Modern Dispatch 059 - The Redjacks.pdf - D20 Modern - ItsOver9000

The Modern Dispatch

The Redjacks

by Charles Rice

Dear Boss,

I keep on hearing the police have caught me but they wont ﬁx me just yet. I have laughed when they look so

clever and talk about being on the right track. That joke about Leather Apron gave me real ﬁts. I am down

on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. Grand work the last job was. I gave the lady

no time to squeal. How can they catch me now. I love my work and want to start again. You will soon hear

of me with my funny little games. I saved some of the proper red stuff in a ginger beer bottle over the last

job to write with but it went thick like glue and I cant use it. Red ink is ﬁt enough I hope ha. ha. The next

job I do I shall clip the ladys ears off and send to the police ofﬁcers just for jolly wouldn’t you. Keep this

letter back till I do a bit more work, then give it out straight. My knife’s so nice and sharp I want to get to

work right away if I get a chance. Good Luck.

Yours truly

Jack the Ripper

Dont mind me giving the trade name

PS Wasnt good enough to post this before I got all the red ink off my hands curse it No luck yet. They say

I’m a doctor now. ha ha

#59

Content Manager:

Charles Rice, Chris Davis

Layout:

Chris Davis

Introduction

This book, the ﬁrst of will hopefully be many small

Blood and Relics sourcebooks presents the Redjacks,

a cult that worships “Saucy Jack”, a creature of

pure hate. They kill at his behest, killing women,

disemboweling or beheading them and performing

the rituals of sacriﬁce on the streets themselves.

With this letter a dark legend was born. Jack the

Ripper was probably not the ﬁrst serial killer but

he was the ﬁrst to become a media sensation and

possibly (if the letters he sent were genuine) the ﬁrst

to seek the attention of the newly powerful media

for himself. Whether the letters were genuine or

not, their affect on the public was profound. The

populace’s fear was heightened and the police,

especially the newly formed Scotland Yard were

made to look like fools, taunted by a killer just out of

reach. The sensation created by the “Dear Boss” letter

is one that has been imitated by later serial killers to

the point that sending taunting letters to the media

and police has become one of the signatures of the

true serial killer.

Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying

Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Your job? Stop the Redjacks if at all possible. Keep

the Ripper out of our world.

d20 Modern and Wizards of the Coast are

trademarks of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. in the

United States and other countries and are used

with permission. ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20

System’ logo are trademarks of Wizards of the

Coast, Inc. and are used according to the terms

of the d20 System License version 6.0. A copy

of this License can be found at www.wizards.

com/d20.

History

I was not codding dear old Boss when I gave you the

tip, you’ll hear about Saucy Jacky’s work tomorrow

double event this time number one squealed a bit

couldn’t ﬁnish striaght off. Had not got time to get

The Redjacks

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The Modern Dispatch

ears off for police thanks for keeping last letter back

till I got to work again. -Jack the Ripper

underground tunnels between Paddington and

Farmington Street. The extensive tunneling involved

in this project and others beneath the city intended

to expand the subway network of the Underground

awakens the demon Khaltesh, who stalks the dark

tunnels of the London Underground. Fredrick

Abberline succeeds in binding the ﬁend and killing it.

With this act he earns the praise of his commander

Although numerous men are questioned in

connection with the murders, no one is ever

prosecuted. Inspector Fredrick Abberline is brought

into the case because of his background as a beat

cop in Whitechapel. His attempts to convince his

superiors to investigate mystical leads are ignored.

50: Londinium established as a Roman Garrison

by Emperor Claudius after the Roman conquest of

Britain.

61: Boadicea, a priestess of the Celts leads a revolt

and attempts to expel the Romans from Britain. In

this year she attacks Londinium, summoning a ﬁend

later occult scholars will know as the Ripper. This

ﬁend aids her forces and they succeed in burning

the Roman garrison to the ground. A Roman priest

manages to bind the ﬁend to an ancient series of

catacombs beneath Londinium. The loss of this

powerful creature causes the rebellion against Rome

to fail.

