranger stuff in the
anyway) you have more leeway with these train station. The UNICORN used to use this
“facts” than you do with the rest of the place for message drops and to store
book. So use them, ignore them or distort emergency caches of weapons and
them as it suits you. Sometimes we’ll even equipment. Remodeling has destroyed all
present you with multiple versions of the but one of them over the years. There is
same awful secret. Because one just isn’t still a hidden compartment on the wall
awful enough. behind where the Information Desk now
Each section here purports to tell stands (Notice Check vs. DC 30 to spot—it’s
the “real truth” about something from the been painted over many times), which
rest of the book, so look up the page contains a rusted-out blaster carbine, placed
reference at the beginning of the entry and there in 1968. The gun no longer works,
read the public information about that thing, but has a cool retro look—like something
character or organization first, then skip Jim Sternanko would have drawn.
back here to learn the rest of the story.
The Smirlock Building
Denizens of Ash Street: Sergeant Norton M. Smirlock’s daughter, Elvira
Martha Blaylock Smirlock, exerted her influence over her
Martha Blaylock doesn’t know it, but she did father to have a troubled young architect
a lot of administrative work for the sinister named Myron Mordwell design his new bank
and secretive branch of the government that building. As a founding member of the
conspiracy theorists call the UNICORN (for Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars, Elvira
more information on this shadowy may not have had her father’s best interests
conspiracy, see Page 86.) She still knows a at heart—or those of Bedlam.
lot of their procedures by heart. It you Mordwell’s loathing for humanity
wanted to talk your way into some secret was equaled only by his hatred for the
base that the UNICORN operates, and you entire natural world. How he longed for the
convinced Martha to help you, she could happy day when it would all be paved over
probably help you bluff your way inside, if with concrete and reduced to a realm of
she keeps her wits together for long perfect angles, where machines could thrum
enough. She even still has her old uniform, in endless, pointless rows for eternity!
tucked into her Air Force duffel bag. Under Miss Smirlock’s influence, the
Sisterhood was able to coax young Mister
Mordwell from neurosis into full-blown

358
lunacy. Then at last he was in the right Secrets of Stone Ridge: Doktor
frame of mind to begin. With their occult Gertrund Harder
advice and the right combination of genius Gertrund Harder was one of the Nazis’ least
and madness festering in his brain, he ethical scientists. A clinical psychiatrist by
created a building that would act as a lens training, she rose to prominence performing
for malignant geomantical energies, twisting all sorts of radical new brain surgeries on
and warping the flow of the city’s energies prisoners and “genetic undesirables”
in a kind of horrible anti-feng-shui. He (children, for the most part.) Then she put
succeeded. what she had learned to work as a weapons
The Smirlock Building has worn a designer, building numerous devices that
thin spot in the fabric of reality, where bad relied on disrupting the human psyche. By
things sometimes seep through from 1944, the Nazi elite grew desperate enough
outside. The building is almost alive and to let her try using them, but Germany
very nearly sentient—though its collapsed before she could move any of
consciousness is so profoundly alien that it them beyond the prototype phase. Most of
would be hard for a human being to her best work she did for the Americans
communicate with. As time has passed the after the war.
building has grown and changed to better She’s still alive, amazingly enough,
suit its role as a focus for weird energies—it watched over by US Marshals as a guest of
used to be just twenty-five stories tall and the Witness Protection Program. She lives
now it’s thirty! Every now and then it eats in a huge ugly house in Stone Ridge,
somebody, or transports them to some surrounded by cuckoo clocks, ornamental
dismal alien dimension. beer steins and all kinds of other faux
Mordwell was its first victim—he Bavarian folderol. By an odd coincidence,
threw himself off the roof the moment the “Young Junior” Gorganzua lives just across
skyscraper was complete. But his the street.
notebooks are still tucked in some quiet spot Rosy-cheeked, hale and hearty at
inside the building and they might reveal the age of one hundred, Doctor Harder uses
quite a bit about the Sisterhood of the the alias “Joy Lavish” and still leads an
Screaming Stars. active life. A pediatrician, she divides her
What role the Smirlock Building time between her private practice and ruling
plays in the Sisterhood’s plans remains the Stone Ridge Garden Club with an iron hand.
GM’s choice. It depends a lot on what those Despite her age, Doctor Lavish still
plans are and on whether or not then sees patients every day, though she seldom
Sisterhood is still around to execute them. gets the chance to hurt any of the little
If you like, the building can be a critical darlings very much. She looks sweet and
focusing point for their efforts to bring the grandmotherly and always calls everyone
Queen of Skulls into the world (see Page “Dear.” Her eyes twinkle and her thick
310) or it can be the place where they German accent only adds to her charm. Yet
perform their sinister rites. If they are still beneath her merry smile and cheerful
around, then quite a few of them live there demeanor she is as devoid of mercy as a
and it has become something like their cat, and just as unable to tolerate boredom.
headquarters. It could even be that the She’s desperate to escape her knick-knack
building is itself is the fruition of their cluttered townhouse and Bedlam, and she’ll
plans—that this is the thing which has been cheerfully help anyone who comes to her
corrupting Bedlam and sapping its strength with an evil scheme.
for all these years. If that’s the case, then it It may be confusing for your players
may be a hard opponent for the Player to have to treat a sweet little old German
Characters to fight. How do you battle a lady like a supervillain. To emphasize the
skyscraper? And how would you knock it kind of person Gertrund Harder really is, the
down without wrecking a good-sized chunk GM might want to let the PCs’ overhear the
of the city? following reminiscence: “Little Ari was such
a clown, such a sweet little scamp of a Jew-

359
child. He made all of us at the clinic laugh trusts them even less now that they're
with his jokes and his winning ways. Until it managed by Happy Hands (see Pages 37
was his turn, you know, to be dissected.” and 146.) Because he feels that someone
Or something of the sort—she has a lot of ought to do something about this situation,
happy memories like that from her days in Dennis has quietly been running his own,
the service of the Reich. separate foster care network, getting
It might be ill-advised to tangle with orphaned children into the hands of parents
her. Not only do the Federal Marshals have who will love and take care of them. His
her under their protection, but she is a network spreads invisibly across the
member of the ex-Nazi cabal called Der country, although he only has the resources
Oktopus, and a personal friend of its leader, to help a dozen or so children a year. He's
the Black Eagle (see Page 315.) She also particularly good at placing parahuman
knows the location of at least one of her old kids—children who have developed or may
wonder-weapons from the forties and develop superhuman powers.
believes she could have it functioning again How he manages to get paperwork
within twelve hours. We leave the details of for his kids remains a mystery to everyone
this fiendish device to the GM. It might not in his network, but the papers he provides
even still work. are always unimpeachably solid. None of
them realize that he is working with the
Gertrund Harder vigilante known as Nocturne. Which
PL: 8 explains where he gets the papers and why
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 8 (-1) Con: 14 (+2) they're so good.
Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 18 (+4) Cha: 16 (+3) Nocturne used to work for the
Initiative: -1 Attack Bonus: 6 Defense: UNICORN and has the capacity to get
0 Toughness Save: 2 Fortitude Save: 2 airtight identity papers for anyone. He
Reflexes Save: -1 Willpower Save: 12 keeps his involvement in this project very
Skills: Bluff 8 (+11), Computers 8 (+12), quiet, just as he does all of his activities. It
Concentration 7 (+11), Craft (chemical) 13 probably wouldn't surprise anyone who
(+17), Craft (electronic) 13 (+17), knows him to learn that he was the one who
Diplomacy 6 (+9), Disable Device 12 (+16), alerted the state authorities to the black-
Intimidate 8 (+11), Knowledge (Behavioral market baby ring operating out of the
Science) 13 (+17), Knowledge (Life Department of Child Protective Services, or
Sciences) 13 (+17), Knowledge (Physical that he had to blackmail and physically
Sciences) 8 (+12), Knowledge (technology) intimidate someone from the Governor's
8 (+12), Languages (English, German, office to get it done.
Greek, Latin), Medicine 13 (+17), Notice 6
(+10), Profession (doctor) 8 (+12), Sense “Big Chuck” O’Ryan
Motive 8 (+12), Stealth 3 (+2) The stat block listed under his entry is a
Feats: Assessment, Beginner's Luck, total lie. In fact, Big Chuck is the vigilante
Connected, Contacts, Improvised Tools, known as the Hammer of Justice, and uses
Inventor, Second Chance (both Craft Skills those stats instead (see Page 281.) He’s
and all Four Knowledge Skills), Skill Mastery just as crooked and vicious in his costumed
(Disable Device, Intimidate, both Craft Skills identity. He’s also gauche enough to spend
and all Four Knowledge Skills), Well- a lot of time in his civilian identity talking
Informed about how great he thinks the Hammer of
Complications: Immoral, depraved Justice is.
monster and sweet little old lady at the The Bedlam Mob suspects that Big
same time Chuck and the Hammer are one and the
same. But they don’t really care, so long as
Father Dennis and the Celestial Spirit they both share a cut of the proceeds and
Fellowship follow orders.
Father Dennis has never trusted the Bedlam
Department of Child Protective Services. He

360
Where Does Assault Squad Keep are fifteen cells in the basement that are
Captured Superhumans? designed to negate the powers of various
This is one of the city’s most closely different types of superhumans. Cells made
guarded secrets. To keep your PCs of super-tough alloys to defeat ultra-strong
guessing, we’re going to give you multiple villains. Psi-proof cells and flame-proof cells
options here. Use just one, or use all three, and all kinds of other such technology.
or use one and then have them resort to Most of them still work, and the Assault
another option as a backup plan, if the Squad holds superhumans here until they’re
Player Characters bust up their main facility. ready to stand trial.
No one really knows where Mr.
1: Corporation Yard Extreme got this technology—although it
After Bedlam’s Department of Public Works seems likely that he just inherited it when
got privatized, their huge old facility at he took over the team. Whether or not it’s
Corporation Yard was mothballed (see Page his, he wants it back. Right now the owner-
23.) It’s still there, down at the end of ship of the holding cells is tied up in litiga-
Industrial Drive. The main building was tion and the City of Bedlam isn’t technically
constructed in the 1930s and it has a kind of allowed to send anyone within a hundred
grandiose Art Deco look to it. Officially the and fifty feet of them. Assault Squad gets
police still keep helicopters here (see Page around the court order by ignoring it, and
60) but in fact they have another, far more not telling anyone. If the ownership of the
secret use for the Yard. In the basement of fifteen power-suppression units is ever
the main building are a group of about resolved, they may find themselves in an
twenty suspended-animation tubes, which awkward position, particularly if the cells get
the city recovered from the effects of a repossessed with live supervillains inside.
defeated supervillain called Damocles Faust. If the Player Characters themselves
No one is precisely sure how they function intend to take up residence in the Citadel, it
(in fact three of the tubes don’t work quite might make for an interesting plot compli-
right, and can badly injure anyone confined cation when they encounter a team from the
there) but they know how to activate them. Assault Squad trying to hide a captured
Assault Squad keeps supervillains with really supervillain in their basement. Perhaps they
dangerous innate powers locked up inside could actually work out a way to share the
until it’s time for them to stand trial. Then facility, and perhaps cooperate in other
they shoot them up with sedatives, load ways as well. At the very least, it would
them into a waiting helicopter and hope for give the PCs something they could blackmail
the best. Faust also left them some power- the Bedlam Police Department with. And
suppression manacles which they can use to what superhero couldn’t use a little extra
immobilize prisoners in transit, but these are leverage with the cops?
prone to sudden inexplicable failures, so
they prefer to rely on sedatives when they 3: Berth 13
can. If you have decided to use the There is a mysterious ship in Bedlam Harbor
“Crawley Cocktail” option outlined on Page that never seems to leave its dock. As
269 to give the authorities more power noted on Page 362, the Assault Squad may
when dealing with superhumans, then they be using it to hold superhuman prisoners.
will definitely use it as well. As that section explains, the Bedlam
police lack the resources to build and staff
2: The Citadel
such a facility. In fact the government
The headquarters of the defunct superhero
agency called the UNICORN has been using
group “Justice Xtreme” sits half-completed
it to store supervillains in suspended ani-
downtown. See Page 284 for the
mation capsules since the sixties. They let
unfortunate history of the team. Mr.
the Assault Squad use it, too—it’s easier that
Extreme wanted to build a supervillain
way for both of them. The UNICORN may
holding facility in his headquarters and he
have forgotten about a few of the villains in
had it about half-finished when the team
their charge, down on the lower decks.
collapsed in violence and lawsuits. There

361
 Obviously, you shouldn’t use this government ever comes down hard on
option if you already plan on using the them, they’ll release it and cause a scandal.
“Berth 13” rumor for something else. It won’t help that the FBI used the insulting,
culturally insensitive name “Operation
Other Options: The containment facility Salami.”
could be located under the Liberty Shoppes Rick Falcone, the Acting Special
Mall. This would certainly explain why the Agent in Charge of Bedlam’s FBI office (you
Bedlam city government tries so hard to can find out more about Rick on Page 84),
keep the mall open, and why they’ve hired knows all about Operation Salami. It’s why
such a heavy security contractor (see page he hasn’t been quicker to act against the
164.) Gorganzua Family, despite having a couple
If the UNICORN (see Page 86) has a of really prize informants on the inside. He
secret base near Bedlam, the Assault Squad wants to find a way to neutralize the
may not even need to have a containment evidence, but he’s not sure how. He also
facility of its own. In this case, they may doesn’t know how much the Scarpia family
just turn all their superhuman captives over might have (in fact they don’t have any
to representatives of that sinister, shadowy physical evidence at all, though they
organization. This may in fact be what the certainly remember Operation Salami.)
black busses (see Page 271) are carrying.
It could also be that Assault Squad Rainbow Acres Treatment Center
has struck a devil’s bargain with some arch- The GM has three separate options for the
villain (possibly Master-Bot, if you want to secret location of Bedlam’s juvenile
choose one from this book.) In this case, psychiatric care facility.
they would have an agreement where the
villain holds onto any superhumans they 1) It’s located on the upper floors of
capture. In exchange, the Bedlam Police the same skyscraper where the business
won’t interfere with the master-villain’s offices are located. The vans just drive the
plans kids around for a while to disorient them,
then head straight back into the parking
Operation Salami garage.
Back in 1942, as America was entering the
Second World War, the federal government 2) Rainbow Acres is located in a single
struck a deal with the Bedlam Mafia. They large, unmarked building on a back road
offered the Mob immunity from prosecution near the Chinch Bug Bar and Grill. It looks
in exchange for keeping Nazi spies and like an office building. No fence or wall
saboteurs out of Bedlam Harbor. They also surrounds the facility, since the kids inside
wanted the Mafia to prevent any strikes or never even get close to a door. Despite
other union activity that might slow down what kids who’ve been imprisoned thre will
work (in fact strike-busting was the most tell you, there are plenty of windows on the
important part of the deal—no one seriously building. The patients are kept deeper
expected a lot of spies or Bundists to show inside and never get to see them.
up in Bedlam.)
This deal worked pretty well. But it 3) The treatment center used to be
didn’t end on VE Day. In fact, the FBI located in the woods near the Chinch Bug,
continued to have contact with the Bedlam but they found an irresistible new lease in
Mafia all through the 1950s, intermittently some of the unused space on the lowest
using their help to crush pinkos and labor level of the Liberty Shoppes mall.
agitators. Eventually the last of the FBI
agents assigned to “Operation Salami” Things at Rainbow Acres are slightly
retired and the unauthorized contacts worse than they appear to be. Butch Dinkle
ceased. However, the Gorganzua crime is still an active member of the street gang
family still has enough evidence stashed called the Viscounts, and he makes sure that
away to implicate the feds. If the federal his fellow gang members get special

