For the purpose of the one shot adventure, this game is being run under a stripped down version of the D20 Modern system, with a few additions for our own amusement. What does this mean? Well, here's the character creation 'rules'.

Humans are obviously the normal choice, but you can be a supernatural entity! Just note that humans get some benefits to balance things out, like being not considered a monster by the world at large and not having unusual dietary requirements, and that unless you use a Feat or two on some extremely cool powers you are limited in part by your stats and skills.

The good news? Humans rule the planet, quite literally, and while there are things of greater power and danger out there, humans are the ones with the guns, the bombs, and the nuclear weapons, which is why most intelligent monsters fight just as hard as the Keepers to maintain the masquerade that keeps the majority of humanity ignorant of their existence.

• By and large, humanity is not aware that the supernatural exists, or doesn't believe that it exists.
• Fringe elements are all over, but are regularly discredited or removed from the public eye.
• There are also people who actively confront the supernatural, or interact with them… sometimes as enemies, sometimes as friends, and sometimes for exploitative reasons… though who's exploiting who?
• As such, those confronting the supernatural should be aware that humanity can be their biggest threat as well as their best ally.
• Those who actually are human are also more likely to receive trust and support from fellow supernatural-aware humans – have to stick together against those monstrous things, after all.

The most common supernatural entity that still maintains a friendship with humanity, vampires – or at least the breed of them commonly found in the United States – have some basic abilities and drawbacks that balance them out with humanity. Let's get to brass tacks:

• Vampires drink blood to live. They must drink blood in the same general frequency that people eat food, in fact. Vampires do not necessarily need to kill in order to survive, but a single individual cannot maintain a vampire's appetite forever for the same reason they can't donate a pint of blood every day.
• Vampires are not big fans of the sunlight. While the American Vampire doesn't burst into flames in sunlight, they do experience a loss of most of their supernatural powers and abilities in sunlight, and have the weakened status in sunlight.
• Vampires often have peculiar powers, but these powers vary widely from fangster to fangster - a fact that drives Keepers crazy, as it means they are difficult to pigeonhole. However, vampiric charisma and mind control are practically expected in some form or another, and they are usually stronger and tougher than their human counterparts.
• Vampires do not leave a reflection, and camera and security systems that rely on mirrors will not detect them. They also tend to be cool to the touch. All of these make the old 'mirror check' a reasonably common way to check for vampires; a handshake will work as well, but that requires being awfully close to them…
• Vampires have a limited number of ways to permanently kill them, but these ways are well known – starvation, a stake through the heart, decapitation, death by fire, or anything that destroys the brain or heart. Furthermore, not being killed by something does not give you immunity to it, as many quadriplegic vampires who died of starvation have discovered.

As the PCs are all either humans or vampires, other creatures just get a quick synopsis here:

• Werewolves. The classic man-to-beast incarnate, werewolves are mostly known for savagery when alone, but can become devastating predators when they have a pack to work with. Werewolves tend to prefer territory that is isolated from humanity, and they are known to be most vulnerable to silver, as it leaves lasting injuries. The fact that some European vampires are also vulnerable to silver has sparked gossip that they might be related evolutionary branches, a theory that both vampires and werewolves repudiate. Werewolves and vampires traditionally don't get along, but those that do are even more troublesome, as werewolves can easily clean up the bodies that vampires leave behind.
• Bastet. These are people who can transform into a catlike creature, known as Bastet because they are known to have existed since Egyptian times (then again, so have a lot of things if you read the right heiroglyphics), if not earlier. They were seen as blessed by Bast and responsible for maintaining the pact between feline and humanity, if you believe the legends; even today, cats are quite welcome in human homes, and Bastets are still found in human cities, though their business is their own.
• Ghosts. Supernatural entities typically incarnated from the soul of a person who died in a particularly tragic or horrific manner, and generally not friendly towards humanity at large, being dead and all. Ghosts are typically tied to the scene of their death, or to something else important in their life. Sometimes ghosts can be persuaded to move on to the next life, while others may refuse to let go and must be forced to move on by destroying the object or motive that keeps them clinging to this world. For example, some battlefield remnants can be convinced to move on by proving to them that the war they are fighting is officially over, while others will not be persuaded so easily without destroying the symbol of their command post.
• Outsiders. Commonly referred to as 'angels' or 'demons', outsiders are supernatural entities from outside this world who meddle in the affairs of mortals. It's clear that they have some manner of power structure, as those who meet will occasionally show deference or command, but they don't typically stop to explain their society to mere mortals. They sometimes offer gifts, and sometimes request favors – and may be 'good' or 'evil' in the eyes of humanity, depending on their current ambitions. Many can choose to appear perfectly human, but some don't.
• Unreal. While many things are understood by at least some small portion of humanity, there are others that are less comprehensible; things that distort reality by their very existence. It's unclear whether their intent is such or not, as there seldom seems to be a coherent plan to their behavior – only the strangeness left in their wake is a sign that the Unreal have touched a particular place or person. It is generally assumed, however, that anything that gradually unmakes the world should at least be considered a threat, if not overtly hostile.
• Faeries and Spirits. The natural spirits of the Earth have existed for at least as long as people have been able to give word to their beliefs in the existence of spirits. One has to wonder, though, does humanity's belief give the supernatural strength? What happens when humanity stops believing in the powers of nature? This topic has come up most particularly because these spirits have lost much of their power and presence in recent decades, with many of their best tricks beaten by machines of iron that trample their works and crisscross their lands with bands of metal. Aside from the occasional witch or warlock asking their blessing, or some cultural heritages that are fading away over time, few acknowledge the various spirits of the world, let alone offer them praise and worship.
• Other. There are many things that are said to go bump in the night. Many of them are real. Some are falsehoods created by a bored author. Not a few are both, things given form and shape by the belief of humanity. Be on your guard.

