Highlander v1.0
by Steven 'Bull' Ratkovich (bull@dumpshock.com)

Princes of the Universe

The ork walked into the bar, and pulled off his black duster as he walked to a booth in the back. A young man with glasses sat in the booth, watching the ork carefully as he approached, an untouched beer in front of him. The man noted that while he knew the ork always carried an English longsword on him at all times, he appeared unarmed at the moment. The man motioned for the ork to sit when he reached the booth.

"Johnathon. It's good to see you again." The man smiled warmly.

"You too, Alex." John replied, returning the smile. "How have you been?"

"Good, good. You want a beer?" Alex motioned the waitress over and ordered a beer at John's nod, then continued. "You're looking well. And your head is still attached, so that's always a plus."

The ork chuckled. "Yeah, though Eagle tried his best to take it a couple nights ago." Alex's eyebrow shot up at that comment.

"Really? I hadn't heard that. None of the watchers have said anything about any Immortals dying in the last couple months."

"Yeah." John replied, sighing. "I was in the middle of a run, and the bastard jumped me on the way out. Blew a sizable bonus we were supposed to get for silence."

"Run?" Alex asked. "You mean that shadowrunning stuff you mentioned last time? You doing that again?"

John shrugged as he drank his beer. "Yeah, I gotta pay the rent somehow. I ain't got the advantage of having 500-year old antiques and 200-year-old savings bonds to fall back on like some of the others. And running's the only thing I really know how to do."

"Can you-- Can you tell me about it?" Alex asked, his internal audio recorder clicking on so he could write up a full report for the Watcher Council later on. "About your team, about the run, and about Eagle?"

"Sure, why not." John replied with a chuckle. "It's not like you're gonna blab or anything, or you'll blow your own cover as a Watcher. Besides, you're picking up the tab." The last was said with a coarse laugh as he waved the waitress over again. "Another round, please."

I moved down to the end of the stainless steel corridor, the only sound around me the soft hum of machinery and the soft tread of my boots. I held my Predator loosely in one hand as I reached the end of the hall and peeked out around the corner, ready to strike if any guards appeared. We had broken into the Gaetronics power plant easily, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw the hall was clear. Not only were we getting paid extra if we could pull this job off without leaving any trace of our presence, but I don't particularly care for killing.

As a shadowrunner, it comes with the territory, and as an Immortal, I have had to defend myself a couple times as part of some stupid cosmic Game. But that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it. The guards were just doing their job, and the fact that I wanted to make money this way didn't mean they should die for the way they made theirs. It was just a shame the rest of my team didn't feel that way.

Mac is a decent enough guy, though a little obsessive about planning these missions out, and he freaks a bit if we have to improvise. He's a good team leader, though, and an excellent fighter when push comes to shove -- fast as hell and good with both his katanas and his guns. I survive The Game by my sword, and I'm just damned glad I don't have to face Mac. According to his brother, Kam, his obsessive behavior comes from his failure to keep a former team alive a few years ago on a run.

Kam is our decker, and if it weren't for Mac, I'd have probably told him off long ago. I can throw him further than I trust him, though he's (apparently) one hell of a decker, and has a top-of-the-line, custom-built cyberdeck in his head, complete with satellite uplink. He's a ruthless, back-stabbing bastard who claims to believe that the best way to avoid getting caught is to make sure all your enemies are dead. And he considers everyone an enemy....

Krieg is a riot. He's a strange little dwarf from Hawai'i, a variant they call a Menehune. He doesn't talk about how he got 'em, but he's modded to the hilt. Kid Stealth cyberlegs, retractable horns and teeth, a spaded cybertail, and some sort of mod that lets him turn his skin red with a thought, so he can go from mildly unusual to looking like a 3-foot-tall demon in a heartbeat. He's quick as lightning, is a terror with the spurs on his feet, and plays the drums in a band called Blitzkrieg. He can also drink a troll under the table.

Mysty is a mystery. She wasn't with the team before my Quickening. They had another mage working for them, some insane dude named Chaos, but apparently he decided it was time to retire, so they recruited Mysty. She's a beautiful darkhaired elf, and she seems nice enough, but she always gets real quiet around me. Don't know if it's cause I'm an ork or because I'm Immortal. Either way, she's a wiz with illusion spells, if you'll pardon the pun, and she doesn't like to kill either, so she usually uses stun spells of some sort.