362
treatment while they’re inside, and that has been storing them here. Whoever
they can treat the other kids however they were, they almost certainly did it
they like. He also runs the hospital’s with the connivance of corrupt local
underground drug traffic. But the hospital authorities.
has an even shadier connection. Only one person has the keys to
Shreve’s predecessor, Dr. Myra the locked chains across the doors. It’s
Hluger, took an interest in psychiatric not a member of the city government.
research. She also figured out a way to The state welfare office hands out
make insurance pay for some very work assignments here to punish clients
expensive experimental drugs that the they don’t like. Officially the job title is
pharmaceutical companies wanted tested. “School Janitor.” They never stay long
She tinkered with this new combination of once they find out what kind of school
drugs and that. It caused some they’ve been assigned to. The present
interesting reactions. It also activated janitor (and holder of the keys) is Clevon
one young patient’s latent psychic powers. Jackson, a middle-aged alcoholic who has
There was an ugly incident (see the no objections to working here, for he
“Brain-Raper” on Page 356.) cares about nothing at all. If you can
Shortly thereafter, the UNICORN locate him, he’ll gladly show you around
got in touch (to find out more about this E113, unless he’s feeling ornery.
shadowy government agency, see Page Whether or not any of the
86.) They wanted to propose a deal. Any monstrous toxic glop kept here has the
kids who suddenly manifest superpowers power to create giant mutant cockroaches
at Rainbow Acres will immediately get (or worse things—like Pre-Pubescent
turned over to the UNICORN for study. In Kung-Fu Geckos!) it could certainly cause
exchange, they will offer their assistance a dandy political scandal. The kind that
in catching and containing any such could make the mob start killing people.
threats.
This arrangement has worked Adventure Seed at ES 113
well. Dr. Hluger was enticed to come Here’s a scenario you can run right after
work for the UNICORN in some unnamed the PCs talk with Clevon Jackson and find
capacity as a researcher, although she out about the barrels in the basement of
gave it up within a couple of years to School 113. Clevon talks to the PCs as
accept a much more highly-paid position they walk down Shadwell Drive after
as a Vice President at a pharmaceutical leaving the school, holding forth about
company. various subjects in an angry drunken slur
(he’s actually pretty funny when he gets
Elementary 113 on a rant, so play this up.) They walk
They say that unscrupulous people in the past Jimmy Hoover’s rusted out van,
state government may have been hiding which sits up on blocks by the curb.
toxic waste in urban settings. Whether or Jimmy has taped a sign on one window
not that’s true, someone has been hiding that says “Shadwell Drive Gentlemen’s
it in the Country Club. Club, Serious Drinkers Wanted”
Public School 113 has been closed “Hey Clevon!” Jimmy yells out the
for years, its doors chained shut, its window “You got to get with the club!”
windows boarded over. Tattered yellow “#@%& you!” Clevon replies, just
signs read: “No Trespassing. Chemical he does every day.
Hazard.” The signs are right. The “Haw!” a gravely voice chuckles
school’s basement is filled with rusting oil from further back in the van “that Clevon!
drums of toxic waste. Trucks no longer Wotta bum!”
arrive to drop off the unmarked barrels, As they reach the end of the
so it would be hard to investigate just who block, Clevon turns to go back to work.

363
But as he walks up the street, a big black There is an additional
Cadillac pulls up next to him and a couple complication. A former inspector named
of heavies from the Scarpia family leap Ralph Fordyce got hounded out of his
out and seize him. career for talking too loudly about the
“You got a big mouth!” the one bridge. These days he doesn’t leave his
with the mullet snarls. The one with the house much (it’s just off Ash Street.)
shaved head and the goatee adds “Yeah!” Fordyce is determined to show everyone
The old man has no fear of death that the bridge isn’t safe—to throw it right
and he laughs and cusses and struggles in the faces of all the jerks who mocked
with them as they force him into the car. him. And all the guys in high school who
It should be no trouble at all for picked on him as a math nerd, too. Soon,
the PCs to run the car down and beat up the city will feel the wrath of—Dr.
the mooks inside. But once they do, all Vengeance!
hell is going to break lose in the Country
Club. When word reaches Dapper Donny Adventure Seed: Hour of Vengeance
that Clevon Jackson has talked to the Ralph Fordyce decides that his hour has
capes, and that they’ve found the drums, finally come. They laughed, they mocked,
he’s going to hire every supervillain he but now he’ll show them all!
can get ahold of and then leave town First, to get everyone’s attention,
while they go after Clevon and the PCs. he sets a bomb off in front of the
But if these hired super-thugs come close boarded-up City Hall. On the wall behind
to hurting or hassling Jimmy Hoover, where the bomb goes off, he has written
they’ll have a much worse enemy on their the words “ARE YOU SAFE?” in gigantic
hands—see Page 308. letters. He has signed his name, “Doctor
If Eat-‘em-Up Jack himself gets Vengeance” at the bottom.
involved, the Scarpias will hire Smashface Then he calls local radio DJ
to deal with him, and then try hard to stay “Vampire Steve” Kravitz on the air and
out of the way. And if a major villain like says “This is Doctor Vengeance. Are you
Doc Zombie (see Page 312) has already safe?” There is an explosion in the
taken up residence in the neighborhood, background. He has just set off a bomb
he won’t be pleased by all the commotion at the base of the Gorman Tower.
on his doorstep, and will take action of his Over the next three days he will
own. set off more bombs ant more public
locations, and leave clues at the scene for
Greely Bridge any Player Character who wants to try
A lot of the money that’s officially gone to tracking him down. Unfortunately, like
maintaining the bridge has vanished into most really obsessed people, he’s terribly
the pockets of Big Andy Czernik’s family self-absorbed and the clues than he
and the Bedlam Mob. As a result, the leaves are almost indecipherable to
whole bridge has become dangerously anyone but himself.
unsound. There are a number of people His voice, if the PCs hear it,
in the city’s upper echelons who know doesn’t sound like a typical mad scientist.
that there may be a problem with the He sounds fairly young, and talks like a
bridge—the state authorities have working-class guy. While the PCs are
complained about it more than once. puzzling over his clues, he calls them and
However, their response to the problem angrily asks why they haven’t figured out
has been to bribe the inspectors and his clues yet. It’s the bridge, he explains,
intimidate the press into ignoring it. This the Greely Bridge. He’s there right now
has worked pretty well so far, but it’s not and he needs them to come stop him
going to keep working if the bridge comes before a lot of people die.
tumbling down.

364
 The Player Characters and the long in the hands of the Bedlam City
news crews arrive just in time to witness a police.
serious crisis. Doctor Vengeance has
Doctor Vengeance
spent the past few weeks putting bombs
all along the bridge’s structural supports.
He’s strapped a bomb to himself as well,
and he’s down under the bridge right
now, threatening to blow it up. The
SWAT teams are having a very hard time
getting into a position where they can
target him, and anyway they’re afraid that
if they shoot him it will set off the bomb
and trigger a collapse.
A Craft (Structural) Check vs. DC
20 reveals that his bombs are placed at
strategic weak points in the bridge’s
structure—and there seem to be a lot of
them. Way too many, in fact. This bridge
is in seriously bad shape!
He’s demanding to speak with the
PCs and with local reporter Rona Romita PL: 4
(see her description on Page 174.) The Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
authorities don’t want to allow this, but Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 12 (+1) Cha: 10 (+0)
you know the PCs will try to do it anyway. Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 2 Defense:
Ms. Romita wants to go with them 6
and will offer them a deal. If they bring Toughness Save: 4 (2 without his
her up under the bridge when they costume)
confront Doctor Vengeance, she’ll give Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 1
them favorable press coverage whenever Willpower Save: 4
she can. Skills: Concentrate 8 (+9), Craft
When they confront Doctor (Chemical) 6 (+8), Craft (Electronic) 3
Vengeance, he will tell them his whole (+5), Craft (Structural) 9 (+11), Disable
story, in perhaps more detail than they Device 6 (+8), Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+3),
want to hear (he’s kind of obsessive- Knowledge (Physical Science) 3 (+5),
compulsive.) He wants to blow the bridge Notice 6 (+7), Perform (Oratory) 8 (+8),
up this way, he says, after it’s been Search 7 (+8), Stealth 4 (+5)
cleared of traffic, so that it doesn’t Feats: Distract (linked to Perform),
collapse and take a lot of innocent people Elusive Target, Evasion, Fascinate (Linked
with it. But he doesn’t want it to be to Perform), Improved Defense, Skill
known as the suicidal act of a madman, Mastery (Concentrate, Craft [Structural],
either. People have to know, to Disable Device, Perform)
understand why he did it. Equipment: Costume with bulletproof
The Player Characters will have vest, (4 protection), gigantic backpack-
some difficult choices to make. If the mounted bomb (10 Damage, 50 foot
story does actually come out, the PCs will radius), Detonators, repair kit, gobs of
have made powerful enemies downtown. explosives.
It will also have gained them a temporary Complications: Mad as hell and
and unreliable ally in the person of Rona disinclined to take it any more. Has thew
Romita. If they manage to take Doctor worst case of bedhead you’ve ever
Vengeance into custody, he won’t live encountered.

365
The Serpent Room you need them, but don’t regard these as
There are number of ways that a GM can fixed in stone.
use the Serpent Room. You can make it a
mysterious portal to weird and loathsome Size: Gargantuan
dimensions, for which no explanation is ever Toughness: 5
found. Unpleasant things can come slither- Powers: Confusion 10, Dimensional Pocket
ing out of it. Supervillains can try to hijack 10, Obscure 10 (Visual, all visual senses,
it and use its power for sinister plans of works on Blindsight too), Teleport 12
their own. Player Characters can use it to (Power Feat: Dimensional; Extra: Portal),
sneak in through Hell’s back door. Time Control 10
Alternatively, you can present it as A Horrible Thing (Shuffling in From
an active menace that the PCs have to shut Beyond)
down before it contaminates the world or
lets some obscenity from beyond get in and
start conquering things. If that’s the case,
you’re going to need more of a back-story.
We have one below, presented courtesy of
John Polojac.
While most people enter the
Serpent Room through the Lurman Gallery,
there are a few other entrances and exits.
If you wander around its nooks and ante-
chambers long enough, you can find a por-
tal that leads into an upstairs closet in a
deserted house in the Country Club. Ano-
ther one leads to the thirtieth floor of the
Smirlock Building downtown (see Page 358.)
Another one leads to a shed in Lucius
Hardwick’s back yard. Another leads out of
a locker in the Bedlam Train Station (it’s PL: 8
easy to unlock from the inside.) Another Str: 26 (+8) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 26 (+8)
leads to the forlorn little pagoda on the Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
grounds of the Crawley Asylum (see Page Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 10
103)—although this portal is seldom open. Defense: 5
And for some reason, there is also an Toughness Save: 8 (5 Impervious)
opening leading to and from the most Fortitude Save: 8
cluttered-up and inaccessible corner of Fat Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 8
Planet Comics (See Page 156.)
Feats: Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
Brave and savvy Player Characters
Move-By Action, Power Attack
may come to use the Serpent Room as a
Powers: Additional Limbs 3 (5 additional
kind of secret highway, linking different
limbs), Immunity (Illusions, Invisibility,
areas of Bedlam together when they need to
Pressure, Suffocation), Impervious
get across town fast. But be warned—
Toughness 5, Super-Movement 3
portals that lead to all sorts of unsavory di-
(Permeate), Super-Senses 6 (Darkvision,
mensions are buried further back in the
Radius Vison [can see in 360 degrees]),
Serpent Room’s recesses, and every time
Super-Strength 4 (Maximum Lift: 12 Tons)
you venture into its depths there’s a chance
Complications: Loathly abomination from
you’ll meet with some horrible thing that has
beyond infinity
come shuffling in from the beyond.
Drawbacks: Disabled (Hideous, has no
Here are some stats for the room, if
manipulatory appendages)

366
A Back-Story and Adventure Seed great lashing tail. He became, in fact, the
(Suggested by John Polojac) very creature that Phipps had seen in his
Forrest Howling Phipps lay slumped in an vision.
opium daze, sprawled across one of G. Through the winding turns Phipps
Morgan Stark’s most expensive divans and ran, slipping and stumbling as the
the back of a girl whose name he could not implacable monster gained ground. Why
recall. He tried to remember if opium was did it wear a smoking jacket? There was no
all he had taken—had there been something time to wonder. The thing was upon him.
else? Something more exotic? Then the It seized him in its scaly paws. It ripped, it
vision slammed into his brain with the force rent, it hissed with fury. The agony was
of a thunderbolt. astonishing…
A terrible ophidian monster pursued The Serpent Room dreams uneasily.
him, through an endless maze that folded It doesn’t like the anomaly in its guts—the
back in on itself at impossible angles. The time-loop lurking at its core. If the Player
beast was a reptile that walked like a man. Characters get inside, they may be able to
A horror of scales and fangs. Yet its ghastly break the loop, going back in time to the
slitted eyes gleamed with a malice that was moment when it first started and saving
something worse than a mere predator’s Forrest Howling Phipps. The room itself
lust to devour. It hated him. Why would it may provide them with a passage back in
hate him? time to do this, and send them visions that
Through the winding turns Phipps explain what it needs.
ran, slipping and stumbling as the However, to go back they will first
implacable monster gained ground. Why have to get past G. Morgan Stark. These
did it wear a smoking jacket? There was no days he calls himself the Serpent King, and
time to wonder. The thing was upon him. he has no desire to be edited out of reality,
It seized him in its scaly paws. It ripped, it or turned back into a mere mortal with a
rent, it hissed with fury. The agony was bald patch and a bad back. Long years in
astonishing—wasn’t he supposed to wake the Serpent Room have made him terribly
before he died in a dream? And wake he formidable, and he will do his best to stop
did, to find his hair turned partly white and the PCs. And of course they’ll have to fight
the girl beneath him screaming. him again once they go into the past and try
He had seen the moment of his to keep Phipps out of his scaly clutches
death. In a panic, he set to work, building a (although he won’t be as tough here.)
room where the thing couldn’t find him— Meddling PCs ought to be warned,
with niches and corners and hiding places If they break the time loop without finding
outside of space and time itself. He had to some way to send Phipps the vision that
take more and more of that other drug made him create the Serpent Room in the
(what was it called? The Black Lotus?) to first place, they run the risk of editing it out
do it, had to make terrible deals with the of history altogether, and it will vanish with
Chinaman who supplied his needs, but at them inside. No one will remember that it
long last the Serpent Room was finally ever existed. If this happens they will need
complete. to be rescued, or to enter one of the other
But so was his doom. G. Morgan dimensions accessible through the room and
Stark returned from abroad to find his trust find their way home from there. Of course,
violated and his house a mess. In a blind most of them are the kinds of places that
fury he pursued Forrest Howling Phipps into you’d like even less than the Serpent Room
the depths of the Serpent Room, lashing at itself.
him with a buggy whip. And as he There is also a risk that the Serpent
blundered through the room’s weird deeps, King might rouse himself from his self-
its power and his anger began to distort satisfied reptilian torpor and start taking an
him, warp him into something less than interest in the world beyond his room, once
human—and more. He grew scales and the PCs get his attention.
fangs and monstrous rippling muscles and a

367
The Serpent King (Now) The Serpent King (Then)
PL: 10
Str: 28/14 (+9/+2) Dex: 14 (+2)
Con: 32/12 (+12/+1) Int: 14 (+2)
Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) Initiative: 2
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8
Toughness Save: 12 (8 Impervious)
Fortitude Save: 12 Reflexes Save: 8
Willpower Save: 5 (10 vs. mental attacks)
Skills: Intimidate 8 (+10), Knowledge
(Business) 8 (+10), Notice 6 (+6), Search 5
(+5), Sense Motive 6 (+6), Survival 5 (+5)
Feats: All-Out Attack, Diehard, Fearsome
Presence 5, Improved Grapple, Power
Attack, Track
Powers: Enhanced Constitution 20,
Enhanced Strength 14, Impervious
Toughness 8, Mind Shield 5, Strike 3 (total
hand-to-hand combat Damage: 12), Super-
Senses 1 (Low-Light Vision, Scent)