This is the one section that got slightly more complicated. You have 100 points to divide between the attributes – but I've added three attributes. This means that you can have a character who is equally slightly above average in all things (you're all heroes, so you all get to be better than average), or be awful at a few things and better at most. I've included the list here as well as what various levels mean for various stats.

As you might guess, Strength is your physical ability to move things, haul things, hit things really hard, and so forth. Physical entities such as humans and vampires tend to need Strength in order to stand, walk, and affect the world.

Dexterity is a blend of flexibility, grace, and coordination - your physical ability to move things or control things accurately, and so forth. Physical entities such as humans and vampires tend to need Dexterity in order to move quickly and carefully, without clumsiness, and with skill.

Constitution is a blend of stamina, endurance, and general good health - your ability to endure physical stress, keep going when physically impaired, or resist diseases and toxins. Physical entities such as humans and vampires tend to need Constitution to endure suffering, continue exerting oneself for long periods, heal quickly and survive debilitating blows.

Intelligence, as one might expect, is one's innate ability to outfox others, understand and plan for situations, and think on your feet. Entities with a sense of consciousness tend to need Intelligence in order to come up with sensible activities, and to think of solutions to problems.

Wisdom serves as one's measure of common sense and ability to interpret the environment. Someone who likes to use Sherlock Scans to explain what he determines about others is using Wisdom to detect and interpret these minor clues. Entities with a sense of consciousness tend to need Wisdom in order to think of the downsides of otherwise 'intelligent' activities, be observant of their environment, and use 'common sense' when figuring out if something is a bad idea.

Charisma serves as a measure of one's presence and ability to influence others rather than be influenced. People with high levels of willpower and self-esteem tend to have high Charisma. Entities with a sense of consciousness tend to need Charisma in order to convince others to agree with their thoughts or assist in their goals.

Luck is one's ability to countermand the odds and get improbable breaks. People who routinely win the lottery or endure streaks of phenomenal fortune likely have a great deal of luck on their side. Luck tends to be useful when trying to survive things nobody could survive, and doesn't hurt when playing games of chance, either.

Magic is one's innate ability to use and resist against magical power. Those without magical talent don't necessarily need a score in Magic, but in a world where magic is real, this gives you power over it, and is called upon when you duel another magician or attempt to use magical powers and skills.

Mentalism is your internal mental strength, and is used when attempting to use or resist psychic powers and mind-affecting effects. Those with no psychic abilities may not need it, but without it they are highly vulnerable to mind control, hypnosis, and anything else that can disrupt the mind.

When creating a character, I give you 100 points to divide amongst these attributes any way you like that fits your idea of the character's innate capabilities. As a rule, d20 gives you a +0 to rolls using a particular attribute if your score is 10 – so if you are attempting to move a heavy object and your strength is 10, you would receive a d20 roll with no modifiers. Every 2 points above ten results in a +1; every two points or fraction below ten results in a -1, so someone with a Strength of 5 would receive a -3 on their test of strength compared to the Strength 10 person who gets a +0.