October 2 nd , 1888: “The Whitehall Mystery”: The

headless torso of a woman is found in the basement

of the new London police headquarters under

construction in Whitehall. An arm and leg belonging

to the body are discovered ﬂoating in the Thames

River but no other parts are found. The body is never

identiﬁed.

August 19 th , 1865: As a result of his success with

the “Underground Killer” Abberline is promoted to

Sergeant (18 months to become a Police Sergeant is

quite rapid promotion indeed).

November 19 th , 1887: Inspector Fredrick Abberline

is assigned to Scotland Yard.

December 30 th , 1888: Inspector Abberline and

George Lusk, head of the Whitechapel Vigilance

Committee interrupt a ceremony involving the body

parts taken from the various victims.

1887: The Ripper, a demon trapped in the sewers of

London begins to gain strength once again. It calls

out to receptive humans and begins to build a cult to

serve it. The head of this cult is Severin Klosowski,

a Polish surgeon who had taken up the career of

barber in London. Unknown to anyone at this time,

Klosowski is also a serial wife poisoner who left

Poland because of suspicions raised after the death of

his wife, the 4 th Mrs. Klosowski. While operating in

London Klosowski takes the name Ludwig Schloski

to avoid his past deeds catching up with him.

September 29 th , 1829: Home Secretary Sir Robert

Peel establishes the Metropolitan Police to patrol the

area of Greater London outside the city proper (the

City of London is ofﬁcially a one-square mile area

that has its own police force). Ofﬁcers of this force

come to be colloquially referred to as “Peelers” or

“Bobbies” after their founder. This force replaced

the patchwork system of magistrates and volunteer

constables that had been used for centuries to

maintain law and order. It is the ﬁrst non-paramilitary

police force in the world, setting the example for

nearly all police forces that follow.

July 1889: Abberline investigates a male brothel

on Cleveland Street. He discovers that one of the

clients of this brothel is none other than Prince Albert

Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, second-in-

line to ascend to the throne as the King of England.

Abberline uses this information to blackmail Queen

Victoria. He can now investigate the murders of the

Ripper Cult with an unfettered hand.

February 8 th , 1888: Abberline is promoted to

Inspector First Class.

August 1889: A series of disappearances begins

in London. Due to the sheer volume of crime

and disappearances in the city at this time, these

kidnappings go unnoticed. The Ripper has begun to

manifest itself and the kidnapping victims are food,

fed to the beast as its strength grows day by day.

January 5 th 1863: Fredrick Abberline joins the

Metropolitan Police Force of London and is assigned

to the seedy Whitechapel district. Unknown to his

superiors, Abberline is a Monitor who has been

assigned to investigate demonic activity in the city of

London.

August through November 1888: Five women

are killed in Whitechapel, London. After a letter is

sent to the Central New Agency addressed to “Dear

Boss” the murderer has a name that will turn him into

a media sensation: Jack the Ripper. Several of the

victims have internal organs removed including the

kidney and uterus.

September 1889: Abberline and Lusk ﬁnally track

the creature to its lair, performing appropriate binding

spells to once again stop the Ripper from manifesting

in our world. At the underground tunnel used for the

January 10 th 1863: The ﬁrst section of the London

Underground opens, with a train traveling through

The Redjacks

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The Modern Dispatch

sacriﬁces, they also ﬁnd clues that begin to lead them

to the head of the cult.

He theorizes that the Ripper is a very powerful

Hatemonger with an unusually powerful ability to

induce fear and paranoia in others.

Organizations

October 1889: Klosowski is appointed head barber

and marries Lucy Baderski, a woman he has known

for only ﬁve weeks in a German Roman Catholic

ceremony. Fearing apprehension by Abberline

or even a lynching by Lusk and his Vigilance

Committee, Klosowski ﬂees to the United States,

taking up residence in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Klosowski again ﬁnds employment as a barber and

again begins stalking for victims.

Redjacks

Redjacks Today

Membership: 9

Current Headquarters: London, England

Symbol: Bloody butcher’s knife

Modern History: The modern Redjacks begins

with one man: Sal Marrano (see below for more

details on Marrano’s personal history). With a new

leader of the cult in place and the blood of sacriﬁces

ﬂowing in, the Ripper began gaining strength. The

cult now has nine followers and their activities have

currently been attributed by the Metropolitan Police

to a lone serial killer. This has bought the cult time

since descriptions of the “lone killer” vary, throwing

the police off track.