A Different Back-Story
PL: 15 No one in Society likes to discuss the details
Str: 40/14 (+15/+2) Dex: 14 (+2) of Doctor Phminster Lurman’s death. The
Con: 46/12 (+18/+1) Int: 14 (+2) truth of the matter is that he simply disap-
Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 18 (+4) Initiative: 2 peared one day, while sitting in the Serpent
Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8 Room. Some years later he was declared
Toughness Save: 18 (12 Impervious) dead, but to his family’s dismay, his found-
Fortitude Save: 15 Reflexes Save: 10 ation inherited all his money and used it to
Willpower Save: 6 (11 vs. mental attacks) preserve his shameful museum. His descen-
dants actually had to suffer the indignity of
Skills: Intimidate 10 (+14), Knowledge
making their own fortunes, and while they
(Arcane Lore) 8 (+10), Knowledge
did, they don’t like to talk about why. Very
(Business) 8 (+10), Notice 2 (+8), Search 3
few people in Bedlam know the real story.
(+9), Sense Motive 6 (+12), Survival 5
This is as he likes it. Doctor Lurman
(+11)
sits deep in the Serpent Room, his own
Feats: All-Out Attack, Diehard, Fearsome
death suspended as he floats outside of
Presence 8, Improved Grapple, Master Plan,
time. He can see the whole world up here,
Power Attack, Ritualist, Startle, Track
from the killing fields of Burma to the blood-
Powers: Enhanced Constitution 34,
soaked wastes of Darfur to the secret
Enhanced Strength 26, ESP 5 (Maximum
graves of Argentina to the glorious city of
Range: 5 miles), Impervious Toughness 12,
Bedlam. Mankind killing and killing in a
Mind Shield 5, Paralyze 15 (Flaws: can only
frenzy of wild mad joy, back to the dawn of
Slow a character, Limited Power [only works
time. It’s all so beautiful—it’s a whole new
while he is inside the Serpent Room]) Strike
level of pornography. But even this is be-
3 (total hand-to-hand combat Damage: 18),
ginning to lose its kick. He’s starting to
Super-Senses 2 (Dimensional Awareness,
wonder if he should start opening doors to
Low-Light Vision), Teleport 5 (Maximum
even more entertaining dimensions and let
Range: 5 miles; Power Feat: Dimensional;
the things that live there come scampering
Extra: Portal; Flaw: Only works when he is
through into our own reality.
physically present inside the Serpent Room)
Complications: Knows nothing about the
modern world

368
Doctor Lurman Filled with hatred for the entire
PL: 15 world, only one dim hope keeps him alive.
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 10 (+0) A long time ago, a little boy teased Gorgah
Int: 18 (+4) Wis: 22 (+6) Cha: 10 (+0) into such a violent rage that he threw a
Initiative: 0 or 60 (with Time Control) tantrum and beat his mate to death. She
Attack Bonus: 15 Defense: 15 was his first love, his only love, the only
Toughness Save: 9 (0 if caught thing in the entire hateful universe that he
Flatfooted) didn’t want to smash. And he killed her. He
Fortitude Save: 0 Reflexes Save: 0 was never quite sane after that. For
Willpower Save: 19 decades, he has waited to see that little boy
Skills: Intimidate 8 (+8), Knowledge again, but he has never come. When and if
(Arcane Lore) 8 (+12), Knowledge he does, Gorgah has plans for him. He’s
(Business) 3 (+7) Knowledge (Civics) 1 aware that the boy must be an adult by
(+5), Knowledge (Life Sciences) 3 (+7), now, but he’s sure he’d recognize him (and
Medicine 5 (+11), Notice 6 (+12), he’s right.) When next they meet, Gorgah
Profession (doctor) 5 (+9), Search 10 (+16) plans to yank the boy’s wife or child through
Feats: Defensive Roll 6, Dodge Focus 4, the bars, and then pull them apart as slowly
Elusive Target, Improved Initiative, Ritualist, and horribly as he can. Then perhaps he’ll
Uncanny Dodge give in to the impulse he has felt for so long
Powers: Deflect 17 (teleports away and beat himself to death against the walls
incoming attacks; he can deflect all Ranged of his cage.
Attacks, but not Mental Attacks; Extras: To complicate matters further, the
Action, Automatic, Ranged, Reflection, little boy is City Councilman Andy Czernik.
Redirection; Flaw: Limited Power [Only Traumatized by the sight of Gorgah bashing
works inside the Serpent Room]), his mate to death, he has always avoided
Disintegration 12 (Extra: Reversible), ESP 15 the zoo since that day. But if for some
(Senses: Visual and Auditory; Maximum reason he had to attend a political event or
Range: Anywhere in the Solar System; fundraiser at the zoo, Gorgah might come
Power Feat: Dimensional; Flaw: Limited face-to-face with his nemesis at last. In the
Power [can only use while he’s in the meant time, there are plenty of other plots
Serpent Room]), Summon 15, Super-Senses you can use Gorgah for.
(Can keep open small spatial portals to see
behind him; Effect: Radius Vision), Teleport The Office of Tax Assessment
5 (Maximum Range: 5 miles; Power Feats: Journalists who track Bedlam’s corruption
Dimensional, Change Direction, Change tend to assume that this office is a dumping
Velocity, Easy, Turnabout; Extras: Accurate, ground for incompetent friends and relatives
Portal; Flaw: limited [can only be used if he of the Czernik Machine. A place where any
is inside the Serpent Room]), Time Control lazy idiot or ne’er-do-well can draw a
15 (Alternate Powers: Paralyze [Extra: paycheck in exchange for their family’s
Ranged], Stun, Super-Senses [Precognition, loyalty. But in fact something far more
Postcognition]; Flaw: Only works within the sinister is going on here. The office’s
confines of the Serpent Room) Operation Manger, Ginny Pusey (Gladys
Tork’s second-in-command) has been
Gorgah the Lady-Killer approving fraudulent tax-refund checks to
This psychotic 900 pound gorilla has been shell businesses that are owned on paper by
one of the Bedlam Zoo’s biggest attractions her relatives. The money then gets
for years. People love to taunt him, for he transferred out of those accounts into the
goes into spectacular rages. Old, bitter and hands of dubious parties across the city.
dangerously disturbed, he’s much more Over the past ten years they have stolen
aggressive than any normal gorilla. He’s close to thirty million dollars. It’s the single
also much larger, weighing in at a largest crooked deal the city has going and
spectacular 900 pounds. the Bedlam Mafia’s largest single source of
funds.

369
 The scam itself is surprisingly sim- Gladys Tork
ple. One of Ginny Pusey’s assistants, PL: 1
Roberta Starkey or Dolly Boyle (both of Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 14 (+2)
whom are her cousins) sets up a fake com- Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 8 (-1) Cha: 14 (+2)
pany in the name of one of their relatives. Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 0
Then they issue a tax refund check directly Defense: 0 Toughness Save: 2
to the fake company’s account. One or the Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 1
other of them walks it down to the bank in Willpower Save: -1
person and deposits it, so there is no record Skills: Drive 1 (+2), Intimidate 2 (+4),
of a wire transfer. Then they pull the Knowledge (Civics) 1 (+1), Profession
money out of the dummy corporation’s (administrative worker) 4 (+4), Stealth 1
account and send it wherever the Czernik (+2)
Machine and the Scarpia crime family need Feats: All-Out Attack, Connected, Contacts,
it sent. Rage
The phony corporations are ex- Background: A long time ago, back in high
tremely flimsy. They haven’t bothered to school, Gladys Tork got bullied into be-
register or incorporate any of them. Nor coming a kind of “girlfriend at large” for the
have they written up any tax paperwork for Stark Hill street gang called the Coronets.
them (tax returns, etc.) They just issue the She still bears a lot of physical and emo-
checks. Any detailed search of their offices tional scars from the years she spent with
by someone looking for documentation on them—perhaps a little brain damage, too.
the phony companies will quickly reveal that Sometimes she’s not completely coherent
there isn’t any. In fact one suspicious bank and is unsure what’s going on around her.
manager or even a teller could upset the City Councilman “Big Andy” Czernik
whole scheme. was a member of the Coronets in those days
Amazingly, in ten years only one and he’s always tried to look out for Gladys
bank manager has ever questioned the in the years since. He got her the job as the
transactions, and Dolly Boyle swiftly intimi- head of this office. She’s far too addled and
dated her into backing down. If someone out-of-it to follow what’s really going on.
does start asking awkward questions, and She’s prone to outbursts of anger and
doesn’t get shouted into submission on the weeping as well as sloppy, overly generous
spot, their life will be in danger. attacks of sentimentality. No one in the
Only Ginny Pusey, her family, a office likes her at all, which will make it
network of ten or so other office workers easier to make her the scapegoat when the
and the highest-ranking members of the scam finally gets revealed. Big Andy will
Czernik machine know about this scheme. feel bad about having her sent off to prison,
If a PC manages to expose it, Andy Czernik but then again he already feels a lot of
will suffer a serious blow. regret about having done far worse things
Ginny Pusey has never signed any to her as a teenager, and he survived that,
of the checks herself, but she’s coordinating too.
the whole scheme right under Gladys Tork’s She lives in a big, untidy house in
nose. Poor Ms. Tork is far too lost in her the Stone Ridge gated community with her
own emotional problems to pay much mother, who takes care of her when she’s
attention to what’s happening in the office too crazy to go in to work.
around her. This will make her a good
scapegoat if the scam ever gets exposed
and the forces that rule Bedlam need to
throw someone to the wolves.

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Ginny Pusey spends on the street, he can’t possibly have
PL: 3 been involved in all the cases where he’s
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 10 (+0) giving testimony.
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 12 (+1) For as the Bedlam Police have
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 0 discovered, Johnny Valentine is a chronic,
Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 0 pathological liar. He’ll say anything about
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2 anyone they tell him to, and say it convin-
Willpower Save: 5 cingly. He has no PhD, has completed none
Skills: Bluff 6 (+7), Computers 4 (+6), of the advanced coursework in Law and
Concentrate 2 (+5), Diplomacy 3 (+4), Criminal Justice that he claims. His false
Gather Information 4 (+5), Intimidate 6 testimony has sent a great many innocent
(+7), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+6), Notice 5 people to prison—and a great many guilty
(+8), Profession (administrative worker) 6 ones, too.
(+8), Sense Motive 4 (+7), Sleight of Hand If you get to know Johnny, you’ll
3 (+5), Search 3 (+6), Stealth 3 (+5) find that he’s a big silly kid at heart, eager
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Skill Mastery for attention and desperate to please, con-
(Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, stantly making up stories and anecdotes as
Intimidate) they occur to him. He likes superheroes a
Background: Virginia “Ginny” Pusey has lot and would love to attach himself to one,
taken crap about her name all her life, and it helping them crack cases, testifying for
has made her a sour, vindictive person. She them in court, going on adventures with
knew Gladys Tork in high school, but didn’t them if he can. He’s too shallow to experi-
hang out with the same crowd. Ginny was a ence a lot of fear and he can talk his way
social outcast because of her awful name into or out of nearly anything. But you still
and never got to hang out with ther popular wouldn’t want him on your side. Johnny
kids (of course, Gladys wound up being a can’t keep his lies up forever. Eventually
little too popular, but Ginny still resents her he’s going to get caught and every case
for it.) where he’s ever testified will get called into
Small, sharp-featured and beady- question. This means that if the PCs have
eyed, she affects a completely false and ever relied on him to help put criminals
exaggerated friendliness which puts most away, they are all going to be back on the
people off. If vexed or thwarted, she keeps street at once.
her horrible death-rictus smile in place and At the DA’s office they are only half
begins to plot revenge. She’s capable of aware of Johnny’s problem with lying. They
murder, although she has never done it, yet. know he’ll say anything they tell him to on
Once her back is to the wall, who knows? the witness stand, true or not. But they
She presently lives with her hus- aren’t aware that his academic credentials
band and sons in the old neighborhood in are fake, and this could unexpectedly
Stark Hill. Her spouse and boys are scared jeopardize everything. If some reporter or
to death of her. defense attorney thinks to probe too deeply
into his background, they may expose him
Detective Johnny Valentine before the DA has time for a cover-up, and
It would be easy for the PCs to come to rely send the whole house of cards tumbling
on friendly, helpful Detective Valentine. down. Frankly, it’s amazing that no one has
That would be a grave mistake. If you already.
examine his court records, a disturbing Telepathic PCs may catch on to
pattern emerges almost immediately. Johnny pretty quick. Anyone else might try
Valentine is so good at giving testimony, so visiting him at home. His wife is a tall
persuasive and poised on the witness stand, beautiful woman who is as vain and selfish
that the city keeps him in court constantly. and shallow as Johnny himself. His oldest
He barely has time for any detective work. daughter, Lenore, is much the same. But
In fact, considering just how many cases he the twins, Chauntel and Chauntay, regard
given evidence in and how little time he their dad with total eye-rolling contempt and

371
will gladly tell anyone who visits about how him if he were in mortal danger, but then
he’s always telling stories. again he might not. And he’s entirely
mortal, these days. If he dies, he dies, and
The DA’s Office he takes all his creations with him.
Assistant DA Ronnie Hagstrom has a sinister He’s edited his own life pretty
secret lurking in his past. In college, he and thoroughly, but in what other ways has he
his fraternity brothers got so drunk they changed reality? If the GM likes the idea,
gang-raped some nerdy guy who was perhaps the world we know is a second
walking home late. The nerd killed himself draft. Perhaps Dave Odnarski actually tried
shortly thereafter, so Hagstrom doesn’t have to use his powers, had all kinds of
to worry about him talking. But the adventures, made terrible mistakes and
possibility that one of the other frat boys thoroughly goofed-up the world. Desperate
might have an attack of conscience still to undo the damage and guilty about the
worries him. For that reason, he keeps awful things he had done, he frantically
careful track of his college buddies. If one wished he had never discovered his powers,
of them gets really depressed he might just that he had instead become some carefree
send Detective Slope around to kill them. nobody, of no consequence to anyone,
And that could set off a scandal that would powerless and happy. And so it was. Every
make the Kim Casteel matter look trivial. change he made to reality unknitted itself
and he became Dave the Filthy Beast with
Dave “The Filthy Beast” Odnarski Your Morning Zoo.
Unbeknownst to himself, Dave Odnarski is Or not. The GM can reject this if it
one of the most powerful psychics ever to would complicate the back-story of their
walk the face of the earth. He’s strong game world too much.
enough to warp reality completely, and he’s Do the PCs have any chance of
so terrified of this fact that he has buried it finding out about Dave? This too is up to
in his unconscious. He will never, ever use the GM. It can be inconvenient for your PCs
the power willingly. In fact he doesn’t know to have an omnipotent ally. If they have
how, doesn’t even remember that he has it. powers like Telepathy, Mind-Control or the
But sometimes it leaks out, and creates ability to transform other characters they
things from the deep recesses of his brain. may decide to forcibly remove his mental
This power to unconsciously re-edit blocks and put him in touch with his true
reality is a total plot device. You couldn’t self. If they are cunning enough to do this,
convincingly simulate it in game terms—for and you don’t want to have to deal with the
one thing it has no limits. Dave can build consequences, then the moment Dave is
whole new universes with his mind. In fact remade he remakes himself again. Either
he may have built this one. He created the he undoes everything, goes back to being
angel with fifty eyes that came to Captain plain old Dave and the PCs remember
Violent and Doctor Stupid and granted them nothing (although their Players certainly
their powers (see Pages 334-336.) He will) or he turns into a glowing humanoid
created Doctor Boogie (see Pages 353 and shape, too bright to look at directly, cries “I
391.) He made Master-Bot (see Page 350.) see Everything! I Am Everything! I Am…
Unless of course you decide that someone the Infinite Man!” And vanishes forever,
else did. If he were ever to die, all of his transcending this feeble little reality and
creations would vanish or lose their powers. becoming something utterly beyond it.
His creations seem totally real, If the GM wants the PCs to stumble
because they are. He has re-edited reality over Dave’s true nature, here is a clue they
to include them. Nor does he read positive might find. If they travel back in time to
for superpowers himself. He has edited before 1992, Dave doesn’t exist. His birth
them out of the world. He can’t even use and tax records appear, fully formed and
them to defend himself. If the GM wants, completely real, in February of 1992.
Dave might unconsciously summon up some
weird thing from his unconscious to protect

