Text, Layout and Design: Chris A.

Field Stock Art Courtesy: Anthony Cournoyer, Shamans Studio Stock Art Packs

Free20: The Troublemaker Template is a free Otherverse Games product, suitable for inclusion in almost any D20 based campaign. The concepts in this book are as applicable to dungeon crawls as they are modern action campaigns. Special attention is given to using this template in Psi-Watch and Otherverse America campaigns. Using this product requires either the D20 Modern Core Rulebook, or the 3.5 Players Handbook published by Wizards of the Coast. If you like what youve seen in this Free20 product, stop by the Otherverse Games website at www.otherversegames.blogspot.com or visit our sales site on www.rpgnow.com.

The Troublemaker Template While working on the Otherverse America core rulebook last month, I took advantage of the after Christmas sales to purchase some new DVDs. Among my purchases was the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated DVD, which introduced a new character to that venerable universe: the sarcastic, enthusiastic young Jedi Ashoka Tanu. While Ashoka was had a unique name and a unique look, I realized how familiar she was to me. Ashoka was Jubilee or Kitty Pryde or Carrie Kelly (the Dark Knights Robin) repackaged and redecorated, but still instantly recognizable, and still enjoyable as a character. All the fictional girls mentioned above share certain traits: all petite, nimble females, all sarcastic and quick-witted, all running on nerve and bravado, all anxious to be taken seriously by their larger, more experienced male partners,

and none of em exactly as tough or competent as they think they are. The Troublemaker Template helps gamers build young heroines who fit the tropes of the fictional girls who inspired the template. This easyto-attach template rewards players for fully embracing this character concept, keeps them alive in the face of overwhelming opposition (at least hopefully), and adds a handful of appropriate new weaknesses right out of the comic books. Acquiring the Template: The Troublemaker Template is an acquired template which can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid of size Medium or smaller, who has an INT and CHA score of at least 8. Only females (or at least non-males, in species with really unusual gender divisions) in the Adult age category or younger can gain the Troublemaker Template. Size and Type: The Troublemakers size and type are unchanged from a game-rule standpoint, but Troublemakers are usually, tiny, petite and seemingly delicate. Troublemakers are at the lower end of height and weight norms for their age, gender and species. Ability Score Modifiers: -2 STR, +2 DEX, +2 CHA. Troublemakers are cute, quickwitted and sharp-tongued, but their petite size limits their strength and durability. Special Qualities: A Troublemaker gains the following special qualities. These traits are personality quirks, flaws and dramatic responses rather than genetic or supernatural abilities. Quick Reflexes (EX): Troublemakers are incredibly agile little bundles of danger. Troublemakers receive a +1 bonus on REF Saves and Initiative checks, in addition to any DEX bonus.

on WILL Saves made to resist fear, including magical and psionic fear effects. However, inexperienced young Troublemakers are prone to panicking in combat, and freezing up for a few seconds while they get their bearings. A Troublemaker must always choose the Total Defense action during their first round of melee combat. If the Troublemaker wants to take other actions during the first combat round, she must succeed at a DC 22 WILL Save. Failure indicates she takes Total Defense; success indicates she can act as she chooses during the first round. Girlish Envy (EX): Troublemakers have difficulty relating to older, more confident (and more curvy) women. They constantly measure themselves and compete against the older women in the group, trading insults, undermining their authority and generally causing trouble. A Troublemaker suffers a -2 penalty on CHA based skill checks made against humanoid and monstrous humanoid females in the Adult age category or older. If the woman is exceptionally beautiful or confident, having a CHA score of 16+, the Troublemaker is especially uncomfortable around her, and this penalty increases to -3. Combat Crush (EX): Troublemakers make surprisingly good partners for frontline warriors. Their antics in battle are a great distraction, and their devotion to their more experienced partners is unmatched. Each day, the Troublemaker can declare her crush on a single ally, of either gender, who must have a STR score at least two points higher than her own. When flanking in conjunction with this combat crush, the bonus provided is +3, not +2 as is normal for a flanking bonus. If the Troublemaker declares her Combat Crush to a female character, she does not suffer the interaction penalties described in the Girlish Envy template trait in relation to that character.