We'd been hired to break in and insert some sort of data chip into the Gaetronics main computer system, which was of course not hooked up to the Matrix, hence our breaking into the building. So far he run had been a cake-walk, as promised by our Mr. Johnson, the guy who hired us. This made Mac even more nervous. The nastiest jobs a runner ever goes on are the ones where you're told it's an easy job.

The rest of the team approached my position. "So what's the plan, bossman?" I asked Mac.

"Krieg and Mysty go first. Krieg, keep them damned metal legs of yours silent on these floors. Once you're in position, set up an illusion to cover us." Mac nodded at the Dwarf and the Elf Mage, and looked over at his brother. "Kam, you have those cameras taken care of?"

"I told you before, 'big brother', yes, the cameras are suppressed." Kam sneered.

"How do you have them set up?" Mac asked.

Kam really hates it when Mac questions his actions. "I have the cameras set up on a feedback loop fed through an internal imaging program I have set up and running on a dumb frame. The security is really light in the local system, and I have the frame dug in deep. There's no way they'll find it till later this week when they run a diagnostic of the system. Satisfied?"

Mac nodded. "OK, once Mysty is in place, John, you and Kam will go in under cover. Kam will insert the computer chip while you cover him. It could take a few minutes depending on the security, and we'll only have about 7 minutes before the guard makes his next pass through here."

Everyone but Kam nodded, and Krieg and Mysty crept forward to the end of the hallway. Mysty closed her eyes for a moment, and then she and the dwarf vanished. "OK, the illusion is in place. You guys go." Mac whispered.

We moved quietly up the hall, pausing at the door long enough for Kam to run a forged passkey through the security lock and get us in. Then he sat down at the computer and jacked in. While he's got a sat-link for his Head Deck, he only uses it when necessary. Slows him down otherwise, he says. He popped the chip in, and we were good to go.

We were two minutes ahead of schedule, according to Mac, and ahead of the guard patrols. We hurried to get off the grounds to safety. We'd just left the main building and were crossing a courtyard between the main power station and the offices. That's when disaster struck, in the form of that weird tingling sensation I get around other Immortals.

"Err, Mac?" I muttered, pulling my sword out. Mysty gasped slightly as I did so. One of the first tricks I learned after my First Quickening was an ability to conceal my sword, almost magically, as long as I'm wearing a coat. This was the first time I'd needed my sword on a run, and Mysty'd never seen me use that trick before. I gave her a thin smile and fought the butterflies in my stomach. Shadowrunning is easy, especially since I became Immortal, and I knew that Mac would drag my corpse out of any situation, even if I wouldn't heal back up for an hour or so. But facing off against another Immortal always makes me nervous, since it's a kill or be killed situation. And as you know, Immortals can die. "We have problems."

"Oh hell." Mac muttered. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"What is it?" Krieg asked nervously.

"Remember my condition? And the reason I left you guys for a while?" I muttered, looking around. I can sense when another Immortal is close by, but I can't tell exactly where he's at. "Well, don't forget there's a downside to my new powers, and this it."

A man stepped around the corner of the building, and I knew where my enemy was. He was a big man, an Amerind, and stood nearly seven feet tall with a shorn scalp and an enormous battle axe held casually in one hand. If it wasn't for the lack of tusks or pointed ears, I'd have sworn he was an ork. Behind me, I could hear the rest of the team readying weapons. "I am Eagle who Soars through the Mountains, of the Blue Mountain Sioux Tribe. And I challenge you." He glared at me, his eyes dark and hard.

"Let me handle this guys. You can't interfere." I muttered under my breath to the rest of the group, hoping Kam wouldn't get jumpy and try shooting the guy. Looking up at the Amerind, I straightened. "Look, do we have to do this? We're sort of busy at the moment. We could always --"

"What do I care for the affairs of these mortals?" The Amerind said, his words cutting through the night. "You have no choice in this, Immortal. Face me."

"Shit." I muttered again. "Guys, go. I'll catch up with you when I'm done here." If I survive, I thought to myself.

"You sure, John?" Mac asked. "I don't like this."

"I don't like this either, Mac, but I don't have any choice. Go on, I'll be fine."

"We can't leave him!" Mysty said as Mac turned.

"It's something he has to do, Mysty. We can't interfere with this, do you understand?" Mac asked quietly. Mysty nodded once, and he turned, walking away. The rest of the team knew what had happened to me, but Mysty was new and apparently they hadn't filled her in. She gave me a plaintive look and I tried my best to smile reassuringly at her, then she turned and quickly followed the rest of the team.