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The Calabria Workingmen’s families, so they gave up their daughters
Benevolent Association to appease him. The remaining girls
This social club has done a lot of good for decided to avenge themselves and their
Bedlam’s Italian-Americans over the years. departed sisters by either summoning a
As the name implies, they limit their whopping great monster to devour
membership to Calabrians—Sicilians are Bedlam, or conjuring up some kind of
not welcome in their ranks and neither are slow, creeping malaise to rot the city out
northern Italians. Yet they have worked from the inside. In either case this was a
to benefit the whole community and not long-term plan, and the original members
just their own members. of the Sisterhood didn’t expect to live to
The club is exactly what it claims see it come to fruition.
to be, and isn’t a front for anything. They If the plan was to slowly poison
have assiduously kept the Mafia out of Bedlam with some kind of supernatural
their ranks, for fear that they would loot corruption, then it may actually have been
the Association’s finances. For their part, happening since 1951. If the plan was to
most of Bedlam’s Mafisosi respect the summon a city-destroying monstrosity,
Association and the good work it’s done then the monster may arrive any day now.
on behalf of the whole community and In either case, the members of the
they leave it alone. Sisterhood are all long dead.
Alternatively, there may be a few left,
Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars doddering on into their nineties, or they
may have continued to recruit new
members from the daughters of Bedlam’s
most distinguished families, looking for
smart, responsible girls who hate the city
of Bedlam with the right level of maniacal
passion.
If the Sisterhood are still around
then it might be possible to foil their plot.
If they’re slowly killing the city with some
kind of sinister rituals then you could stop
them. This shouldn’t be difficult. None of
A long, long time ago, a terrible thing them have any superhuman powers apart
happened to the students at the Bedlam from the feat “ritualist” and a lot of
Ladies’ Academy and the school closed for Arcane Lore. If they are gearing up for a
good. The girls who survived determined big single incantation that will doom
to have their revenge. It took them Bedlam all in one fell swoop, then they’re
thirty-two years, and a lot of terrible probably contemplating some kind of
bargains, but by 1951 they had at last group suicide to consecrate the ritual—
found the occult power to accomplish it. saving the life of even one of them may
The exact nature of their plan is be enough to ruin the whole thing.
up to the GM, as is the sisterhood’s Really diabolical GMs may decide
current status. The girls of their school to mislead the PCs into thinking that the
were offered up as a sacrifice to the ghost Sisterhood is still an active organization,
of Zebediah Scarlett, Bedlam’s dubious still scheming to bring about Bedlam’s
founder, in exchange for not destroying downfall. Let the PCs learn that they plan
the city. In fact he wouldn’t and couldn’t to consecrate the ritual with some kind of
have destroyed the city itself (see Page mass suicide, but then let them discover
306) but he might have wreaked havoc on that it already happened, decades ago.
Bedlam’s oldest and most distinguished If they are all dead and the plot is
underway, then there may be little the

373
Player Characters can do to stop it. But if They are planning a huge and terrible
the plan was to conjure up a city- ritual to bring something called the Queen
devouring entity, then at least the PCs of Skulls into the world. Eudora is
may be able to defeat it once it arrives. terrified. She’s a member, recruited by
We have provided you with an example of her older sister Alberta, but even though
the kind of monster the Sisterhood might she hates Bedlam as much as anyone she
have tried to invoke. We have called her finds this plan enormously frightening—
“The Queen of Skulls” and you can find and not the least because she thinks the
her description and stat block on Page sisters are all going to kill themselves at
310. the ritual’s climax. Eudora doesn’t know
If you decide to use the Queen of when or where it will happen, but she
Skulls, then she is already alive and living thinks it will be on the grounds of the
in Bedlam—she just isn’t a supervillain school. The Queen of Skulls has already
yet. We have a number of different been born, she says, it’s just a matter of
options for who the Queen of Skulls could waking her up.
turn out to be. You don’t have to pick one The PCs subsequently discover
until it’s dramatically appropriate. The that the school has not actually been torn
important thing to remember is that she down in the years since it closed. In fact,
doesn’t yet have any idea who or what it’s become the Harwood Crawley State
she really is, and is trying to live her life Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where
normally, without a hint of the terrible all kinds of weird and terrible things have
things yet to come been happening for the past seventy
The adventure seeds below are years or so.
not consistent with each other. In each Meanwhile the Crawley’s Asylum’s
one the GM has made completely different troubled, brilliant young Director, Ramona
choices about what the Sisterhood is Blackmore (see Page 105) has been
planning and how the PCs might stop getting more and more obsessed with her
them. I hope they illustrate the range of hospital’s mysterious past. She thinks
possible options. she’s on the verge of uncovering some
huge and terrible mystery here—and she’s
An Adventure With the Sisterhood of more right than she knows. If the PCs
the Screaming Stars: Bedlam is don’t come to her looking for help, she
Dead, Long Live the Queen comes to them. She’s been getting thin
Over the course of other adventures, the and strange, neglecting her duties and
Player Characters come to learn a little of spending time talking to incurable
Bedlam’s awful secret history. As they maniacs, but she’s still coherent enough
find out more and more about the to help them. Together, the PCs and
Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars and its Doctor Blackmore go over the Asylum’s
terrible plans for the city, a girl starts architectural records and find a secret
appearing to them and offering them room under the old library. This matches
clues. She appears to be about fourteen, the description Eudora gave them of the
or maybe just a little younger. Strange, place where the ritual will be performed.
sober and grave, she never smiles. She It has to be performed in an octagonal
says her name is Eudora, if anyone asks. room.
Eudora sometimes appears As soon as they go looking for the
without warning and gives the PCs some secret chamber, all hell breaks loose in
critical bit of information that will help the Asylum. The power goes out and the
them out of a jam. Sometimes she patients go berserk, screaming and
appears in person and sometimes she battering themselves against the walls of
turns up in their dreams. She also starts their cells. Some of them get loose and
telling them things about the Sisterhood. go rampaging down the halls. One of

374
them is Capricorn, Bedlam’s most smile. Something looks wrong with her
notorious serial killer (see Pages 303 and smile, actually. It’s kind of unnerving. “I
390.) He hasn’t said a word or responded remember who I am!” And the Queen of
to any kind of stimulus since he arrived Skulls is born.
here years ago, but he’s certainly spry Here let us leave our poor
enough now. He’ll try very hard to kill Dr. unfortunate Player Characters. You really
Blackmore before the PCs can get her to don’t want to see what happens next. Or,
the room. if you do, go the adventure “Doom Comes
Reports come in over the intercom to Bedlam” on Page 311.
that security staff have seen an
unidentified, unauthorized group of Another Adventure: The Stars Are
women enter the grounds (although this Screaming
never comes out on videotape.) The Ratcatcher (see Page 292 to find out
To add an extra-strange touch, more about this living incarnation of
just before Capricorn attacks you might let Bedlam) sees something coming—
one of the PCs make a Notice Check vs. something that will reduce his city to rub-
DC 20. If they succeed, they have noticed ble. Unable to cope with this terrible
that Dr. Blackmore’s voice sounds a lot vision, he has lapsed into an alcoholic
like Leonora X, the mysterious late-night stupor, and then delirium tremens. As he
DJ on AM 1300 (“Your Lucky Thirteen.”) suffers and sweats through the sickness
If they ask her about this, she frowns and and hallucinations, the city begins to
says “Oh, that.” She explains that she convulse. Power systems flicker errati-
does it as a hobby—she actually records cally, in disturbing patterns. Vermin come
the tapes in her office and mails them into scuttling up from the sewers, making
the station. She just says whatever pops patterns that spell out frantic, incompre-
into her head—it’s like a kind of therapy. hensible messages. Street psychotics
PCs who know Leonora X’s reputation for chant ominous scraps of Shakespeare and
sending coded messages to the gangs Baudelaire.
about current events on the street may After the Player Characters have
find this explanation very strange, but it’s seen a few of these weird signs and
true (unless of course you have decided portents, a deformed pigeon comes to
that somebody else is Leonora X.) In any them. Fluttering crookedly with its
case Capricorn attacks them at this very malformed wings, it tries to lead the PCs
moment, leaving no time to pursue the to the Ratcatcher’s sickbed. The PCs
matter. must overcome Woodchuck Man’s
When the PCs and Dr. Blackmore suspicions (see Page 290), help keep Grim
reach the secret room, Eudora and the Diddle from getting loose (see Page 293),
Sisterhood of the Screaming Stars are and interpret the critical clues that the
waiting for them. The Sisterhood are all Ratcatcher gives them in his raving
dead. Their bones have been gathering delirium.
dust in this room for more than fifty years. Meanwhile, on a rooftop high
They lie sprawled in a circle, holding above the city, the Sisterhood of the
hands. One of them wears the very same Screaming Stars nears the completion of
tortoiseshell barrette as Eudora. their work. It has taken them more than
“You’re late.” Eudora says eighty years to create this moment, and
gravely. “Why didn’t you save me?” Then now within a day they will draw down
she fades away forever. destruction on the city. For the stars have
But the PCs suddenly have other aligned and the rituals have been
things to worry about. performed and the coming of the
“I remember!” Doctor Blackmore Unthinkable One is at hand!
says. It’s the first time they’ve seen her

375
 The Unthinkable One kills cities, There are about twelve younger
but it doesn’t just munch them up like members, ranging in age from seventy to
Godzilla—it rots them from within, kills sixteen—all of them morbid, shy women
their soul, invisibly wrecks their economy from the city’s best families.
and fragments their populace. Over the When the ritual reaches its climax,
next few years Bedlam will fall to wrack all seventeen cultists will jump off the top
and ruin, with the invisible miasma of the of the building, trusted nurses shoving the
Unthinkable One hanging over it all. older members’ wheelchairs over the side.
It will begin with the death of the None of them will ever hit the ground, or
Ratcatcher (from alcohol poisoning.) No ever be seen again.
arch-derelict will rise to replace him and Breaking up the ritual or
the city’s screams will go unheard, preventing the mass suicide will
unsoothed by drink. permanently foil the Sisterhood’s efforts,
The Sisterhood conducts its rites and gain the players their enmity. A lot of
on top of a bizarre-looking art deco these ladies have the money and power
skyscraper called the Smirlock Building required to do the Player Characters some
(see Pages 22 and 358.) It looks like the serious damage. But a wave of
work of a madman, and it is. depression and suicide decimates their
The strange, non-Euclidian ranks not long after the PCs stop them,
designs on the roof serve as a focusing limiting their ability to strike back.
lens for unwholesome energies, and the The Ratcatcher recovers, and the
building has been the site of a surprising city lumbers on its way.
number of bizarre deaths and weird
disappearances. In fact anyone who lives
there for any length of time starts to
develop odd compulsions and neurotic
habits, which they practice in secret.
None of the PCs have ever been inside.
All five of the ranking members of
the Sisterhood are wealthy society
doyennes in their eighties or nineties.
Four of them are confined to wheelchairs.

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Mr. Nobody Feats: Assessment, Defensive Roll 1
Here he is, the most successful burglar in Complications: Addicted to cocaine
Bedlam’s history. He doesn’t know that he’s Background: Wilmer Zaragoza always
the number one thief in the city, nor does wanted to be a construction worker, like his
he realize that people call him “Mr. Nobody.” dad. Wilmer Senior was the owner of a
If he found out either one of these things, small but successful building firm. His son
he’d be both embarrassed and proud. loved hanging around on his work-sites and
doing projects with him around the house.
Wilmer Zaragoza, Jr., a.k.a. “Mister In high school, Wilmer Junior
Nobody” started running around with a party crowd
and picked up a coke habit. His erratic
behavior and drug problem pretty well
alienated his old man. His mom is the only
person in the family who still talks to him.
So instead of joining his dad’s company, he
has worked in all-night copy shops ever
since he dropped out of community college.
Every shop he’s ever worked in has been
located on the ground floor of one or
another of the skyscrapers downtown—and
this fact led him directly into a life of crime.
He enjoys working in a copy shop.
Like a lot of coke addicts, he’s a fiend for
order, precision, and organization. He loves
doing really complicated, challenging copy
jobs (with tabs, and cross-referencing and
color coded pages and multiple types of
report covers and so forth) especially while
he’s high.
When he can’t buy coke, he gets
pretty depressed, and his job doesn’t bring
in enough money to support his habit. One
night, he got to thinking about the remodel-
ing that some construction firm was doing
up on the thirtieth floor. He had helped his
dad on a lot of jobs like that. The walls they
were installing up there were probably
PL: 3 nothing more than big sheets of drywall on
Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 12 (+1) a lath frame. More like the illusion of a wall
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1) than an actual barrier to anything. His dad
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 3 used to hate those cheap jobs and to
Defense: 3 Toughness Save: 3 (1 if complain that you could rip drywall open
caught Flatfooted) with a claw-head hammer—hell, you could
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 4 dig through it with your bare hands. You
Willpower Save: 2 might as well make walls out of cardboard.
Skills: Bluff 8 (+9), Climb 2 (+4), Craft That night Wilmer went up there,
(Mechanical) 2 (+3), Craft (Structural) 4 ripped his way through one of the brand-
(+5), Diplomacy 5 (+6), Drive 1 (+3), new walls and stole a stack of laptops. He’s
Knowledge (Popular Culture) 3 (+4), been pulling the same trick every week
Knowledge (Streetwise) 3 (+4), Notice 7 since. Sometimes twice a week, or more.
(+9), Profession (construction worker) 3 He normally carries a small claw-head ham-
(+4), Profession (copy shop clerk) 6 (+7), mer in his pocket, or a drywall cutting tool,
Sense Motive 6 (+8), Stealth 3 (+5)

377
but sometimes he just burrows through the Raymond Biggs, aka “Torchy”
wall with his hands. PL: 2
It’s all been incredibly easy. Every Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2)
office in the city has a silent alarm on the Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1)
door. But he doesn’t go through the door, Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 0
so no alarm ever rings. Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 2
Having worked late nights in a lot of Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
office buildings, Wilmer has become Willpower Save: 0
acquainted with quite a few security guards, Skills: Bluff 7 (+8), Craft (Structural) 3
and he’s learned that the ones who work for (+5), Diplomacy 7 (+8), Gather Information
Maximum Safeguard are almost all trying to 4 (+5), Notice 7 (+9), Profession (fry cook)
hide the fact they don’t speak English. Not 4 (+6), Sense Motive 3 (+5), Stealth 4 (+6)
one of them will challenge somebody who Feats: Fearless, Second Chance (failed rolls
looks like an office worker who’s here to put to notice danger)
in some late-night overtime. Nor do they Complications: Outwardly serene, always
usually pay much attention to the cameras. pleasant
On the rare occasions when he has Background: Sometimes little men can
run into people who really are working late, cast a long shadow. Torchy the Firebug has
it’s always been easy to bluff his way past been terrorizing Bedlam for years, but he’s
them. He looks like an office worker. And so completely unlike the towering figure of
he’s got an easy line of banter. menace most people imagine that no one
No one has ever come close to has ever once suspected his real identity.
catching him. The robbery squad has his People say he must be a supervillain, or a
fingerprints from a dozen or so crime fireman or a white-supremacist on a hate
scenes, but they don’t match anything in crusade to depopulate Wolverton. They’re
any of the national databases. He has never all wrong.
been arrested. Wilmer’s friendly grin has Raymond Biggs is a polite, cheerful,
served him well in more than one tight spot. middle-aged black man from Wolverton.
Although his apartment is on the edge of Short and rotund, he lives alone and has no
Hardwick Park, he’s not really from that close friends, but he says hello to his
community and he only barely speaks neighbors every day and he remembers all
Spanish. their birthdays and anniversaries. He
There are coke dealers who actually doesn’t look like an angry guy. In fact he’s
get annoyed with him for bringing them so almost unnaturally calm. He doesn’t feel
much stolen merchandise. But none of like an angry guy, either, and doesn’t really
them have ever figured out than he’s Mr. understand why he does the things that
Nobody. Most dealers have never even make him different. That’s because his
heard the name—they don’t pay that much anger is so deep that he’d be unable to bear
attention to the news. Nor does Wilmer its heat if he were to face the flames head-
himself. on.
There is little in his background to
Torchy the Firebug explain his obsession with fire and death.
Bedlam’s most prolific arsonist has been on The youngest child of a huge, sprawling
a rampage for more than ten years, but he’s family, he didn’t get much affection from his
been setting fires a lot longer. It’s the way harried parents, but wasn’t cruelly abused,
he lets off stress and within the past decade either. He was always obsessively clean and
his life has become very stressful. Here are tidy, and prone to strange compulsions.
his stats and background information. Most He set his first fires in his teens,
people would be surprised to learn who he burning down a few places around the
really is. neighborhood where he liked to hang out.
He had no particular reason for selecting
those places. He just thought about them a
lot, because they were the shops and diners