Afﬁliate membership requirements: Allegiance:

Dark Power (The Ripper), Allegiance: Redjacks,

Knowledge (arcane lore) 5 ranks, Profane Ritual

Recruitment methods: The Redjacks seek out

those ﬁlled with hate, especially toward women. Any

man down on his luck, unemployed, going through a

divorce or otherwise “wronged” by a woman will be

watched and if he responds “appropriately” (through

murder) he might be invited to join the group (if he

is sufﬁciently violent). Anyone invited to join who

declines, or who refuses to participate in their ﬁrst

ritual sacriﬁce will be killed.

From hell.

Mr Lusk,

Sor

I send you half the Kidne I took from one woman and

prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was

very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it

out if you only wate a whil longer

signed

Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

During an ugly argument over his night time

activities, Klosowski attacks his wife with a knife

intending to cut off her head. When his wife retreats

back to London, Klosowski follows intent upon

regaining the favor of his master, but the Ripper is

dormant and Klosowski’s power gone. Klosowski

soon retreated to the mundane villainy he had

practiced prior to being “discovered” by the Ripper:

beating and poisoning his wives to death.

History

Since the rebuilding of London after Boadicea’s

revolt in 60 CE, a dark power has been trapped in the

catacombs beneath the city. Trapped for millennia,

the creature blames Boadicea for its imprisonment

and by association all women. Several times

throughout history this ﬁend has called out to those

of like mind, seeking to wreak its revenge on all

women. It nurses its hate and cries out for the day

when it will walk the streets once again. The Ripper’s

ultimate goal is to once again destroy the city of

London. Whether this is simply revenge for its long

imprisonment or an imperative implanted in the ﬁend

when it was summoned from the lower reaches for

that purpose by Boadicea is unknown.

Over the millennia, many cults have been called

but none came as close to success as the cult led by

Severin Klosowski in the late 1800’s. This is the one

and only time that the Ripper was able to manifest

even a partial physical presence. Inspector Fredrick

Abberline made many important observations during

these manifestations about the creature’s true power,

noting the almost overpowering fear and paranoia

that gripped the city, turning Christians against

Jews, commoner against noble, man against woman.

September 10 th , 1889: “Pinchin Street Murder”

another headless torso is discovered, similar to that

found in the Whitehall Mystery.

December 22 nd , 1890: Abberline promoted to Chief

Inspector.

February 7 th , 1892: Abberline retires from the

Metropolitan Police after 29 years of service. He

continues to hunt the occult as a private investigator.

Benefits of Membership

Secret Mystery 1: +2 bonus to all Knowledge

(arcane lore) and Gather Information checks within

or about the city of London.

Secret Mystery 2: Butcher: The Redjacks acquire

a surgeon’s knowledge of human anatomy that they

use to become butchers rather than healers. On a

successful melee attack a character with this ability

may inﬂict an additional 1d6 points of damage. This

October 1902: When poison is found in the body

of Maud Marsh, two other wives of Klosowski

are exhumed and found to have been poisoned.

Klosowski is arrested and hanged in early 1903.

The Redjacks

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The Modern Dispatch

ability may only be used once per round and requires

the attacker to spend an action point.

Secret Mystery 3: Butcher II: As Butcher except

the additional damage is increased to +2d6.

Secret Mystery 4: Butcher’s Blade: Any edged

weapon wielded by a character with this ability is

treated as if it had a +1 enhancement bonus. If the

weapon actually is magical this bonus does not stack

with the weapon’s inherent enhancement bonus.

Secret Mystery 5: Butcher III: As Butcher except

the additional damage is increased to +3d6.

Fear Itself: The mere sight of a ripper is usually

enough to startle a victim into inaction, or give

an onlooker who catches the ripper “red handed”

enough pause to allow the ripper to escape. Anyone

who is attacked by the ripper, or who sees the ripper

attacking someone else must make a Will save or

stand immobile for one round. Should the ripper wish

to retreat (usually because he was caught in the act

of killing another) failing a saving throw against this

ability counts as a distraction, allowing the ripper to

make a Hide check and slip away.