This means that it is worth it to have a 12 in attributes you want a +1 to rolls on, a 14 for +2, and so on. Likewise, attributes may have other effects that scale - Strength, for example, controls how much weight you can cart around, while Magic influences the raw power of any spells you cast, ritual or Feat-generated.

I'm basically using the d20 Modern skill list, with some additions here and there. With that said, you get 40 points to spend on skills, and can spend them any way you like (no 'class skills' versus 'non-class skills' here like in D&D), but you can only spend up to four points per skill. Skills also have an Attribute that they usually depend on – this means that someone who has a +4 in a skill and a +4 from a matching attribute is very likely to succeed where someone with a +0 to skill and -2 from the matching attribute is more likely than not to fail.

This skill list is ripped off mostly from http://www.d20resources.com/modern.d20.srd/skills/ and http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/skills.htm .

You can choose to specialize in a particular component of a skill that doesn't normally force you to focus, or on a specific element of a skill that does require focus, such as Appraise (Wine), Craft (Chemical/Explosives), Knowledge (Civics/Law), or Repair (Mechanical); this gives you a +5 to that aspect at the expense of a -2 on anything not related to your expertise.

The most relevant attribute is what bonus is usually added to your skill roll when making skills against it - for example, Drive usually involves Dexterity. But you might be able to justify using Drive and Intelligence to figure out why your car won't start, or Drive and Wisdom to look for an opportunity while on the road… be creative!

Most things in D20, and thus here, are difficulty checks of some kind. How hard is it for me to hit that guy? Can I convince his friend to let us go? Can I figure out where a good pizza restaurant is? Difficulty checks have a DC number, which basically is the amount you would need to reach on a d20 roll including any relevant modifiers in order to succeed. Note that the examples are tongue in cheek and particularly easy rolls may be skipped because there is no practical way to fail.

Note that, assuming a maxed stat of 20 provides a +5 to your d20 check, and a skill rank of 4 adds +4, something described as virtually possible -is- impossible unless you have other modifiers helping you. Assistance from friends, supporting skill checks, well-placed Research, and good equipment can all add extra bonuses to a specific skill roll. If the skill is one that you can take 20 on, then sufficient modifiers will make anything possible actually doable, if you are willing to spend a very long time working at it. Otherwise, you may have to try, and come back again with more beneficial modifiers if you fail.

It's also good to remember that if you want to be exceptionally talented at one specific thing, you can specialize in it – if you really want to be a master with the guitar, you can take a +5 to it at the cost of a -2 to pick up a violin and use it. This can allow you to achieve the almost-impossible, if all of the stars align right and you have the talents to back it up.

Note also that negative modifiers may make something harder than you would normally expect. Working without proper tools typically gives a -2 to any skill that requires tools, and may be worse if you are especially poorly off (trying to pick a lock with the wire from a twist-tie is going to be even harder than using a normal bobby-pin.)

A few things in D20 work slightly differently. These are things like Research, Knowledge, Perform… things that measure how well a particular, non-repeatable attempt goes. After a day of research you may have all the answers, or have a bad headache; you may be particularly knowledgeable about grotto nymphs or just think the name means they're the girls from the Playmate mansion private pool, you may put on a stellar performance or barely manage an adequate showing. In this case, you are basically making a roll, adding any appropriate modifiers, and comparing it to the following table, using cooking as a descriptive example.

While the effects of success and failure may vary, in general, higher rolls mean more impressive work. Rolls that provide information in some way will provide more information on a better roll, or allow you to get the same information in a quicker amount of time in situations where that matters. (If you need to know the main characters from Hamlet, only the most incompetent researcher will give faulty information if given enough time to research properly – “I think one of them was, like, Kenneth Branagh…?” – while in most cases the difference between a Pathetic researcher and a Masterful one is that a Pathetic researcher has trouble finding Hamlet to look it up, while most Great or better researchers will know where it's located in the library and give you an answer as quickly as they can look it up, assuming they don't know it by heart already.

Most things that are outside of stressful circumstances allow you to 'take 10' – in short, assume your die roll was a 10. This is also how 'default reactions' are checked in situations where the person in question is being checked on their passive reactions - such as Spot checks from people to see you who aren't actively trying to detect an intruder. This means that anything with a DC of 10 or less will be automatically successful in a non-stressful situation unless you have a penalty to the roll for some reason, and thus that situations that would automatically be successful don't require a die roll.