378
where he spent time after school. It never For the past decade and a half,
entered into his thinking that he couldn’t Raymond has worked at the Wunder-Chuck
hang out there anymore if he burned them on Larchmont Avenue in Wolverton. His
up. work station is incredibly clean and well-
For the rest of his life, whenever organized and all his co-workers like him.
Raymond has felt a lot of pent-up stress he No one there works harder, complains less
has set fires to relieve it. Over the years or understands their system better. But
he’s developed a simple, effective while he takes enormous pride in being a
technique. He wakes up and goes out good fry cook, the job is incredibly stressful.
around three in the morning. No one is on Long hours, hellish working conditions, with
the street, so no one sees him. He finds a a tiny paycheck at the end of it all. And
place that has caught his attention during although everyone at his restaurant knows
the day, and sets a plastic bottle full of he’s a superb cook, no one else thinks fast
gasoline in front of its exit. The bottle’s food even counts as a real job. His family is
neck is stuffed with a cloth wick, usually especially dismissive about it. These days
torn from old clothes that he buys at Good- the stress is so bad that he goes out looking
will. Because gasoline itself doesn’t burn for trouble more than once a week.
(it’s the vapors that burn) the gas won’t Any PC who can catch him will be
ignite until the wick melts the plastic bottle instantly famous in Bedlam. However, it’s
and it spills (letting the vapor out.) This going to be very difficult to make any
built-in timing mechanism lets him get out charges against him stick. Most of the
of the vicinity before the blaze starts. evidence of his crimes burns up at the scene
Sometimes he’ll come back to and there are never any witnesses. That’s
watch, but only after the fire engines are why the police haven’t caught him yet. To
already at the scene and a crowd has find him the Player Characters will probably
already gathered. He has twice participated have to use psychic or magical means, and
in rescuing people from buildings that he set these techniques aren’t usually admissible in
on fire and found the experience very court. And now of course they will have
exciting. caught Raymond’s attention themselves…
What makes him select a particular
target? It’s the people who live there, The Cannon
usually. If he sees a happy family sitting Pickpockets are the neurosurgeons of the
down to dinner or sees a guy who looks underworld. It's nearly impossible for a
interesting and successful or who has an detective to catch a really skilled one in the
intriguing walk, he’ll notice them and start act. The crime itself happens in less than a
thinking about them. And you don’t want second, concealed, in a crowd. Not every-
him to start thinking about you, because he one can master the craft, but if you do,
sets fires at the places that catch his you're a ghost. Only bad luck can trip you
interest. up. And if you do get caught, it's highly
He’s completely unaware of the fact unlikely that a Prosecutor’s office will want
that he feels jealousy and rage toward hap- to waste its resources nailing your hide to
py families or successful guys with inter- the wall. Even if they do have some reason
esting walks. In fact he doesn’t grasp why to make an example out of you (if for in-
it’s so satisfying to set their homes on fire. stance you accidentally picked the pocket of
Pretty girls set him off, too. And so do cute someone really important) they can never
kids. justify holding you without bail—you've
Ray may not understand his own committed a non-violent crime and you
motives for setting stuff on fire, but Doctor probably don't have any prior convictions.
Scorch does. Although he’s locked away in So you pay your bail and you vanish to
the Crawley Asylum, this supervillain would some other town.
be happy to help the PCs catch Torchy, A good pickpocket is known to his
offering his own (eerily accurate) insights fellows as a pistol. Rufus Dayne is a
into Torchy’s mind. cannon. One of the best pickpockets in the

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country, he makes close to a million dollars Background: One of the most skilled
a year and has no criminal record at all. He professional thieves operating in America
has homes all around the country and today, Rufus looks totally unremarkable. A
spends a little time in each one, never quiet African-American guy in late middle
sticking around long enough for any age, he's small and skinny with a long face
undercover detectives to get to know his and a shaven head. He likes to wear white
face. suits and fedoras at home and on the town,
Even the Bedlam Mafia doesn’t but when he's at work he dresses in
know much about him. He pays a share of whatever clothes would make him blend in
the money he steals in Bedlam to Rock best.
Johnson through a crooked lawyer who While he seems quiet, watchful and
never sees him in person. The Mob knows a little shy, he actually has kind of a big ego
there's a cannon who visits Bedlam from and loves to taunt the police. If he thinks
time to time, but not his name, face or there is a police detective who is catching
address. on to him, he'll leave town immediately, but
He maintains a house on the he might not be able to resist calling them
outskirts of the Meadows—a brand-new up from another state to chat about how
bungalow with beautifully painted interior close they did or didn’t come to catching
walls and almost no furniture. He bivouacs him. He once called a reporter who had
there with his team of five apprentices, who written a story about pickpockets to discuss
are also his de-facto wives. All of these his trade with her, to explain what she did
ladies are between the ages of thirty and and did not get right in the article. He
fifty, and look carefully nondescript. If one never sounds cocky when he does this—just
of them gets busted (which almost never friendly and cordial.
happens) he posts bail and all six of them Rufus learned his trade from his
skip town for a while. Here are some stats mother, who was a skilled pickpocket and
for Rufus and his girls. sneak-thief in Atlanta. She was a real pistol,
but she never even approached her son's
Rufus Dayne prodigious level of talent. She may have
PL: 8 been a career criminal, but she was a good,
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 12 (+1) attentive mother and took excellent care of
Int: 16 (+3) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1) Rufus. Retired now, she lives in a house he
Initiative: 7 Attack Bonus: 4 bought for her in North Georgia.
Defense: 10 Toughness Save: 6 (1 if While he's a cautious, patient guy,
caught Flatfooted) averse to taking needless risks, Rufus
Fortitude Save: 1 Reflexes Save: 9 worries that he might not be capable of
Willpower Save: 8 actually murdering someone to protect his
Skills: Bluff 11 (+12), Diplomacy 6 (+7), secrets. In his world, this is a serious
Disable Device 5 (+8), Escape Artist 8 failing. His mom raised him a little too well,
(+11), Gather Information 5 (+6), he fears.
Knowledge (Business) 1 (+4), Knowledge He has tried not to father any
(Streetwise) 5 (+8), Notice 11 (+13), unwanted kids, since he's too focused on
Perform (Acting) 6 (+7), Profession (thief) practicing his art to be a good dad, but to
12 (+15), Search 12 (+14), Sense Motive 7 his chagrin he has two illegitimate children
(+9), Sleight of Hand 13 (+16), Stealth 8 by different former apprentices and he
(+11) diligently sends money to support them.
Feats: Assessment, Defensive Roll 5, Any cop, vigilante or superhero who
Distract (linked to Bluff), Elusive Target, manages to lock up Rufus Dayne will earn a
Evasion, Hide in Plain Sight, Improved special degree of fear and respect in the
Initiative, Leadership, Master Plan, Second criminal underworld. Robbery detectives are
Chance (Failed Sleight of Hand checks), Skill also keenly aware of how hard it is to catch
Mastery (Bluff, Escape Artist, Sleight of a really good pickpocket, and they will treat
Hand, Stealth) anyone who can do it with deference.

380
Rufus Dayne’s Girls vengeful ghost from returning to destroy
PL: 5 them (see the Bedlam Timeline on Page 24
Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 10 (+0) for more information about the shameful
Int: 14 (+2) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 12 (+1) role that Reverend Scarlett and the
Initiative: 6 Attack Bonus: 2 Hardwicks played in the city’s early history.)
Defense: 5 Toughness Save: 0 He’s come close on a couple of occasions
Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 5 and they’ve had to take some pretty drastic
Willpower Save: 5 measures to prevent it.
Skills: Bluff 8 (+9), Diplomacy 6 (+7), For many years, Lucius Hardwick
Disable Device 5 (+7), Escape Artist 4 (+6), has been trying to find a way to thwart
Gather Information 5 (+6), Knowledge Scarlett’s return, or placate him if there’s no
(Streetwise) 5 (+7), Notice 9 (+11), way to stop him from coming back. Mr.
Perform (Acting) 6 (+7), Profession (thief) 5 Hardwick has a small but powerful network
(+7), Search 10 (+12), Sense Motive 6 of supporters among the city’s oldest fami-
(+8), Sleight of Hand 10 (+12), Stealth 6 lies (the Penningtons, the Smirlocks and
(+8) others) who he can call upon to help him, or
Feats: Distract (linked to Bluff), Improved to stop other people from interfering in his
Initiative plans.
Background: Rufus selects his girls for It’s up to the GM to decide how
brains, dexterity and caution. He picks deeply Lucius Hardwick has himself become
them carefully, trains them thoroughly and enmeshed in the unseen world. He might
treats them well. There are, he says, just be studying the occult himself, or he may
two rules in his house. Don’t leave the have just farmed the research out to various
stove on and don’t do anything stupid scholars around the country. We have opt-
(which also kind of includes rule #1.) ions you can use below if Mr. Hardwick a
All five of his apprentices have sorcerer, a vampire, or a ghost himself. It’s
personalities a lot like his own. Thoughtful, also possible that he’s nothing more than a
calculating and slow to anger. None of horrible old man, kept alive by dread and
them from broken homes and none of them spite, or that he’s been dead for years and
show any trace of emotional instability. This that his lawyers carry on his work. It may
last trait is especially important, since Rufus be that there has only been one Lucius
isn’t sure he could bring himself to kill a girl Hardwick down through the years or he may
if she started acting unstable and taking in fact be the great-grandson of the original.
stupid risks. Ironically, Zebediah Scarlett isn’t
even a very powerful ghost. He’s more than
Lucius Hardwick IV Lucius Hardwick and his country club cabal
would be able to handle, but any team of
mystical superheroes should be able to bring
him down. It has never occurred to Mr.
Hardwick to go to a superhero team for
help. There are also plenty of Voodoo
Bedlam’s richest citizen is also one of its practitioners who would have been happy to
deepest enigmas. Many years ago he eliminate his problem, but of course they’re
stopped leaving his mansion and he hasn’t all black, and he cannot stand to have
seen anyone but his lawyers for decades. nonwhites so much as mentioned in his
Perhaps he doesn’t even see them—no one presence.
outside the firm’s senior partners knows. Whatever you decide is the truth is
There are a number of possibilities for what about Lucius Hardwick, his physical
Mr. Hardwick has been up to all these years, appearance remains much the same. He’s
but they all turn around the same theme. the only person in Bedlam who looks even
Ever since the 19th Century, the older and even meaner than Young Junior
Hardwick family has been trying to find Gorganzua. Mr. Hardwick has a thick,
some way to keep Zebediah Scarlett’s tangled head of white hair and dresses in

381
the dusty remnants of his once expensive Insubstantial 2 (Assume Gaseous Form),
suits. Shrunken and scrawny, he’s about Protection 7 (Extras: Impervious; Flaw:
two sizes too small for his clothes. His facial Limited [vs. holy symbols (unless the “holy”
expression has been described as “twenty symbol is sacred to the powers of death and
times meaner than the Devil himself” but darkness), silver, or magical weapons],
perhaps that’s an exaggeration. Regeneration 5 (Resurrection; Flaw: Limited
[Does not work if he has been beheaded or
Lucius Hardwick—Vampire impaled with a wooden stake]), Super-
Movement 1 (Wall-Crawling), Super-Senses
3 (Darkvision, Acute Hearing)
Drawbacks: Weakness (dependant on
blood, common, minor, -2pts.), Weakness
(holy symbols, dazed for one round by
losing an opposed Charisma check,
common, moderate, -3 pts.), Weakness
(Sunlight, minor, per round, destroyed after
10 rounds, -8 points) Vulnerable (to attacks
from sharp stabbing weapons made of wood
Common, Moderate, -3 pts)

Lucius Hardwick—Sorcerer
PL: 7
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 8 (-1)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 20 (+5) Cha: 14 (+2)
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 6
Defense: 8
Toughness Save: 7 (-1 without force field)
Fortitude Save: -1 Reflexes Save: 2
Willpower Save: 8
Skills: Concentration 11 (+16), Knowledge
(Arcane Lore) 9 (+10), Knowledge
(Business) 8 (+9), Knowledge (Civics) 4
(+5), Notice 3 (+8), Profession (evil old
PL: 7 magnate) 7 (+8), Search 5 (+10), Stealth 4
Str: 20 (+5) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: -- (+4)
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 20 (+5) Cha: 18 (+4) Feats: Connected, Contacts, Ritualist,
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8 Wealth 2, Well-Informed
Defense: 7 Toughness Save: 7 Powers: Astral Form 7 (Power Feat:
Impervious Fortitude Save: n/a Reflexes Dimensional 3 [can reach any accessible
Save: 6 Willpower Save: 6 dimension in your campaign setting]),
Skills: Bluff 9 (+13), Concentration 11 Device (Magic Cane; Effect: Force Field 7,
(+16), Diplomacy 8 (+12), Knowledge Deflect 7), Magic 7 (Spells: Drain [any
(Arcane Lore) 6 (+7), Knowledge (Business) power with the Descriptor “magical”],
8 (+9), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+5), Alternate Powers: ESP 7, Mental Blast 7,
Intimidate 10 (+14), Notice 5 (+10), Mind Control 7, Neutralize 7 [only powers
Profession (evil old magnate) 7 (+8), Stealth with a mystical source]); Super-Senses 2
7 (+10) (Detect Magic, Detect invisible beings)
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Distract Drawback: Power Loss (Must be able to
(linked to Intimidate), Fascinate (Linked to gesture and speak freely to use Magic)
Intimidate), Hide in Plain Sight, Startle,
Wealth 2, Well-Informed
Powers: Drain Constitution 2, Immunity 30
(Immune to all Fortitude effects),