In addition to the DC listed on the class table, the

ripper also adds his Reputation bonus to the DC of

this ability.

Hatred: This ability is identical to the dark warrior

ability of the same name. For purposes of this ability

the number of uses stack with the dark warrior’s

hatred ability as do the class levels of the two

classes. For example a character with three levels of

dark warrior and ﬁve levels of ripper would add +8

damage to a successful attack when using this ability.

Bonus Feats: At 3 rd , 6 th and 9 th levels the ripper

gains a bonus feat from the following list: Blind-

ﬁght, Cleave, Combat Reﬂexes, Frightful Presence,

Great Cleave, Power Attack, Renown.

Butcher: This ability is described in the Beneﬁts of

Membership section for the Redjacks cult above.

Requirements

To qualify to become a ripper a character must meet

the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +5

Skills: Intimidate 8 ranks, Knowledge (arcane lore)

5 ranks

Feats: Archaic Weapons Proﬁciency

Class Information

The following information pertains to the ripper

prestige class.

Hit Die: 1d8

Action Points: 7+ one-half character level,

rounded down, every time the character gains a new

level in this class.

Class Skills: The ripper’s class skills (and the

ability for each skill) are: Climb (Str), Hide (Dex),

Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcane

lore, streetwise, tactics) (Int) and Move Silently

(Dex).

Skill points at each level: 3+Int. modiﬁer

Ripper

Rippers are creatures of hate. They thrive on fear and

can down targets at a frightening rate, lending them a

reputation as killing machines. While this reputation

is deserved, if a target can withstand a ripper’s initial

onslaught they will ﬁnd this class has little in the

way of defense, causing combats with a ripper to be

short and bloody (no matter who wins). As a member

of the Redjacks cult rippers serve their master well,

spreading carnage and fear while attempting to feed

their master through sacriﬁces, allowing him to walk

the world once again.

Class Features

All of the following are features of the ripper prestige

class.

TABLE 1: THE RIPPER

Level

Characters

Base Attack

Bonus

Fort

Save

Ref

Save

Will

Save

Defense

Bonus

Reputation

Bonus

Special

1 st

Fear Itself (DC 15)

Sal Marrano

2 nd

Hatred 1/day

3 rd

Bonus Feat

Sal Marrano was an Italian immigrant attempting to

make his way in London as an artist. While practicing

his art he took odd jobs as a waiter, a taxi driver and

even (most humiliatingly) as a house painter. It was

while working this job that Marrano had an argument

with his employer while working late, a wealthy

woman who dared to question his ability to properly

4 th

Butcher +1d6

5 th

Fear Itself (DC 20)

6 th

Bonus Feat

7 th

Hatred 2/day

8 th

Butcher +2d6

9 th

Bonus Feat

10 th

+10

Fear Itself (DC 25)

The Redjacks

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The Modern Dispatch

paint a house. A rage he had never known came over

him and Marrano attacked and savagely killed the

woman. When the police investigated they focused

on one of Marrano’s fellow painters who had a prior

conviction for attempted rape.

Following this incident Sal began having dreams

that became more and more vivid. He began to

express these dreams in his work and his disturbing

portraits of blood, gore and dismembered women

gave him what he had always wanted most:

recognition as a serious artist. Despite his success Sal

was unable to put the feelings of hatred behind him

and one night, unable to sleep, he followed the voices

down into the Underground, ﬁnding an abandoned

access tunnel that led him to the ancient catacombs

where the Ripper is trapped. Here he became the

leader of the new cult, which he named the Redjacks.

Talents (Smart Hero): Savant (Knowledge

[Arcane Lore]), Plan

Talents (Cultist): Control Undead, True Magic,

Dark Initiate, Darkness’ Embrace, Absolution, Dark

Familiar

Possessions: club

Talents (Ripper): Fear Itself (DC 15), Hatred

1/day

Possessions: Light undercover shirt, Cleaver

The Ripper

A ﬁgure of fear and dread known to billions, this

terrifying demon is known by many names, most of

which have been forgotten. Releasing “Saucy Jack”

requires a special form of the Human Sacriﬁce ritual.

