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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9082033" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/WEsppyE.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />While in other Let’s Reads I’d move on to the next chapter, on KickStarter I picked up some exclusive add-ons for Azrael’s. One of them is already released, a short 8-page PDF of an in-universe newspaper chronicling how the Antichrist got to power and changed the world for the worse. It can thus serve as an in-game handout for PCs or as part of a “Session Zero” backdrop for players to better understand how the historical fantasy world detailed in Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible became a modern dystopia. I will not necessarily be speaking of things from the in-universe propaganda of the newspaper, instead giving a more objective overview from information gleaned from it along with the adventure proper.Both products say that they deliberately chose a fictional figure for the Antichrist, along with not giving an explicit date or country in which the relevant adventure sections are set. “No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), governments, political affiliations, or events is intended or should be inferred.”That’s an understandable desire: many Christian predictors of the End Times or Antichrist have veered towards more explicit prophecies, often heavily based on their local socio-political realities. Which inevitably dates End Times fiction when said prophecies don’t come to pass in that particular era. And this isn’t discounting the times the Antichrist is interpreted not as an individual, but as an institution/system or a state of mind that any human can potentially become.On the other hand, the desire to remain apolitical is extremely hard to do when your fictional setting is not just “the real world,” but set in the near-future with cultural and contemporary events that map quite closely to our 21st Century. The personal ideology of the Antichrist’s government also has some elements which can be read a certain way or have themes reminiscent of certain mindsets that would definitely be “political.”Going back to the adventure, the Antichrist in this setting isn’t an institution or a state of mind like in some interpretations, but a singular individual: Senator Jeremiah Resh. Resh’s early life is more or less unknown, but twenty years ago he became a rising star in the political arena of his (unnamed) country, at a time when the nation was heavily divided on all manner of issues from healthcare to freedom of speech along with increasing domestic terrorist attacks. In the latter case, many of them are believed to have had religious motivations. In his home nation, Jeremiah Resh became known for his outspoken criticism of the negative consequences of religion in general, drawing upon said terrorist attacks as the lynchpin for pushing through various laws banning public forms of religious expression.During his fourth term as Senator, Resh worked as a political lobbyist and began reaching for more international influence, creating the seeds of an international coalition that would become known as the International Unity Project. The Project in its most basic form claims that the majority of things wrong with the world comes from division in general, and that humanity can be united towards a common goal by getting rid of the ties that keep us separate. Religion, ethnic and cultural identities, languages, and even the polarizing nature of democratic systems of government were posited as the lodestones keeping people from rising to their true potential.The countries that signed on to the Project are known as the New Consolidated Nations. While Resh is not their leader in an official capacity and is still posing as a mere Senator of his home country, he operates as a power behind the throne and the leaders of the governments are basically puppets who run things by for his approval. There’s a special military-police unit known as the Marked Taskforce whose jurisdiction includes hunting down religious people, serving as security in the New Consolidated Nations’ unnamed capital city, anti-terrorism efforts,* and serving as “Peacekeeping forces” in regions still resisting the Antichrist’s rule. They are so named for bearing the distinctive tattoo of 3 6s hooked together at their lower loops, which is the Mark of the Beast. Resh plans to force all New Consolidated Nations citizens to get it as a tattoo, ostensibly to show their loyalty and as a government tracking measure to better combat “anti-Unity terrorism.” In reality, the Marked soldiers are all fiends with human-looking shells, although their eyes are distinctly inhuman which means they wear either sunglasses or helmets to conceal such features. Honestly, they’re not far off from the base soldiers of XCOM 2’s ADVENT or Half-Life’s Combine.*In reality they’re terrorists in all but name.Obviously, Resh has no such lofty goals of uplifting humanity into a singular utopian state: as the Antichrist he is the willful servant of Satan, and wants to make the world a more cruel, sinful place to ensure as many humans end up in Hell as possible. All forms of religion were banned in the name of combating the evils that were spawned from religious zealotry. Cultural celebrations were banned in the name of fighting discrimination, and diversity in general is regarded as a weakness, causing IUP countries to mandate a single language and ban all others. Such authoritarian laws have been used to further tyranny and genocide, but Resh harbors a special hatred for the Abrahamic faiths. The only real joy he feels is in knowing that he’s undoing all the works that Jesus Christ had sought to build on Earth, and once all the nations are under his sway he will unveil the