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Lucius Hardwick—Ghost waste to all those who dare threaten their
PL: 7 home.
Str: -- Dex: 10 (+0) Con: -- There are six of them, though their
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 24 (+7) Cha: 18 (+4) features change as they walk, so perhaps
Initiative: 4 Attack Bonus: 6 each one embodies many lost bluesmen of
Defense: 8 Toughness Save: 7 yore. One wields a guitar. Another has a
Fortitude Save: -1 Reflexes Save: 2 horn. One has a harmonica. One plays the
Willpower Save: 8 saxophone. One has a giant double-bass
Skills: Concentration 11 (+16), Knowledge and one makes music only with his ghostly,
(Arcane Lore) 9 (+10), Knowledge howling voice. All of them wear sunglasses
(Business) 8 (+9), Knowledge (Civics) 4 and they all share the same stat block—see
(+5), Notice 3 (+8), Profession (evil old below.
magnate) 7 (+8), Search 5 (+10), Stealth 4
(+4) Ghost of the Del Morocco
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Fearsome PL: 12
Presence 5, Hide in Plain Sight, Wealth 2, Str: 10 (+0) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: n/a
Well-Informed Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 30 (+10) Cha: 30 (+10)
Powers: Emotion Control 7 (Flaw: Can only Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense:
cause Fear), ESP 6 (Auditory and Visual, 12 Toughness Save: 12 Impervious
Maximum Range: 20 Miles), Immunity 30 Fortitude Save: n/a Reflexes Save: 8
(all fortitude effects), Insubstantial 4 Willpower Save: 14
(Incorporeal; Flaw: Permanent), Invisible 2 Skills: Intimidate 8 (+18), Knowledge
(to all visual senses), Super-Movement 1 (Arcane Lore) 5 (+6), Knowledge (History) 3
(Air Walking), Teleport 4 (Maximum Range: (+4), Notice 6 (+16), Perform (Either an
1 Mile; Power Feats: Change Direction, instrument or Singing) 15 (+25)
Change Velocity, Easy) Feats: Distract (Linked to Perform),
Fascinate (Linked to Perform), Fearsome
Lucius Hardwick—Mean Old Bastard Presence 7, Startle
PL: 7 Powers: Blast (Sonic) 10, Emotion Control
Str: 8 (-1) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 8 (-1) 12 (Extra: 100 foot Radius; Flaws: Limited—
Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 20 (+5) Cha: 14 (+2) One Emotion [despair], Sense-Dependant
Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 4 [auditory]), ESP 6 (Senses: Sight and
Defense: 1 Toughness Save: -1 Hearing; Range: anywhere in the
Fortitude Save: -1 Reflexes Save: 2 neighborhood of Wolverton; Power Feat:
Willpower Save: 8 Dimensional), Immunity 31 (Immune to all
Skills: Concentration 11 (+16), Knowledge Fortitude effects and to Magical Emotion
(Arcane Lore) 3 (+4), Knowledge (Business) Control), Insubstantial 4 (Incorporeal;
8 (+9), Knowledge (Civics) 4 (+5), Notice 3 Affected by magical attacks), Invisibility 2
(+8), Profession (evil old magnate) 7 (+8), (All Visual Senses), Mental Blast 12,
Stealth 4 (+4) Protection 12 (Extra: Impervious),
Feats: Connected, Contacts, Wealth 2, Regeneration 5 (Resurrection; Doesn’t work
Well-Informed if he is killed by a Magical attack), Super-
Movement 2 (Air Walking, normal ground
Club Del Morocco speed), Super-Senses 5 (Danger Sense,
So powerful was the sadness and longing Awareness, Blindsight), Teleport 6
conjured here that the spirits of the Blues (Maximum Range: Anywhere in Wolverton;
still haunt the ruins of the Club Del Morocco. Power Feats: Dimensional, Change
Should Wolverton ever be in deadly danger, Direction, Change Velocity; Flaw: Can only
or the Club itself be threatened with make Extended Range Teleports)
destruction, the ghosts of the Del Morocco Complications: Feels only sorrow and a
will rise and undead bluesmen will stalk the desire to protect Wolverton. Does not speak
streets, singing songs of dire woe and laying (though he may moan)

383
Berth 13 a great secret base for some other super-
We have four different versions of the hero—or perhaps the PCs?
“truth” about Berth 13. Use whichever one
you like. 4) There is no Berth 13. The whole thing is
a silly urban myth. However, a group of
1) The freighter is the “Sea Witch” and its would-be teenaged detectives from the
registration shows that it’s owned by a Stone Ridge gated community have started
bogus company in the Canary Islands. A nosing around the docks looking for it, and
little more work will trace its ownership back they are starting to attract the wrong kind of
to the Scarpia crime family. They use it as a attention from the Mafia.
sort of graveyard. When they need some-
one to disappear, and they don’t have time Mack the Hack
to put them through the “Murder Machine” Here he is, the diabolical phantom cabbie
(see Page 218) they leave their corpse here. who haunts Bedlam’s streets by night.
As the years have gone by, the ship has
grown more crowded. Anyone who mana- PL: 10
ges to expose its contents will be in serious Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: -
danger. Then again, so will the Scarpias. A Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 28 (+9) Cha: 16 (+3)
whole lot of dead Igglionis and other ene- Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 8 Defense: 8
mies of the family are on board. Toughness Save: 12 Impervious
Fortitude Save: n/a Reflexes Save: 6
2) The ship has no name or registration Willpower Save: 10
marks at all. This is where the Special Skills: Intimidate 8 (+11), Notice 6 (+15),
Assault Squad takes superhuman prisoners Stealth 4 (+5)
to hold them before trial. The ship is full of Feats: Chokehold, Diehard, Fearsome
suspended animation capsules that can be Presence 5, Improved Grapple, Improved
used to store parahumans indefinitely. Pin
SAS doesn’t actually have the capa- Powers: Immunity 30 (All Fortitude
city to build and staff a place like this. In Effects), Impervious Protection 12,
fact it’s a joint project with the feds—with Regeneration 4 (Can make a recovery check
the UNICORN specifically (you can find out against being Injured in 5 minutes; if killed,
more about them on Page 86.) This he can make a Resurrection Check within a
shadowy agency has been keeping day; cannot be Resurrected if his cab has
superhuman prisoners here since the sixties been destroyed), Super-Strength 8 (Flaw:
and they have forgotten about some of the Super-Strength only counts toward
ones on the lower decks. It is possible that grappling and does not allow him to lift
some incredibly powerful long-forgotten extra weight)
villain from the mid-twentieth century may Equipment: Evil Cab (see below)
suddenly wake up.

3) The freighter is the Andromeda. Its

ownership has been in dispute for decades.
Since neither of the parties is in business
anymore and the city doesn’t want it (they’d
be liable for vast amounts of back-taxes) the
Andromeda sits at Berth #300, untouched
by anyone. Nocturne, the vigilante, (you
can find out more about him on Page 278)
used it as one of his secret lairs for a while,
and left some of his crime-fighting equip-
ment in it. His equipment is drastically out
of date, but the Andromeda would still make

384
Mack the Hack’s Evil Cab It will probably take a telepath or
Strength: 40 Speed: 6 Defense: 9 some other kind of psychic hero to catch
Toughness: 12 him. A Player Character who talks to the
Offensive Powers: Strike 8 (Extra: dead might also be able to do it. Periodical-
Penetrating 6; Note: Strike can affect ly, one or another of his victims will haunt
targets inside the cab as well as out), Snare Bedlam briefly and try to alert a psychic or a
10 (Flaws: Entangling, can’t be “layered”, medium to the doctor’s evil deeds (see
Limited Power [only works on targets inside “Creepy Rumors and Sinister Forces” on
the evil cab]) Page 271.) But too often they are taken so
Defensive Powers: 8 Impervious Defense, completely by surprise that they can’t
Insubstantial (and confers the benefit of muster enough rage to hang onto the world
being Insubstantial to anyone inside.) for very long. When your death comes as a
Movement Powers: Teleport 10 (Power total, bewildering shock, you usually don’t
Feat: Dimensional; Flaws: Extended have time to whip up enough anger or des-
Teleport Only, Limited Power [can only peration to be a lasting ghost—especially if
teleport when no one is looking at it]) it’s painless.
If York thinks the law is closing in
Doctor Death on him, he’ll try to escape, but it would be
Bedlam’s worst serial killer is not Capricorn, beneath his dignity to put up a struggle.
or even Torchy the Firebug. It’s Doctor Lyle Once he’s directly confronted he’ll surrender
York, who practices gerontology at Beth El to the PCs without a word and will make no
Hospital. effort to defend himself if they pummel him
York is a handsome guy in his late (although his lawyer will certainly have
fifties, with perfect hair and a brusque, something to say about it.)
distant manner. A dapper dresser, he is If Doctor Death is ever caught, he
seldom seen without his signature bow tie. stops speaking and never says a word to
Some patients like him and some don’t. anyone about his motives, or anything else,
He’s a skilled gerontologist, but every last ever again.
thing he says sounds like a pre-rehearsed
speech. And it is. No one sees his real self. Rocco “The Stick” Mazzarello
Not his pretty young blonde trophy wife, not Tiny Tina did not kill the Stick. In fact he
the Asian child they’ve adopted. Not his isn’t dead. He was one of the FBI’s three
colleagues or his dad (his mother is dead.) informants inside the Gorganzua Family, but
He has killed more than three he got tired of being scared all the time and
hundred of his patients over the past thirty asked to go into the Witness Protection
years. After he has given each victim their Program. Tiny Tina is almost certain that
lethal injection, he has a brief chat with this is what really happened to him, but
them and explains what he’s done, how despite his betrayal, she loves him and she
many people he has killed and how unlikely figures the best way to keep him safe is by
it is that anyone will ever stop him. And in letting everyone think he’s dead. So she
fact no one has ever suspected a thing. His allows the rumors that she killed him to
patients are old, and old people die. spread unchecked, and even feeds them a
It’s hard to tell what motivates him, little. FBI Special Agent Enzio “Rick”
but he’s no mercy killer. If you study his list Falcone is the only one in Bedlam who
of victims, he appears to select patients who knows the truth, and he’s not likely to tell.
lead healthy, active lives, do important For his part, the Stick really loved
volunteer work and have grandchildren who her too. He’s always dug outsized women
love them. Perhaps he thinks it wouldn’t and they don’t come more outsized, in every
mean anything to take life away from some- respect. He’s starting to miss her terribly
one whose life wasn’t really valuable? Per- and he is toying with the idea of calling her,
haps he wants to cause much harm and even though that would be absolutely
sorrow with each death as he can? against the rules and might get him kicked
out of Witness Protection. If the Family

385
becomes aware that the Stick is alive and and they certainly drink their blood. Part
that he betrayed them, Tiny Tina may have drug cult, part organized crime family, the
no choice but to have the love of her life Chamber’s main function is to gather
killed, after all. enough money and power to protect, grow
and harvest the evil plant they are all addic-
The Triads ted to—a sinister toxic flower called the
Despite the long and peaceful relationship Black Lotus, which is not only their favorite
the Triads have had with the Bedlam Mob, vice, but their favorite tool of assassination,
there may be trouble on the horizon. Both as well.
of the Triads we have mentioned are under Each new member is put through a
the protection of the Scarpias, not the harrowing initiation, where they are sub-
Gorganzuas, and the Gorganzuas resent jected to the Seven Unspeakable Violations
having them in the Meadows, which they and given the Kiss of the Black Lotus—a
view as their turf (although in fact it’s no- semi-lethal dose of the drug. About 75% of
body’s turf.) They are too smart to chal- them survive, but most aren’t quite right
lenge the Scarpias directly. However, they afterwards. Henceforward they live only to
are considering a deal to bring in a third kill for the Bleeding God and to experience
Triad—the Black Lotus Chamber, and let the rapturous, tormented visions that he
them run a similar operation from the docks sends them.
at Greely Point. They all look a little crazy, and tend
This would be a disaster. The Black to dress without much care or attention to
Lotus is a blood-drinking cult, crazy and their appearance. Some of them wear jeans
murderous, whose leaders may be vampires and windbreaker jackets, or ill-fitting sport
or sorcerers or something even worse. coats with no shirts underneath, or fine
They are universally despised by groups like clothes they’ve scavenged from some victim
the Iron Wind Society (the Yip-Wings have or other. While not all of them are elite
never heard of them) and they’ll surely get fighters, they are all totally fearless, crazy,
into a violent feud with them the moment unpredictable and violent. They will keep
they discover each other. The Black Louts attacking until they are incapacitated or
thugs will also throw their weight around, dead, even if faced with an obviously superi-
kill civilians for no reason and generally or foe (a superhero, for example.)
misbehave until the Gorganzuas, the Iron Initially there won’t be very many of
Wind Society, the PCs or all three kick them them in Bedlam—just ten or so, led by the
out of Bedlam. The hard feelings this may bloodthirsty, half-crazed Feng-Chou. But as
cause could also set off a mob war between they start to menace civilians and get into
the Gorganzuas and the Scarpias, which brawls with the cops and the Iron Wind
could in turn lead to hired supervillains slug- Brotherhood, they may call for help from
ging it out in the streets. Perhaps someone overseas.
can talk Tiny Tina out of bringing in the The Black Lotus can induce psychic
Sons of the Black Lotus before it’s too late. powers in some individuals, even while it
rots their brains in other ways. Perhaps as
The Black Lotus Chamber many as one in five members of the cult
Masters of the Seven Forbidden Cruelties, have some minor (PL 1-3) paranormal
devotees of the Bleeding God, the Black Lot- ability, But if a full-scale war erupts in
us Chamber is feared throughout the South- Bedlam, they will start bringing in more
east Asian underworld. Although most of powerful assets from the far side of the
their members are of Chinese ancestry and Pacific Rim. They have an elite squad of PL
speak Mandarin as their mother tongue, the 6 killers called the Sons of the Bleeding God
Chamber’s primary base of operations is in and they may have some PL 10 supervillains
Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. They are (probably martial artists or gunslingers) and
relatively small for an organized crime family sorcerers if the GM thinks they really need
but they are dangerous for their size. Peo- them.
ple say they sometimes eat their enemies,

386
 What lies at the heart of the Black Feng-Chou
Lotus Chamber? No one knows for sure PL: 6
who leads the cult. There are rumors of Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2)
deathless sorcerers, cannibal pygmies, living Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 16 (+3)
idols from before the Hsu Dynasty, vampires Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8
and ghosts. But it could just as well be a Defense: 8 (3 if caught Flatfooted)
cabal of creepy old degenerates. The truth Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught
is up to the GM. Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes
Save: 6 Willpower Save: 5
Generic Thrall of the Black Lotus Skills: Climb 6 (+7), Craft (Chemical) 4
PL: 3 (+4), Concentration 6 (+8), Intimidate 4
Str: 12 (+1) Dex: 14 (+2) Con: 14 (+2) (+7), Notice 8 (+10), Stealth 5 (+8)
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 14 (+2) Cha: 8 (-1) Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 5,
Initiative: 2 Attack Bonus: 5 Defensive Roll 4, Evasion 2, Fearless,
Defense: 5 (2 if caught Flatfooted) Improved Grapple, Improved Trip,
Toughness Save: 3 (2 if caught Takedown Attack
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Powers: Super-Senses (Danger Sense)
Save: 6 Willpower Save: 5 Equipment: Axe (Melee Weapon, 3
Skills: Climb 6 (+7), Concentration 6 (+8), Damage; Extra: Mighty)
Notice 4 (+6), Stealth 6 (+8) Complications: Unpredictable violent
Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 3, lunatic
Defensive Roll 1, Fearless, Improved Trip, Background: Feng-Chou is a functional
Takedown Attack psychotic. You can see it in his crazy stare.
Equipment: Staff, sword or axe (Melee There is something deeply unsettling in his
Weapon, 3 Damage) gaze. Something unbalanced and
Powers: May have Mind Control 3, unfathomable. Something not entirely
Invisibility or Super-Senses (Danger Sense) human. He’s capable of understanding
Complications: Crazed cultist, ready to do what’s going on around him most of the
anything for the cause time, but he’s much too crazy to experience
things like empathy or conscience or fear or
The Sons of the Bleeding God love. He lives for the Bleeding God, he kills
PL: 6 for the Bleeding God and he’ll die for the
Str: 15 (+2) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 14 (+2) Bleeding God. Nothing else in his life was
Int: 13 (+1) Wis: 17 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2) worth anything, so he threw it all away.
Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 8 You’d never guess from the scarred-
Defense: 8 (3 if caught Flatfooted) up, staring lunatic in front of you that he
Toughness Save: 6 (2 if caught has a PhD in Mathematics and a Master’s in
Flatfooted) Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes business, or that he was a researcher who
Save: 6 Willpower Save: 5 became a corporate executive, or that his
Skills: Climb 6 (+8) Concentration 6 (+9), wife (who is also an executive and a
Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 5 scientist) has never stopped looking for him
(+6), Notice 8 (+11), Stealth 8 (+11) since the night he walked out of their
Feats: All-Out Attack, Dodge Focus 5, penthouse apartment in Shanghai and
Defensive Roll 4, Evasion, Fearless, vanished.
Improved Grapple, Improved Trip, His skill list doesn’t reflect his
Takedown Attack, Throwing Mastery prowess in business, tensor calculus or
Equipment: Staff, sword or axe (Melee classical piano, because his brain is far too
Weapon, 3 Damage; Extra: Mighty) damaged to use them anymore and anyway
Complications: Demented fanatic, eager they no longer interest him.
to die for the Black Lotus Chamber