However, stressful situations generally require a roll – what may be easy in a calm moment may be less easy during a tense confrontation or a pitched battle, and trying to sneak through an office full of distracted people seems easy until you really need to leave work on time…

If you have enough time on your hands, you can eventually work your way through most problems through brute persistence. This is handled in d20 and its derivatives by the concept of 'taking 20'. If you are not in a stressful situation, you can basically try everything (taking 20, or assuming a die roll of 20), by taking ten times as long as normal to do something. For example, if you could take a quick perusal of a room in one minute with a Search check, you can 'take 20' and take ten minutes to effectively make a Search check of 20 plus your normal modifiers. Likewise, by spending ten times the normal amount of resources and time on building something, you receive an effective '20' on your attempt to make something.

Note that this isn't guaranteed to succeed – for example, if you are trying to make a DC of 30, and you have no bonuses to the roll at all, you can't succeed even if you take your time. Better figure out how to get bonuses…

Likewise, this absolutely requires that you are able to take your time in a non-stressful situation. In most cases, stressful situations won't let you take your time. You may be able to cook a passable meal in an hour or two at home with Profession (Chef) or Craft (Cooking) by taking your time to do it right, but if you go into a culinary competition, forget about taking 20 even if the time limit somehow allows it. Most 'stress test' competitive situations are deliberately designed so that you have less than enough time to 'take your time' through them even if you have a feat or ability that makes a particular skill non-stressful.

So how do you get modifiers without changing your skills? You can assist one roll with another, or you can get modifiers that add to the roll. For example, let's say that you were trying to make a DC of 30 to move a really, really heavy object. Not very easy, but other people can assist to add bonuses to that roll until what's impossible for one man becomes relatively easy for ten men. There are limits on how many things can assist a roll, so ask if you are uncertain!

Modifiers are exactly what they sound like - they modify your chances. For example, working with a particularly good set of gear may give you a bonus to your roll, while a particularly bad set of improvised gear might give you a penalty. (Think 'picking a lock with the full Mythbuster garage of equipment to work with' versus 'picking a lock with a bobby pin and a screwdriver' versus 'picking a lock with a stick and a fingernail.')

You will usually know whether your modifiers are positive or negative, but you may not be able to guarantee success until you actually try it!

Yeah, this could have a fancy name, but really, this is 'Something Your Character Does Well That Doesn't Fit in Skills or Stats'. In short, define something special about your character. This could be anything from Nightvision (you see well in the dark and are generally not affected by it unless blinded) to Nature Magic (you can do immediate awesome things with nature magic) to Gothmother (you can control goths to some extent and blend in)…

There are some caveats, of course. First of all, the more specific you are with a feat, the more powerful it becomes. For example, someone could have Keen Senses, in which case all of their senses are keener than usual, or they could have Bloodhound's Smell, in which case their sense of smell is preternaturally keen. One would basically give them a perception bonus on any sense, while the other would only affect smell but could let them do much more amazing things with it.

Again, since we are taking this easy, this is basically your chance to free-style! It's also your chance to define special talents that aren't dictated by stats – vampires don't get to turn into mist without a Feat, for example. Think of them as somewhere between class powers and, well, feats from D&D or D20 Modern.

WTF is a bennie? It's another way of saying 'a point of scoring'. You can earn bennies, or whatever the hell we call them, through good play and good roleplay - defeating the evil, saving the good, and looking damn good doing it, and all that.

In short, you earn them at the end of each session of play, and you can cash them in for things during play.

How do you earn a bennie? Well, let's start with the basics.

1) Everybody Gets One. Everyone starts with one Bennie, at the start of the first session. That's yours tax-free.

2) I Showed Up. Everyone who shows up to a session gets one. If you don't show up, I'm sorry, no Bennie for you, nothing I can do.

3) Kicking Ass and Taking Names. Personally triumphing over the forces of darkness tends to earn you a bennie, particularly if you are the one to finish them off, or if it's a difficult encounter that everyone gets credit for surviving.

4) Helping The Helpless. Well, not everyone is helpless, of course, but this is a general catch-all for good karma earned by saving innocents and bystanders, and generally Doing The Right Thing. Again, this can be for a single character if they go out of their way to help, or an entire party if they put someone's wellbeing ahead of themselves.

5) Damn, I'm Good. This one is the most subjective of the lot – if you manage to make the GM and other players laugh, impress them, or otherwise make them think you deserve it, you may get a Bennie out of your actions. Just make sure they're laughing with you, not at you.