"Face me!" Eagle shouted as it began to rain. We had counted on the rain to help aid our getaway, but it would only make this fight more difficult. I sighed and leveled my sword at the man.

"All right. I, John Guilder of Seattle, accept your stupid challenge." I said, a bit irritably. "If nothing else, to shut you up!"

The Amerind snarled and leaped at me, his axe coming down quicker than I would have thought possible for a weapon that big. I ducked and rolled to the side, my heightened reflexes saving me by barely an inch. I leapt to my feet and ducked again as Eagle brought down his axe again, and managed to parry a third attack.

Desperate, I lashed out with my foot, aiming for his kneecap. I missed and hit his thigh, though it threw him off balance long enough for me to regain mine and make an attack of my own.

For over a minute the fight went back and forth, both of us dodging and parrying. Despite the fact that I was an Ork and Eagle was human, it was obvious that the Amerind was far stronger than I was. Should he connect with the axe, I was in serious trouble. Fortunately, the axe was a clumsy weapon to use in a battle like this, and that helped balance out the fact that I was also not as skilled as he was.

I ducked again, and parried a second blow that followed on the heels of the first, almost faster than I could think. I was working off of pure instinct, and I reflexively slashed out after his, and scored a slash across his rib cage. It was little more than a scratch, but Mac had taught me a lot about sword combat, and in an extended fight like this was proving to be, any wound, however small, could seriously hinder a combatant.

Eagle roared and rained down blows on me again, and once more I was on the defensive, parrying and dodging his blows. Then the lights came on and a shot rang out as a security guard fired a shot into the air. Eagle and I froze and looked up.

"What the hell is going on here?" The guard yelled through the increasing rain. Then the air around him shimmered and he collapsed to the ground. I ducked suddenly, without even realizing it, as Eagle's axe whizzed through the air where my head had been a second before. I dropped another blow, and rolled a few feet away from the enraged Amerind. As I stood up, I could see Mysty watching from across the yard, and I realized she must have stun bolted the guard. I smiled to myself, then dove to the side as Eagle lunged at me with his axe, the blade digging deep into the ground.

As the big Amerind pulled his blade out of the ground, I saw an opening and lunged, my sword punching through his bare chest. He gaped at me and dropped his axe to the ground, then fell to his knees next to it. I muttered a mantra I had learned from the first Immortal I met following my First Quickening, something that steeled my resolve in each of the few combats I had been in so far: "There can be only one". Then my sword fell, separating his head from his shoulders.

During the Quickening, I'm barely conscious of what's happening. It's hard to describe, but I see snippets of not only the life of the Immortal I just killed, but of others as well. Maybe they're bits of Immortals that this Immortal had killed before. Either way, I absorb a bit of them into me. And every time I come to from a Quickening, usually with every bit of metal around me sparking from the electrical lightshow that accompanies the Quickening, I always have to question for just a second exactly who I am. Was I John Guilder, a SINless ork making a living as a Shadowrunner, or am I Eagle who Soars through the Mountains, an 87 year old Amerind who prides himself on his strength? And for one brief moment, I am both.

John sighed and tipped back the beer bottle, finishing off his fourth one, and signaled for another. "The power plant was just about wrecked after we were done. According to the team, the electrical bolts that the Quickening let off struck the Gaetronics power lines and the main transformer, blowing them in a brilliant fireworks display. We also managed to kill power to a large portion of downtown for about 15 minutes, until they rerouted power. Kam figures the Quickening Storm probably did a good bit of damage to the internal mechanics of the Power Station as well."

"We got the hell out of Dodge and called up Mr. Johnson, who was none too pleased with what happened. We didn't tell him all the details, just that there was a fight and that the power station must have gotten damaged during the fight. It was all Mac could do to get the remainder of our payment out of the Johnson, and our sizeable bonus for stealth was out of the picture. Still, we did get paid, and I managed to survive another attack by an Immortal with my head, though it's sheer luck that I'm still alive. While it's kinda cool to not be able to die, it's a pain to have chumps coming out of the woodwork every month or two trying to take out the newbie Immortal, you know what I mean, Alex?"

Alex nodded, though both knew that he didn't quite know what it was truly like. "So how did the rest of the team react? I believe this is the first time any of them saw you fight another Immortal."