387
The Narcotrafficantes matched collection of old vans parked out-
It’s not actually true that the Mexican cartels side, with the peeling emblems of various
have no presence in Bedlam. Unbeknownst churches and Christian youth groups painted
to the Bedlam Mafia, they have set up an on the side. If they have to run for it, they’ll
outpost in the Country Club. dismantle their electronics, throw their
One of the big old houses up there possessions in the vans and all leave Bedlam
has become the home of a traveling group in different directions.
of criminals who call themselves the Bloody Women play a special role in the
Cross. They’re a white-supremacist Bloody Cross. They are treated like slaves,
skinhead group, with deep ties to prison but they also do a lot of the gang’s trickiest
gangs across the western United States. work. They infiltrate banks and credit card
They answer directly to the Mexican Mafia, companies. They buy or steal supplies and
and handle credit card scams and other deal with the outside world for their
errands for them. It’s hard to see how they tattooed, shaven-headed boyfriends. They
reconcile their white-supremacist ideology also participate in combat and sometimes
with working for the Mexican cartels, but carry out assassinations for the crew. If the
they don’t seem to see the contradiction. group has to evacuate the Country Club in a
Oddly, most members of the Bloody hurry, all the vans will be driven by normal-
Cross are middle-class kids from Southern looking young women. Their scary-looking
California. The gang actually grew out of skinhead boyfriends will be hiding in the
LA’s Hardcore punk scene in the mid 1980s, back.
as a way for skins to protect one another in
juvie. Soldier of the Bloody Cross
They are not supposed to be here. PL: 2
If the Bedlam Mob found out about their Str: 14 (+2) Dex: 10 (+0) Con: 14 (+2)
presence they would be pretty annoyed. Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 10 (+0)
But of course the Bloody Cross can pull elec- Initiative: 0 Attack Bonus: 2
tronic scams from anywhere, and the fact Defense: 2 Toughness Save: 2
that they’re in the middle of a city where Fortitude Save: 2 Reflexes Save: 2
they’re not supposed to have a presence Willpower Save: 2
makes this an ideal hiding spot. Unfortun- Skills: Craft (Chemical, Electronic,
ately, a lot of individual members of the Mechanical or Structural—pick one) 4 (+5),
crew have difficulty staying out of trouble. Computers 4 (+5), Disable Device 3 (+4),
They didn’t become Nazi skinheads because Drive 3 (+3), Gather Information 3 (+3),
they like to obey rules and respect authority. Intimidate 4 (+4), Knowledge (Streetwise) 3
This could easily attract the wrong kind of (+3), Notice 2 (+2), Profession (street thug)
attention. 4 (+4), Stealth 3 (+3)
Right now the house on Mulvane Feats: All-Out Attack, Power Attack, Startle
Drive is a maze of cables and electronics Equipment: Club (Melee Weapon, 3
equipment, with elegant old furniture and Damage) or Pistol (Ranged Weapon, 4
dirty mattresses scattered here and there. Damage)
They have spray-painted Nazi symbols all Background: It would be a serious mistake
over the expensive wallpaper and strewn to underestimate the Bloody Cross as a
trash here and there. bunch of illiterate slobs. In fact most of
This crew only has about twenty them are smart (if maladjusted) young men
members, but they’re well-connected and if who live the criminal life because they
they had to they could call in either a white choose to. By now they’re all hardened
supremacist supervillain or one who works killers and far more dangerous than you
for the Narcotrafficantes within twenty-four would expect of kids from such comfortable
hours. But they’re more likely to flee than middle-class backgrounds.
to stand and fight. They have a mis

388
Chuck Bundy One look at Chuck and you’ll know
PL: 5 he could never function in normal society.
Str: 17 (+3) Dex: 12 (+1) Con: 16 (+3) His Nazi tattoos go right up over his face.
Int: 10 (+0) Wis: 10 (+0) Cha: 14 (+2) He has snakes’ eyes tattooed on his eyelids.
Initiative: 1 Attack Bonus: 6
Defense: 4 Toughness Save: 5 Gom the Unspeakable
Fortitude Save: 6 Reflexes Save: 4 Up at the north end of the public housing on
Willpower Save: 0 Ellmore Place, you can find three buildings
Skills: Bluff 1 (+3), Drive 2 (+3), Gather inhabited by immigrants from Southeast
Information 1 (+3), Intimidate 6 (+8), Asia. No one in the neighborhood seems to
Knowledge (Streetwise) 2 (+2), Profession know much about this small, insular group
(street thug) 4 (+4) of hill tribesmen. Some people say they’re
Feats: All-Out Attack, Chokehold, from Laos, other people aren’t so sure. State
Endurance, Improved Grab, Improved welfare records list their ethnicity as “Yao”,
Grapple, Improved Overrun, Improved Pin, but that’s not what they call themselves.
Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Startle Although nobody quite knows who they are,
Equipment: Machete (Melee Weapon, 3 everyone around Ellmore Place does know
Damage) that they are not to be trifled with. When
Complications: Violent crankhead, the Jamaican posses tried to extort money
clobbers anyone he thinks is questioning his from the Yao, they retaliated so heavily that
authority the posses actually left that part of Bedlam
Background: The current leader of the altogether. No one outside of the posses or
Bloody Cross’ Bedlam Crew, Chuck feels the Yao themselves know what they did to
uneasy in this role and inadequate to lead. the Jamaicans, but it was enough to drive
As a result, he’s constantly ill-tempered and off the most aggressive organized crime
always looking for any challenges to his group in the city.
authority. He shouts a lot and he’s quick to In fact the surviving members of the
lash out at anybody he thinks is showing posses don’t themselves know what the Yao
him disrespect, either inside the group or did to them. They just know that their
out. comrades started rapidly disappearing,
He killed the group’s old leader, vanishing from places where no one could
Hammer-Hand Mike, and took over the have reached them. Some of the Jamaicans
gang, but he didn’t have a clear idea of hat decided to leave for a less dangerous part of
he’d do next and he’s feeling a little lost. town, but most decided to go down fighting
His crank habit hasn’t improved things. the Yao. None of the ones who decided to
Chuck is from Orange County, stay were ever seen again.
California, the hyperactive screw-up son of a Who are the Yao, really? During the
real-estate magnate. His family were classic secret war that the United States fought in
nouveau-riche Orange County millionaires, Laos in the early seventies, a lot of
but Chuck could remember being poor and mountain tribesmen sided with the U.S. and
never seemed to fit into their new world. against the Laotian central government.
He hung around with other violent losers They acted as scouts and commandos and
and by the time he was twenty he was a guides. Known collectively as the “Yao”
bona-fide thug. But his sense of social they were in fact a diverse collection of
unease never left him. different tribes and spoke a wide variety of
He’s a doer, rather than a planner. different languages. After the war was lost,
A huge scary brute who was seemingly born the Americans relocated a lot of these
to do enforcer work. But leading a crew tribesmen to the United States, and a few
requires you to think before you act. If he hundred made it to Bedlam. They keep to
doesn’t learn this quick, Chuck may shortly themselves and don’t want to be bothered.
be sharing a room with Hammer-Hand Mike How do they make people disap-
in Hell. pear? Most of them don’t know themselves.
They practice an odd religion that resembles

389
medieval Chinese Taoism, and some of their more and more careworn these days and
priests do have a little magic power, but not spends much of his time worrying about the
enough to obliterate a gang of wild eyed, idol. But he needn’t.
gun-toting thugs in a blink of an eye. Some Oddly, Nocturne knows the Yao.
of them are still pretty skilled jungle They like him, they remember him and they
fighters, and most of their young men prac- consider him their friend. He has no con-
tice an ancient unarmed fighting style that scious memory of the time he spent visiting
they call “The Way of the Silent Fist.” But their tiny little mountain valley, since that’s
the posses were pretty tough, too, and the in the portion of his memory that has been
Way of the Silent Fist doesn’t give the Yao blacked out (along with his childhood and
that much of an edge. The truth, known to his name.) For this reason he finds their
no more than one or two people in Bedlam, company unnerving and avoids them when
is that Gom the Unspeakable protects them. he can.
Most of the people we call the Yao
arrived in Laos and Vietnam some time Gom the Unspeakable
during the Ming dynasty. But the small tribe
that one day moved to Bedlam had been
there for much longer. And when they first
arrived in the one mountain valley where
they made their home, they found artifacts
and relics left by people who had been there
long ages before. And among them was a
strange little idol made from some greasy,
greenish stone they had never seen before.
It was a fierce idol, and it frightened
them, so they gave it to their chief priest so
that he could protect them from it. They
never spoke of the evil little thing among
themselves and soon they forgot about it.
But every chief priest since then has heard
the idol call to him in his dreams, begging to
be worshipped, offering to do favors,
craving blood. They never used the idol
during their long doomed war with the PL: 10
Marxists, for the priest they had in those Str: 30 (+10) Dex: 16 (+3) Con: 30 (+10)
days loathed and feared it and would have Int: 12 (+1) Wis: 16 (+3) Cha: 14 (+2)
thrown it away, were he not sure that it Initiative: 3 Attack Bonus: 12
would go out into the world and wreak Defense: 8
much wickedness. But he died a few years Toughness Save: 10 (Impervious)
ago, and the new chief priest, Xong, is not Fortitude Save: 10
as resolute. He has called on the idol, Reflexes Save: 5 Willpower Save: 10
worshipped it in secret and fed it with his Feats: Improved Grab, Improved Grapple,
blood. In return, it called forth the demon Move-By Action, Power Attack, Sneak Attack
known as Gom the Unspeakable, who is not Powers: Immunity (Illusions, Invisibility,
seen, who walks through walls and takes Pressure, Suffocation), Impervious
men away to the land of wind and ghosts, Toughness 10, Invisibility 2 (Invisible to all
to feast there on their entrails for eternity. visual senses); Flaw: Permanent), Super-
Xong fears that the little nameless Movement 5 (Air Walking, Dimensional
idol will ask him for more favors, or come to Movement 1, Permeate 3 [moves through
dominate his soul, but in fact it is content solid matter at normal speed]) Super-Senses
with a little blood and prayer. It’s just a 6 (Darkvision, Radius Vison [can see in 360
small god and has only small ambitions. A degrees]), Super-Strength 4 (Maximum Lift:
kindly old white-haired man, Xong is looking

390
24 Tons), Teleport 4 (Maximum Range: 1 make Bedlam an unappetizing place for its
mile; Extra: Easy) founder. But it had to be consecrated in
Complications: Loathly abomination from blood and terror. They took a drifter and
beyond infinity wiped his mind clean. And then they made
Background: A shy and lonely creature, him into the monster called Capricorn. He
Gom doesn’t much like being a monster. It set out to inscribe the necessary sigils on
likes people, likes being around them and the city in screams and gore.
watching what they do. It wishes it could Thirty-six innocent lives were
join in all the interesting stuff they seem to required. But so was the city’s fear. Every
be up to—perhaps become some child’s three years, when the Constellation Capri-
imaginary friend or a pretty girl’s secret corn shone ascendant in the sky, another
protector. But it seems to be doomed to a nine Bedlamites would have to meet their
life of stalking the enemies of the Yao, when doom. Their names and identities were un-
it gets to visit our world at all. The rest of important. What mattered were the places
the time it skulks around the formless void and hours at which they died, and the
where it hails from. Gom doesn’t much like mutilations performed upon their bodies.
the void—it’s all black and icky. Sometimes When the season of the goat came to an
it lurks in our world longer than it should end, the killer would wander back to his
have after it’s finished its task. waking life and three years later they would
Capricorn select another man to wear the mask of
All these years later, people still flinch at the Capricorn. Terror was an essential part of
name “Capricorn” as though it could cut the spell, so Capricorn did his best to horrify
them. This masked fiend terrorized the city the city, taunting the public and mocking
for more than a decade. Every three years their fear.
he would return and kill another nine peo- The second and fourth Capricorns
ple, taunting the news and the police the both got caught before their work was
whole time. People came to hate his bland, complete. The project might have
pleasant voice the way they hated cancer, recovered from the first loss, but not from
or death. the second. In any case the League of
There seemed to be no pattern to Silence was getting old, losing members and
who he struck. Young, old, rich, poor, when slipping into decline. All those people
the constellation of Capricorn shone in the ultimately died for nothing, and Zebediah
cold winter sky, no one was safe from him. Scarlett may return to Bedlam soon.
He claimed there was a logic to his killing, Or, if the GM wants, Hardwick’s
though no one ever managed to completely lawyers may have found another group of
decipher it. But he was not lying. Here at sorcerers that’s willing to start the project all
last is the truth. over. Who knows, next January Bedlam’s
In the murky dawn of Bedlam’s streets may once more echo to the sound of
history, its founder, Zebediah Scarlett, was screams.
murdered by his protégé, Rule Hardwick.
The Terrible Truth About the Diabolical
The city was founded on a crime, and in
Doctor Boogie
crime it tried to find salvation.
The being who calls himself “Doctor Boogie”
From time to time Zebediah
isn’t really a person at all. He’s a comic
Scarlett’s murderous ghost would come
book character that local Bedlam DJ Dave
slouching up out of Hell with revenge on its
“The Filthy Beast” Odnarski drew when he
mind (see Page 306.) The city fathers tried
was a kid.
appeasing it, tried keeping it at bay, and
Dave Odnarski is an incredibly
then they hit on the plan called Capricorn.
powerful psychic—one of the strongest in
Sour old Lucius Hardwick found a way to
human history (see Page 372.) But he’s so
make Bedlam taste so bad to Reverend
afraid of his powers that he has buried them
Scarlett that he would avoid it. He hired a
in the deepest darkest depths of his own
cabal of magicians called the League of
unconscious mind. Dave has conjured
Silence to cast an enchantment that would
Doctor Boogie into existence and has

391
created a whole pocket universe for him to creation was born dancing in giant platform
inhabit when he’s not out troubling the good shoes. “Hey what’s happening mom and
citizens of Bedlam. pop? Can you get down like this?” their
No one is ever likely to notice the infant asked them. And he proceeded to
connection, but Doctor Boogie only ever par-tay so hip that they named him Doctor
appears when Dave is asleep and dreaming Boogie.
about him. Of course, the fact that he’s a He really believes this. And he
DJ with a completely irregular schedule remembers it all in vivid color. His mom,
means that the good doctor and his disco the Goddess of Funk, smelled a lot like
pirate crew could appear at any hour of the reefer and hair-care products.
day or night. He never remembers the The pirate ship is also one of Dave’s
dream when he wakes up. creations. But it actually formed in response
The Doctor has such a strong psy- to the Disco Pirates’ wishes. They’ve been
chic shield because he barely has a mind at exerting their own influence on Doctor
all. If you do manage to read his mind, you Boogie, making him more like them. And
will find it to be a colorful place, simple and this in turn has affected Dave’s own mind—
brightly-hued, like an old set from The helped him rediscover his taste for late ‘70s
Electric Company. He sincerely believes all dance music and made his drug problem
his silliness. If you search his mind for his worse. If “The Filthy Beast” were to sud-
origin, his real name, etc, you’ll find a denly die, the pirate ship would reappear
ridiculous story about how the Goddess of with the confused pirates still on board it
Funk had a secret love child with the God of and then fade away forever, taking Doctor
Groovy and their fantastic, plantastic Boogie with it wherever dead dreams go.

