The Law Enforcer's Sourcebook
An Ephemeris RPG supplement
By J Alan Erwine
Copyright 2010 by Nomadic Delirium Press
Learn more about the Ephemeris RPG at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris.htm
Published by Nomadic Delirium Press at Smashwords
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
THE LAW ENFORCER’S PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
Even though a lot of people would like to believe that the universe can be a peaceful place, the simple fact of the matter is that it’s not, and it almost certainly never will be, and that’s why Law Enforcers are necessary. In many ways, the Law Enforcer shares a lot of qualities with the Soldier/Mercenary, but in general, the Law Enforcer will have more “people” skills, and will not usually be quite as good in combat.
Law Enforcers can be in the employ of a government, a species, a planet, a corporation, or any other organization that a player or game master might come up with. They serve a number of purposes throughout the galaxy, and they can be a valuable asset to any group of adventurers, although you won’t usually find them on smuggling missions, and rarely will they associate with characters from the Bandit class.
At first, it might seem that the Law Enforcer would be limited to a single planet, or a single system in space, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be true. Law Enforcers could be on a manhunt that will carry them to many star systems, or if they’re in the employ of an interplanetary corporation, or a trading guild, they would have every reason to travel the stars.
Game masters need to be aware that many players will find the sub-classes listed in this supplement to be limiting, and they may not want to play them, but that's okay. Many of the sub-classes will make great non-player characters, and they can be a great way to throw experienced players off.
LAW ENFORCER SUB-CLASSES
This section features listings for nine possible sub-classes that are available to players that want to play the Law Enforcer class, but find that the original character class doesn’t offer them quite what they were hoping for. The list of sub-classes is far from exhaustive, however, and game masters should feel free to use these sub-classes as a guide to create sub-classes that are appropriate for their own games, always making sure that game balance is maintained.
All of these sub-classes, with the exception of the Forensic Detective, roll four six-sided dice to determine both their initial health, and the amount of health that they gain at each subsequent level. The attack dice and defense dice for all of these sub-classes, again with the exception of the Forensic Detective, are the same as those of the standard Law Enforcer character.
BOUNTY HUNTER
It’s almost inevitable that criminals will try to flee prosecution, and when they do this, governments or corporations will often hire a Bounty Hunter to track them down and bring them to justice…or kill them if they need to. The Bounty Hunter, while having many of the same abilities as a typical Law Enforcer, will be specially trained in tracking down suspects both on a planet and in space.
An important note about this sub-class is that it is not the same as the Bandit Bounty Hunter that will be appearing in the Bandit Sourcebook. Although the two sub-classes have many of the same goals, the way they go about trying to achieve those goals is quite different, as are their combat abilities.
Skills: The Bounty Hunter starts out with a slightly different skill set from the standard Law Enforcer. At the beginning of the game, a Bounty Hunter gets one skill point in each of the following: weapon skill (player’s choice), hand to hand combat, search, spot, listen, and gather information.
Starting Equipment: The Bounty Hunter starts out the game with either a laser or plasma pistol.