6) Railroad Spiked. I try to avoid things like this, as I like to think I'm flexible and this adventure in particular is one of my own, so 'the rails' aren't as set as they might otherwise be. But if I have to insist on something that is more about trying to get the adventure onto the right path again than about it just being a horrible idea to pick a fight with the three-headed dragon while wearing barbecue sauce and a bacon loincloth, then I'm railroading you, and if I'm railroading you, you deserve a Bennie for the trouble. Again, this may apply to a single character or the entire party. I will try not to abuse this feature, so don't expect to earn many points this way unless you are very good at trying to thwart Stage One of evil plans. The introduction to the adventure is an admitted Railroad Spike – you are letting me put your characters on the trail of this adventure so we can hopefully have a good time, and you get a free Bennie at the beginning of the adventure because of this.

Okay, that's wonderful. So what can you use them for?

1) Lucky Break: Cash in a bennie, and you get a roll using your Luck bonus as a modifier to try to get a lucky break. This only gives you a minor bit of fortune, though – it won't make the werewolf hunting you suddenly give up humanitarianism and want to be buddies, but it may make him decide to chase someone more interesting for a bit.

2) I Take That Back…: Did you just try something, and it fell flat on its face? Spend a Bennie and you can take an action back – in short, you didn't try that, what you meant to say was that you tried … the same thing and got another shot at rolling well for it, or that you tried something else that might be wiser. In short, it's meant to give you a chance to avoid having one bad impulsive decision or disastrous bad luck get your character or party killed off. “On second thought, no, I don't punch the thing that is steaming and might be acidic. I think I'll run.” Note that you can only take back your own decisions – if someone else makes a bad decision, that's entirely on them.

3) Blaze of Glory: Are you screwed? Do you need to keep fighting? Time to go out in a Blaze of Glory. You can keep going even after the dice say you should be unconscious or dead or worse for one turn by cashing in a bennie. Even better, this negates any penalties you might be suffering from injuries for the turn. Agonizing pain due to your leg being shattered and your ribcage stomped in? Doesn't matter – you get a brief moment to save the day, or just save your ass. However, when you run out of points, or decide to stop, you had better hope you are in a better place… you immediately pass out, and can't use I Can't Die Here to save yourself. You'd better be sure this will make the difference!

4) I Can't Die Here: Really screwed? Really, REALLY screwed? Back to the wall, and certain that even a Blaze of Glory won't save your ass? Hand over your bennies – all of them, in fact – and you will be saved from a fatal blow and will not incur further harm. You've bought your way out of danger! It's not all sunshine and posies, though, as this will NOT protect you from becoming severely injured, knocked unconscious, blasted out of the area, et cetera, and generally will negate your participation in the Scene at hand. Furthermore, until you earn at least one more Bennie, you will have no safety net should things continue to go badly… and just like a Lucky Break, you may find yourself still in a bad situation when you wake up. Surviving doesn't necessarily mean winning, after all…

5) Experience, Dear Boy: Finally, if we do turn this into an ongoing game, remaining Bennies can be converted into experience in some way to make your character better. We'll sort out how and why if things go that far. For now, just know that it's an option.

There are three basic things to know about items and equipment.

1) Native characters start with a Wealth bonus just barely over Middle Class, regardless of their background occupation. Aside from keeping things reasonably fair, this means that they have a set general amount to call upon should they feel the need to go out of their way to buy something they don't already have out of their own pockets. Non-native characters will find that any money post-1989 will not be in their possession; they have an effective Wealth bonus of zero (Impoverished) and only have what they can acquire during the adventure for personal funds.

2) Beyond this, however, each character gets to choose one item of decent value that is a personal signature trinket, such as Wes's favorite guitar or Zeke's satellite phone, that dates to 1989 or before. This might be useful, or it might just be nifty.

3) So as not to be completely retentive about 'what else does so and so normally have in their possession', a character can make a quick check to see if they have a mundane item on hand. This check uses the purchase DC of an item (https://www.myth-weavers.com/showthread.php?t=2769 has a general idea of what costs result in what purchase DCs - a $500 item has a DC of 10, for example), plus your wealth bonus, minus ten, but trying it doesn't 'cost' you anything and you can't 'take 10' or 'take 20' on this sort of check.

4) If you need to buy something, your Wealth bonus determines what kinds of items are unlikely to affect your personal finances; natives can generally pick up any item of $30 or less without messing up their finances, whereas they may be unable to afford more expensive items or may temporarily impact their Wealth as a result. Money acquired during an adventure, of course, can be spent normally; this is just an abstraction so we don't need to figure out whether Wes has enough in his bank account to buy that new set of guitar cords or tarps he has his eye on.