392
We have two adventures for you here. They human henchmen $#!+face is there as well,
showcase very different sides of Bedlam and and they’re all carrying huge, funny-shaped
serve different needs for a campaign. One rubber novelties that they’ve bought at the
is lighthearted and short. The other is store. His nuns all look strangely like former
longer and more serious. They both give strippers and lady bodybuilders in corsets
Player Characters an introduction to Bedlam, and wimples—except for the ones who are
to what it’s like and how it works. obviously transvestites. Battle is joined!
People are beating on one another with
crosses and monstrances and huge floppy
rubber sex toys, guns are going off in every
direction. The Mara aren’t as powerful as
Th’ Pope and his nuns, but there are more
An altercation breaks out at Papal Discount
of them and they’re better armed. They
Warehouse while the PCs happen to be
also have no compunctions at all about
there (or perhaps they get called in to break
taking hostages or using patrons as human
it up.) Some boys from the Mara come
shields. Can Our Heroes stop this
sauntering into the store—they want to buy
blasphemous bash-fest before someone gets
some crucifixes to immerse in dog’s blood
seriously hurt?
and a baptismal font. The staff won’t sell
them a font without ID showing that they’ve
been ordained, and after a brief, tense
standoff they slink back outside.
Soon they return with a sleazy
looking priest who has a lot of tattoos
(“Father Chuey”—see Page 241 for a full
description of the Mara’s favorite priest) and
he tries to buy the font for them. The staff
behind the counter are adamant. They
won’t sell anyone a baptismal font to
anyone but an ordained member of the
clergy, and it’s perfectly clear to them that
the Mara just found somebody in the
parking lot to buy for them.
Father Chuey starts yelling and
making threats, grinning like a wolf the
whole time. He says he knows Monsignor,
that Bishop Sloat is a personal friend and he
drops darker hints still about what might
happen to the store if they don’t sell him the
font.
“I can appeal to a higher power,
you know!” he sneers wickedly.
A deep voice roars out from the
back of the shop: “Higher than Th’ Pope?”
It looks like the rumors are true
(see Page 156.) The supervillain who calls
himself “Th’ Pope” really does own Papal
Discount warehouse, and he’s just returned
from the adult bookstore with his gang of
trashy leather nuns. His gigantic super-

393
GUIDE TO THE MAP OF PAPAL
DISCOUNT WAREHOUSE
The building itself is made of solid
reinforced concrete—Toughness 10. The
one internal wall, between the office and the
It’s a long slow day down at the Bedlam
main sales area, isn’t nearly as strong. It’s
Courthouse, but it’s about to get a whole lot
only Toughness 6. There are no windows,
more interesting. Luca “Stabbo the Clown”
except in the office, and it will be pitch black
Stegnetti is going to have his day in court
in the sales area if the lights go out.
and the results will make headlines for
Both the internal and external doors
weeks. The PCs are likely to play a pivotal
are made of steel with tasteless fake wood-
role in these events.
grain decals on them. They are Toughness
8 and if locked they will require a Disable
Prologue: Getting the Adventure
Device Check vs. DC 20 to open. Snap off a
Started
door to use as a weapon, and it will do 3
While the PCs could get in on the adventure
Damage.
after things are in full swing, it’s probably
The ceiling is supported by four
more fun if they’re involved from the begin-
square concrete pillars. Each one is
ning. To do that, you’re going to have to
Toughness 10, and does 8 Damage if you
find some way to get them down to the
snap it off and use it as a club. Be warned,
courthouse in time for the first act. There
though, if more than two of them get
are a number of ways of doing this. They
destroyed then the roof is going to collapse
could be here on some legal matter of their
on the next round and do 7 Damage to
own (nothing too pressing, or it could over-
anyone caught underneath it.
shadow the events of the adventure.)
The counter has glass windows in
They may have heard that a close
the front but will still give full Concealment
associate of the Scarpia Crime family is
to anyone who crouches or lies prone
about to get indicted, and want to come
behind it. Made of heavy wood, it’s
down to make sure nothing weird happens.
Toughness 6. Rip it out of the floor and you
If they have Precognition or some
will find that it comes in sections. Each
other such power, they could be guided to
section weighs 400 pounds, fully loaded with
the courthouse by a vision (a supervillain
expensive religious paraphernalia, and does
will be born here today—they’re sure of it.)
5 Damage if used as a weapon.
If all else fails, perhaps the
The big heavy antique cash register
UNICORN has been monitoring Luca Steg-
on the counter weighs 60 pounds and does
netti and they know that he’s about to come
4 Damage if you clobber somebody with it.
into his superhuman powers. They have
The giant, overloaded shelves are
decided to manipulate the PCs into a con-
all Toughness 4 and weigh about 800
frontation with him, in hopes of removing
pounds each. Each one will do 6 Damage if
him from the picture before he becomes a
used as a weapon, but they’re so awkwardly
major threat. To this end, they send each
shaped and clumsily balanced that there is a
of them an anonymous message on plain
-2 penalty to hit anything with them. If a
white paper. It says “Bedlam Courthouse,
shelf tips over and falls on top of a character
Hearing Room 3, 2:00 PM.” If the PCs won’t
it does 2 Damage and may immobilize them,
even take bait like this, roll your eyes and
unless they can lift 800 pounds or more. At
let them join the story after it’s already in
the GM’s option, it may be possible to set off
full swing.
a chain reaction of shelves tipping over onto
one another.
Part 1: Zany Courthouse Frolics
If you use a baptismal font or a big
Judge Howard Leeth (see page 96)
heavy cross or a monstrance or some other
presides over the case that Bedlam is going
piece of merchandise as a weapon, it will do
to be talking about for years. It’s just his
up to 3 Damage. The GM should feel free to
bad luck. Disheveled, depressed Judge
improvise.

394
Leeth is hearing cases with his head in his room, and everyone abruptly falls silent.
hands, the way he always does. Bored Her face has been demolished. Many, many
bailiffs patrol the courtroom, eager to spot beatings have reduced her features to an
someone chewing gum or putting their feet inhuman-looking mask. This clearly isn’t the
up or any other tiny violation of the rules. A result of a single incident. This looks like it
big family from Stark Hill is sitting in the was done to her over the course of months
observation gallery, making too much noise. or years. Her nose has been broken, re-
A lot of big hair and gold chains are on healed and been broken again so many
display. times that it’s just a blob. Most of her teeth
Next on the docket is a domestic are gone and she can’t close her mouth
violence case. Luca Stegnetti’s girlfriend, properly.
Marie Tucci, wants to press charges against Mel Lutz can’t close his mouth
him for hitting her. either. It’s hanging open in total, horrified
At the States’ Attorney’s table sits shock. Judge Leeth puts his face down flat,
Detective Gluk of the Bedlam Police (see and hears the rest of the trial that way.
Page 76) and Marla Zaranovsky (see Page Luca is the only person in the courtroom
162), legal counsel for the women’s shelter who is still smiling. “Hey, it’s the Elephant
where Marie has been staying. Girl!” he quietly says, and giggles.
Mr. Stegnetti himself is here, sitting That ugly moment should be
with his family in the observation gallery enough to doom him by itself, but he
until his case is called (these are the loud actually manages to make things worse.
guys from Stark Hill.) He’s his usual wacky, Way worse, in fact.
charming self and his whole family has Marie tries to give her statement,
turned out to show him their support. His but her voice is so quiet and mushy that
attorney is rising mob star Mel Lutz (see Judge Leeth is having trouble hearing her.
Page 160) who calls Luca to the stand and Luca rises from his chair and tries to
asks him about the circumstances of the talk to Marie. Judge Leeth doesn’t even
incident in question. bother to tell him he’s out of order, he just
Gesturing wildly and grinning, Luca gestures to the bailiffs. Luca’s still smiling
explains that he was exhausted, that his as they push him toward the courtroom
girlfriend had left their apartment in a terri- door. “Sir, you’re going to have to leave.
ble mess, and when he came home late, to Sir, calm down.”
the house she hadn’t cleaned, she started “I’m calm, I’m calm! It’s cool!” he
screaming at him. It was like she was yel- grins “I just need to—I just want to talk to
ling at him to put him on the defensive, to her.”
keep him from getting annoyed with her They’ve got him halfway to the door
about the huge mess in their living room. when things get freaky. Luca abruptly gives
He knows she’s unstable, he makes allow- up on talking to Marie, spins on his heel and
ances. But it just seemed so unfair. She prepares to march out of the courtroom.
shoved him, he snapped, and he shoved her But first he plants his elbow deep in the one
back. He knew it was wrong when he did it female bailiff’s sternum.
and he knows it was wrong now. But he Now, here we should pause to note
knows he can’t take it back, he says, smiling that being a bailiff is one of the most boring
ruefully. jobs in law-enforcement. The reason so
His family makes sympathetic noises many bailiffs are such total sticklers about
and some of them shout encouragement to the rules is that catching somebody drinking
him. The bailiffs angrily shut them up. It a can of pop may be the most interesting
looks as though Mr. Lutz is going to enter a thing that happens to them all day. They
guilty plea and ask for six months probation, live for those rare moments when
suspended. something actually happens, and they’re all
Marla Zaranovsky says something grinning as they pile onto Luca Stegnetti.
quietly to the Assistant State’s Attorney, This might be a good time for the
who gestures. Marie walks into the court- PCs to rise from their chairs and intervene.

395
If they don’t, three bailiffs tackle Luca just apprehend him. He’s an associate of the
as he steps out through the courtroom’s Scarpia crime family, and although they may
swinging doors. As the doors swing back want to wash their hands of him after his
and forth, the Player Characters can see performance in court today, they probably
little bits of what’s happening outside. Five won’t want him to get apprehended and
bailiffs, then six, then seven, are savaging they’ll use their influence to screw up the
Luca at once, kicking and beating him as he investigation. Zaranovsky and Gluk are right
laughs and laughs. The PCs don’t see Luca on both counts.
put a huge overdose of Mnemodrine 6 in his The Bedlam Police put together a
own bloodied mouth. special task force to go after Stabbo the
Then a bailiff comes flying through Clown. They’re not convinced that he’s
the doors and lands with a thump in the really superhuman, so they don’t put Assault
aisle. Through the swinging doors the Squad on the case, yet. For some reason
crowd can see Luca beating the living crap no one in the Police Department is talking
out of all seven of his assailants, his fists about the possibility of using him as a way
and feet flying at superhuman speed, bones to get information on the Scarpias, But
cracking and blood spraying into the air. He Acting Special Agent In Charge “Rick”
laughs and laughs, louder and higher. Falcone of the FBI certainly is (you can find
Stabbo the Clown has just been born. Any out more about him and Bedlam’s FBI Office
PCs with the power to sense superhuman on Page 84.) At some point in the adven-
abilities didn’t pick anything up from him ture, he’ll approach the PCs in public and
before, but now he’s blazing like a bonfire ask them to go easy on Stabbo. The FBI
with parahuman might. He takes off run- would like to offer him a deal.
ning down the hall and out of the court- Stabbo gets sighted at an arcade in
house at twice the speed of sound. Stark Hill. It’s the very same arcade where
The PCs may be able to catch him mob boss “Dapper Donny” Scarpia hangs
and they may not. But either way you out (you can find out more about him on
should let them see the dramatic aftermath. Page 219.) It looks as though Stabbo
Either outside the building or else right there showed up, got into a conversation with
in the courtroom, Mel Lutz walks up to Marla some of the aging hoods who hang around
Zaranovsky with his hands spread wide. He the place, went berserk, smashed out some
looks like he wants to cry. “I didn’t—I didn’t windows, knocked over some pinball mach-
know.” He stammers. ines and ran away. If the PCs show up at
“Get the #@%& away from me!” the scene they’ll find that every last person
Marla says. Startled, Mel makes one more there claims to have been in the toilet when
attempt to speak but she cuts him off and the incident occurred.
he slinks away. The Stegnetti family looks If a Player Character reads some-
very subdued as they shuffle out of the one’s mind, they’ll learn the truth. Stabbo
courtroom. came to see Donny, begging him for pro-
tection. Donny was noncommittal, but he
Part 2: The Sad and Lonely Fate of did give Stabbo some money and told him
Vegas Wet and Wild to make himself scarce. Sensing correctly
Marla would very much like the PCs’ help. that this meant his mafia career was over,
So would Detective Gluk. If the PCs tried to Stabbo threw a tantrum and left. He actu-
intervene, or even if they just showed up in ally destroyed his own favorite pinball
costume, one or both of them will ask for machine, Vegas Wet and Wild, he felt so
their assistance. Stabbo the Clown is out unhappy. This is the only thing he’s ever
there somewhere. God knows what he’ll try done that he’ll ever feel any regret about.
to do next. To Marie, to the next woman he That was his favorite game since he was a
hooks up with, to whatever cops try to kid—how could he have done that to it?

396
What’s wrong with him? This haunts him in Mary reveals to the PC (or to Gluk, if
a way that all the people he has brutalized he speaks to her first) that Stabbo has been
and killed never do. staying in her apartment over a novelty
shop (“Grandad’s Wacky Joke Emporium”.)
Part 2.5: Your Government Needs Your He’s feeling really down, she says. His
Help whole family and all his friends have turned
If the GM thinks it would be amusing, large against him—she’s all he’s got left. He’s
men from the UNICORN suddenly confront started taking this whole supervillain thing
the PCs in the middle of the night. These really seriously, she says, and he has begun
humorless drones are very different from painting his face like a clown. He’s also
Agent Falcone. Their suits fit better and really self-conscious about the way his face
they wear sunglasses at night (use the stats got all slashed and ripped up during the
for the Pentagon Force Protection cyborgs fight at the courthouse. He made it worse
and send a psychic with them if you think when he punched out all those windows at
they’ll need one.) the arcade and he’s always taking little
They say they’re from “Your injuries when he runs at super-speed. He’ll
Government.” And your government needs look like the Jigsaw Man soon, he com-
your help. Stabbo the Clown must be taken plains. He lost one of his front teeth, too,
alive and he must be turned over to their and it really bothers him.
custody, not the police. They explain that If Gluk learns this information then
he took a huge overdose of an experimental the police Task Force gets wind of it, and
drug called Mnemodrine 6 just moments they’ll send a SWAT team to Mary’s place.
before he developed his superhuman She lives with her ailing mother, and there’s
powers. He’s not the first superhuman to a strong chance that this could turn into a
get his powers from that drug. But the hostage situation. Bedlam’s SWAT units
thing of it is, in order to actually develop aren’t known for dealing well with hostage
superpowers, you have to spend about a crises.
week in a sensory deprivation tank after you Gluk would like the PCs to try and
take Mnemodrine 6. And no one who has get there first. If they do, Stabbo will give
done this has ever lived for more than them quite a fight in the cramped confines
twenty-four hours without some additional of the apartment. You might want to let the
treatments (the details of which are battle spill over into the novelty store down-
classified, so don’t ask.) Your country needs stairs, since that fits Stabbo’s “theme.” If
you and it needs Stabbo the Clown. Don’t they catch him, he goes to prison giggling
disappoint America. and swearing revenge. But there are rum-
ors that the FBI is going to put him in
Part 3: Grandad’s Wacky Joke Witness Protection.
Emporium
Meanwhile, Mel Lutz has an attack of Part 4: Funland
conscience. He contacts either the PCs or If Stabbo gets away, he’ll hole up in Fun-
Marla Zaranovsky and tells them how to find land, the closed amusement park at the
Mary Conklin, who has been Stabbo’s best bottom of the crime-ridden Liberty Shoppes
friend (and on-again, off-again girlfriend) Mall (see Page 155.) By the time the PCs
since childhood. catch up with him, he’ll have recruited a
If the PCs don’t hit the shabby teenaged gang of gun-toting misfits and
streets of Stark Hill, Detective Gluk does. painted them all in clown makeup. His first
Unless they find her first, he will locate Mary order of business is to find out the secret
Conklin. The moment Gluk sees the fading location of the women’s shelter where Marie
bruises on her face he knows that she’s found refuge and to have his revenge
been seeing Stabbo again. He buys her a against every woman there. Taking over
hamburger at Wunder-Chuks and they have the underworld comes next.
a long talk. He later calls that burger “the
best two dollars I ever spent.”

397
Aftermath Stark Hill. His face has been disfigured in a
Stabbo the Clown goes off to jail or his fire. Within a month they have moved in
grave or a bigger criminal career. Donny together. If a PC asks her, Marie shyly says
Scarpia breathes a sigh of relief. that Detective Gluk introduced them.
Two weeks later Detective Gluk Mel Lutz goes on a cruise to “get his
manages to secure his first authorized head together.” When he returns, he feels
vacation in three years. He returns to find a lot better, forgets his earlier attack of
his desk buried under a giant load of files— conscience and goes back to hustling for the
more than twenty new cases. mob.
Judge Leeth decides he’s had There is no vacation for Marla
enough and puts in a fourth request for Zaranovsky. She must be near the top of
retirement. They reject it and for a week he Stabbo the Clown’s “to-do” list, but she
hears all his cases with his face down. seems unafraid. You can find her any day
Marie Tucci meets a big, strong, of the week in court.
gentle young man who works as a janitor in The city grinds on its weary way.

398
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Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte
Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
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Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
Mutants & Masterminds, Copyright 2002, Green Ronin Publishing; Author
Steve Kenson.
Advanced Player’s Manual, Copyright 2005, Green Ronin Publishing:
Author Skip Williams.
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•Bedlam City, Copyright 2008 James Thomson. Published by Plain Brown Wrapper Games

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