If his followers have disemboweled or beheaded

7 women and successfully performed the Human

Sacriﬁce ritual, the Ripper can walk the earth during

nights of the full moon. After 21 women have been

sacriﬁced the Ripper can walk the earth at night.

After 42 women are sacriﬁced the Ripper will be

freed.

Once the beast has been partially freed (able to

walk the earth during nights of the full moon) it

can be visited by its followers in its underground

lair and its victims can be fed to it. These count as

sacriﬁces without the followers needing to make the

skill checks required for the Human Sacriﬁce ritual.

Followers can still sacriﬁce victims in the normal

way.

Reversing the ritual and maintaining the spells that

bind the Ripper can be done in two ways. If there

are no killings for 30 days the cycle is broken and

the process must be started over. The second way

the ritual can be reversed is to consecrate the ground

(with the Consecrate Ground ritual) of the ﬁrst seven

sacriﬁce locations. This will return the Ripper to

a state of imprisonment and force his followers to

begin anew the process of releasing him.

Learning the above information (how to release

the Ripper and/or how to bind him again) requires a

Research skill check (DC 25).

Joe Wilcox

Joseph Wilcox was charged with the crime committed

by his fellow housepainter Sal Marrano. He was

subjected to a very humiliating trial in which pictures

of his penis became public in London’s tabloid

press. Once drawn to the Redjacks cult, Wilcox and

Marrano found they made a frighteningly effective

team, with Marrano acting as the brains of the group

and Wilcox the brawn.

Sal Marrano (Smart Hero 3/Cultist 7) CR 10;

Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d6+3 plus 7d6+7; HP

46; Mas 13; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; Defense 13, touch 13,

ﬂatfooted 13 (+0 size, +0 Dex, +3 class); BAB +4;

Grap +3; Atk +3 melee (1d6+-1, club), or +4 ranged

(0+0, none); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ ; AL

none; SV Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +9; AP 5; Rep +3; Str

8, Dex 10, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 14.

Occupation: Creative (Craft [visual art],

Knowledge [Arcane Lore], Knowledge [Art])

Skills: Concentration +8, Craft (visual art) +15,

Craft (writing) +8, Diplomacy +9, Intimidate

+9, Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +20, Knowledge

(Art) +17, Knowledge (Behavioral Sciences) +8,

Knowledge (Current Events) +8, Knowledge

(History) +15, Knowledge (Streetwise) +8,

Knowledge (Tactics) +8, Knowledge (Theology and

Philosophy) +9, Navigate +8, Research +15

Feats: Animal Sacriﬁce, Black Mass, Blood Altar,

Bloodletting, Conviction (Dark Power), Educated

(Knowledge [Arcane Lore], Knowledge [Art]),

Human Sacriﬁce, Profane Ritual

Joe Wilcox (Tough Hero 3/Dark Warrior 4/Ripper

3) CR 10; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d10+6 plus

4d10+8 plus 3d8+6 plus 6; HP 76; Mas 14; Init +6

(+2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 30 ft; Defense

19, touch 17, ﬂatfooted 17 (+0 size, +2 Dex, +5 class,

+2 equipment); BAB +8; Grap +11; Atk +11 melee

(1d6+2/19-20, Cleaver), or +10 ranged (by weapon);

FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ ; AL none; SV Fort +9,

Ref +6, Will +3; AP 5; Rep +4; Str 16, Dex 14, Con

14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12.

Occupation: Military (Hide, Move Silently)

Skills: Hide +7, Intimidate +11, Knowledge

(Arcane Lore) +7, Move Silently +7

Feats: Archaic Weapons Proﬁciency, Armor

Proﬁciency (light), Cleave, Conviction (Dark Power),

Enemy, Frightful Presence, Improved Initiative,

Power Attack, Stealthy, Toughness

Talents (Tough Hero): Robust, Second Wind

Talents (Dark Warrior): Hatred 1/day, Willing

Manifestations (Contortions)

The Redjacks

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Modern Dispatch 059 - The Redjacks.pdf

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