new religion he was building up to all along: veneration of Satan himself.The vast majority of world governments signed on to the International Unity Project, and those still resisting are but lone holdovers doomed to fail. Israel, Palestine, and some unnamed Middle Eastern nations occupy the latter group. When religious buildings, monuments, relics, and sacred texts were being destroyed, an unlikely alliance emerged in the Israeli-Palestinian Coalition who sought to protect the holiest sites from destruction. Said Coalition also received support from the Vatican, leading the New Consolidated Nations to firebomb the Catholic Church’s headquarters and wage a bloody, brutal war in the Levant and greater Middle East.The rest of the newspaper hints at later events in the adventure, such as Melissa Mendax, Resh’s chief propagandist and False Prophet who is a secondary antagonist of sorts; a planned charity auction selling the contents of Senator Resh’s private vault in the capital city of the New Consolidated Nations; the Unity Memorial, built on the edge of the waterfall whose works of art are forged out of the broken remains of religious buildings from around the world; a blurb detailing information on a wanted individual who is actually Azrael in human disguise; and some classified newspaper sections that blend together everyday life and the underlying dystopia, such as an estate sale for the belongings of an old woman who got arrested for holding religious gatherings in her basement.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/utqOD48.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />From left to right: Shock Trooper, Agent, Sniper, IroncladWhile part of the main book, I figure that talking about Jeremiah Resh’s demonic spec ops squad is warranted here. The unholy means of their creation is unknown, but the most that can be gathered is that the Marked are the essence of fiends contained within a humanoid form. They are all Amalgam (Fiend/Humanoid) type and are pretty low CR, ranging from ¼ (agent) to 5 (Ironclad). They’re not a threat to high-level PCs individually, instead designed to wear down their resources via numbers, tactics, and in some cases equipment and vehicles.The Marked Shock Troopers are weak CR 2 cannon fodder whose only means of attacking are automatic rifles, which have a special burst fire mode that makes the attack an AoE instead. They, along with all other Marked, have advantage on saves vs the charmed and frightened conditions, and in spite of wearing armor the trooper’s AC is a low 13 (they have 16 Dexterity, implying that it’s just for show). They aren’t proficient in any saves or skills save for Intimidation, and their mental ability scores are average or below-average in the case of Charisma. I do see an error in their stat block in having Intimidation +6 despite having a Charisma of 9 and Proficiency Bonus of +2. This is the same for Agents and Ironclad, as the Snipers are the only ones without it. Even if they had Expertise, it wouldn’t be this high.Marked Agents are basically security for more civilian-friendly places bearing the illusion of safety, where body armor and automatic weapons would stand out. Their only attack is a silenced pistol, but like the Shock Troopers they’re only proficient in Intimidation (which they also have at +6) and no sneaky skills like Stealth or Sleight of Hand, so they aren’t exactly stellar assassin types. In the module they basically serve in roles similar to lookouts in public areas, where a gun is enough to keep civilians away.Marked Snipers are pretty self-explanatory. Their hit points are incredibly low for being CR 3 (22), but they’re designed to be long-range glass cannons. They have gas grenades and sniper rifles, the latter being a +3 weapon. Combined with their 18 Dexterity gives them an amazing +9 to hit. Furthermore they have advantage on Stealth checks to hide, which they have at +8, and they have advantage on attack rolls against creatures not aware of their presence. And when they’re deployed in the module the text notes their field of vision, meaning they’re most often shooting from several “rooms” away unless the PCs manage to avoid detection. Given the extreme range of a sniper rifle, PCs will have to spend several turns getting to their position unless they have equally long-distance attacks or magical means of quickly closing the gap.*These are the same rules as the ones the Commando subclass gets. Sniper Rifles are amazing, yo.Marked Ironclads are heavy troopers for high-risk security and when you need to kill a lot of people with a minimal amount of soldiers. They have a sturdy 126 hit points, 18 AC courtesy of their ballistic armor and shield, can attack twice with a shotgun, and possess a Wrist Flamethrower which deals 3d8 fire damage in a 30 foot cone that ignites flammable objects and spreads around corners. Basically a less powerful version of the Commando weapon of the same name.If the Marked Taskforce has any glaring weaknesses, it’s that they have no means of magical support on their own, and their lack of saving throw proficiencies and average mental ability scores means that such magic has a decent chance of working on them. Their advantage vs the frightened and charmed conditions helps alleviate this a bit, but spells that get around this are pretty potent. They also have no real melee attacks, even the 18 Strength Ironclad who doesn’t even have a shield bash. A melee fighter who is adjacent to them can easily lock them down and impose disadvantage on their ranged attacks until they move away, possibly risking an opportunity attack unless they Disengage.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/XNk84Ya.