Totally Fearless. Kinda (EX): Troublemakers are reckless and confident, and despite their Challenge Rating: The Troublemakers inexperience, relish overcoming new challenges and base CR is unchanged. fearsome foes. A Troublemaker receives a +4 bonus Level Adjustment: +0

Troublemakers in Psi-Watch Since The Dark Knight Returns is one of the seminal works of the Iron Age of comics, and the Psi-Watch is inspired by those same comics, the Troublemaker template is a natural fit for the campaign. Jubilee of the X-Men and Cyberforces Velocity, two of the iconic female characters of the 1990s, are prototypical Troublemakers. Troublemaker characters should focus on enhancing their already impressive speed, agility and defensive abilities. Cybernetics and psionic powers that emphasize mobility and evasion are prime choices for Troublemakers. Since a youthful, jailbait sexiness is part and parcel of the template, most players will select an attractive, mostly humanoid player race for use with the template. Gamemasters can expect lots of Gravity Cat, Patriot Ivory, Cityborn, Challengers, and Spetnazsi Troublemakers, even a few Light Reconstruction Cyborgs but somebody is going to show up at the table with a flirty, teenaged Jupiter Tainted or Patriot Anvil mutate. If that happens, just go with it and try not to picture a 500 lb lunk of living granite in a miniskirt. Itll just hurt your brain. Troublemakers are common to most of the factions in Psi-Watch. A player can build an iconoclast Final Sword using this template- a promising young swordswoman who is constantly butting heads with the Orders matrons, who spends as much time on punishment details as she does in the sword dojo because of her impudence. Likewise, a Troublemaker might be a new Psi-Watch agent, a talented and cocky young para-human recruited right out of high school. Naturally, the Troublemaker will fight almost as hard against her own organizations drill sergeants as she does enemy cyborgs. Troublemakers are a basically heroic archetype, likable and hopeful. As such, the gamemaster should probably avoid using this template with the settings villains, like the Huxley Emergence or Mung Thoy Tans thuggish enforcers.

Nothing prevents the gamemaster from building villainous Troublemakers, though. Even the most blood-thirsty anti-heroes might hesitate at taking down a little girl, even if she is a villain. If you are comfortable making the campaign about moral choices, rather than run n gun action, giving a minor villain or three this template might be a good choice. After all, the spiked chain-wielding GoGo Yubari (from Kill Bill vol 1), is a damn good example of an evil Troublemaker. Evil Troublemakers live up to their name- they are sadistic, cruel and manipulative, and use their barely legal beauty as another weapon in their arsenal. Troublemakers in the Otherverse Like their counterparts in Psi-Watch, Otherverse Troublemakers can hail from any faction, and can fight for any cause. Troublemakers are naturally common to the Choicer faction, since the Choicers are a gynarchy, whose military places great emphasis on graceful and dexterous melee experts. Many young Clinic Defenders, and even a few of the normally more serious-minded Neo-Witch Midwives acquire this template along the way. Troublemakers are mediafriendly Choicer activists and combat volunteers; Choicer porno-blogs and Mesh sites are dominated by attractively packaged young Troublemakers. The Choicer media enjoys and encourages the antics of the pseudo-nations Troublemakers, holding them up as one ideal of young, female heroism. Lifer Troublemakers are in many ways, the antithesis of their movements stereotypes. The prototypical Lifer is hideously huge, male and brutal. By contrast, a Lifer Troublemaker is nimble, attractive, female and more focused on defense and evasion than killing. Tossing a Troublemaker Lifer soldier at the players is a good way to refute some of the settings unspoken stereotypes and once again humanize the groups Lifer adversaries, especially if your campaign focuses heavily on regular gun battles against the A.O.G. Many Lifer girls who choose the CFL Kid or Block Mother starting occupation also acquire this template. These young, purple-garbed women

blend the playful innocence and sexiness inherent in the template with their own responsibilities as teen mothers. Further Reading The comic-booky, stereotypically feminine inspiration for the Troublemaker can also be felt in many other Skortched Urf products. The Troublemaker template makes a good thematic fit for the NeoWitch Guardian and Innocent advanced classes (Skortched Urf Studios Advanced Class Update line). The template provides some much needed levity and innocence for Black Tokyo (Black Tokyo campaign setting, Otherverse Games) adventurers. Many Harem Mages might create Troublemaker playthings, and if you want to play a cute and cuddly cat-girl, picking Nekomusumane as your player race works just as well, if not better, than picking Gravity Cat. Living Toys (from D20 Decade:1980s, Otherverse Games) are a good thematic fit to the template. Siren and Swiftwing Pixies are great character choices (and even better power-gaming choices) for fantasy gamers making use of this template. Both races can be found in The Thinking Races: Inhuman Beauty (Otherverse Games).

Free20: Troublemaker, Chris A. Field, Otherverse Games, 2009 www.otherversegames.blogspot.com