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />The Marked also have vehicles, which are pseudo-monsters in that they use most functions of a creature or NPC stat block but are objects which can’t act on their own. They all have typical construct/object immunities and grant varying degrees of cover to passengers depending on the Seats they’re currently occupying in the vehicle. All of them have Prone Vulnerability, typically meaning if the vehicle becomes prone they’re either Incapacitated (if ground vehicle) or start falling to the ground (if aerial) until they’re lifted upright via a Strength check (if ground) or piloted back to a stable condition via a Dexterity check (if aerial, proficiency bonus adds if trained in using such vehicles). Additionally, they have Seats which grant new special actions that can only be taken while in that position in the vehicle.AFVs are pretty hefty vehicles that function similar to ATVs (Armored Transport Vehicles). They can hold 10 Medium creatures, have an impressive 175 hit points, 19 AC, a walking speed of 100 feet, and three unique Seats: the driver can take two special actions to either Ram a target that deals damage and knocks them prone if they fail a DEX save, or Swerve to gain advantage on a Dexterity save; the Gunner can use a special Rotary Cannon that deals damage like a Heavy Machine Gun in a 20 foot radius of the area they target; and Passengers can Deploy out the rear hatch, gaining +10 feet of movement for one round and advantage on their next attack roll.The Marked Rotorcraft is basically a helicopter. It’s much more fragile with 50 hit points, 18 AC when moving but 13 when stationary, and is the fastest vehicle at 200 foot fly speed. For Seat abilities, the Pilot can Swerve like an AFV or enter Stealth Mode for up to an hour granting a +10 on Stealth checks; the Gunner has a mounted rifle that deals 2d12 damage; and the Passengers have no special actions.The Marked Combat Tank is an engine of war, and its design has become instantly recognizable for their use in destroying countless sacred places of worship and killing religious dissidents. It is the toughest of the vehicles, with 250 hit points, a 22 AC, and is immune to fire and cold damage along with the typical construct immunities. The tank can hold 12 Medium creatures, and its ground speed of 50 feet is rather slow but the Steel Treads ignore difficult terrain. Characters who attack the tank from behind only need to hit a 17 AC and it also becomes vulnerable to piercing attacks from that position. There are four special Seats in the tank: the Commander can Call Instruction to grant +1d4 to attack rolls and saving throws to other creatures that can hear them* until the start of their next turn; the Driver can Crush, dealing bludgeoning damage and the prone condition like the AFV’s ram attack; the Gunner has a Main Gun that can fire twice per attack and deals a large amount of both bludgeoning and fire damage; and a Passenger can serve as Lookout to give another creature advantage on its next roll as per the Help action.*Presumably allies, the text doesn’t specify this.The three vehicles are very useful tools that the Marked Taskforce can use to even the odds (or more likely be a less comfy speedbump) against higher-level PCs. Being objects they cannot be affected by spells which specify creatures as targets, making them pretty resilient against many damaging spells. Furthermore, the Marked Rotorcraft’s fly speed outperforms every official monster of which I’m aware,* and even mere Agents or Shock Troopers can become a deadly threat when seated in a Combat Tank. The vehicle’s major weaknesses beyond the prone condition is that barring the Rotorcraft they have crappy Dexterity, which the Swerve actions can partially mitigate. They also can’t Dash as that’s not an option for the pilots, meaning that certain builds such as a Tabaxi Monk or Rogue hopped up on Haste can still outrun a car. Although the AFV and Combat Tank have good Strength, a PC designed around shoving should be able to knock them prone without much trouble. AFVs and Rotorcrafts are Huge and Tanks Gargantuan, meaning that a Goliath (or Giant if we want to stay Biblical) with Enlarge/Reduce can flip over a tank by RAW. Which is awesome!*Discounting unique creatures that only show up in particular adventures, of which I’m sure there’s quite a bit.Thoughts So Far: The world posited in Rise of the Antichrist checks off the major boxes for a near-future Biblical dystopia: Christians (and religious people in general) are outlawed and subject to being hunted down, the police and military of the capital city are all faceless troopers who none of the local citizenry actually know the identities of, most of the world is an Orwellian hell, actual resistance seems all but impossible, and people are being coerced to adopt a triple 6 mark in order to prove their loyalty to the new order. I think there’s some pretty strong story elements here, and I like how there’s still that “fantasy” element of magic and demons still acting behind the scenes even in the modern day.One thing that clearly stands out is that the End Times in Azrael’s Guide to the Apocalypse is not the Rapture. Many people, particularly in the United States, are perhaps most familiar with that interpretation which is often pushed as the default by conservative Protestants in this country as well as the Left Behind franchise. Christians are still around and didn’t just vanish into thin air.<a href="https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/lets-read-azraels-guide-to-the-apocalypse.912437/#post-24890791" target="_blank">I actually have more to say, but as that may be swerving close into political territory unrelated to RPG games, you can read my takes over on RPGnet.</a>Join us next time as Azrael assembles a host of departed mortals from across human history in Chapter 1: the Reapers!</blockquote>

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