"Yeah, it was." The ork replied with a sigh. "Freaked 'em all out. Especially Mysty. She's really cute, and I'm grateful for what she did. That security guard could have really mussed things up, cause I don't think Eagle would have stopped the fight for him. He seemed to have no respect for Mortals. But I don't think she was ready to handle the aftermath and the brutality of the whole thing."

"The rest of the team handled it pretty well. Mac is, well, Mac. He takes everything in stride. He was pretty upset about not getting away quietly as planned, but he also knows it wasn't our fault. Though I really hate the way some of these Immortals like to track others down. Kam hasn't said much, but then, Kam hates everyone anyways. And Krieg thought it was pretty cool. Says he'd love to get a shot of that going on with his band playing during it. Want to revive some old songs by a band named King and do a music video."

"So how do you feel, John?" Alex asked, watching the ork carefully, his beer still sitting untouched in front of him.

"If you mean about the fight, I feel lucky and sick. I'm lucky to have survived, and I'm already sick of the fighting."

John almost snarled. "If you mean about the whole 'taking your enemies power' bit, I'm not sure. I think I'm stronger, but since that seems to have been the focus of Eagle's power, that's not all that surprising, right?"

"Anyways, I gotta go." John said, looking at his watch then standing up. Alex stood up with him. "We got a team meeting in an hour and I need to pick up some supplies. We might have another run coming up."

Alex shook the Ork's hand. "Thanks for this John. You know you don't have to do this, but it makes my life a lot easier. Chronicling an Immortals life is difficult enough without having to guess why the Immortal is doing what he is. And hopefully, I'll be able to let you know ahead of time when someone like Eagle comes to town."

John nodded, then shrugged resignedly and walked out the door.

Watcher Chronicle Entry #6725.1
July 26th, 2061

My name is Alexander Kinnor, and I am a Watcher. This is my first Chronicle entry, and will contain the summation of the knowledge I have gained thus far on the Immortals, as well as my early observations on the newly awakened Immortal Johnathon Guilder.

No one knows how the Immortal came about or how long they have been around, despite the fact that the Watcher organization has records stretching back thousands of years. Because of this, all we have are theories as to what the Immortals are. The only clues to base these on is the fact that many Immortals seem to be without confirmable parentage, often being found on a doorstep or suspected orphans. Theories include:

The Quickening is a term with a twofold meaning to Immortals. It is used to describe both the 'awakening' of an Immortal the first time he dies (I call this the First Quickening), and also it is used to describe the effect of what happens when one Immortal kills another, by taking their heads.

Until a Potential Immortal has his First Quickening, he ages naturally. It has been recorded in the past of one Immortal who was trapped in the body of a child, and more than one Immortal who is in the body of a 'senior citizen'. Almost every Immortal meets their First Quickening after a violent death. Some Watchers theorize that a violent death is necessary to trigger the Immortals First Quickening, and if the potential Immortal were to die of natural causes, he would die, and never realize his Immortal potential.

It takes a new Immortal some time to regenerate following their First Quickening. They usually wake up about 24 hours after their first death. More than one Immortal has had to claw his way out of the ground after being buried by his loved ones and family. No Metahuman Immortals from before the Awakening in 2011 are known to exist. Any Metahuman Immortals are 'newer' Immortals, such as the Immortal I watch, John Guilder, who is an Ork, born after the Awakening.

Once someone becomes an Immortal, they become just that: Immortal. They regenerate damage extremely quickly, and can even come back from the dead. There are limits to this, however. The only documented case of a severed limb, Xavier St. Cloud, had lost his hand in a duel with the Immortal Duncan MacLeod. It is the belief of the Watchers that his hand may have regenerated over a lengthy period of time, but it is not known for sure as Xavier was later defeated by MacLeod and lost his head.

The only known method for truly killing an Immortal is to sever his head, triggering the 'normal' Quickening. When one Immortal is killed in this fashion, it releases energy, speculated to be the Immortals life force, or even the energy that gives an Immortal his power. If another Immortal is nearby, this power will be drawn to him, engulfing him, and that Immortal will absorb a portion of the defeated Immortals energies, growing in power.

The Quickening often appears as an electrical storm, with bolts of lightning shooting out from the body or the sky, striking and entering the nearest Immortal. Other manifestations have been noted, with whirlwinds, flames, and brilliant flashes of light, individually or in combination with other effects. The Quickening effect will also strike nearby items, usually anything metallic that can act as a lightning rod, striking and damaging these items. For this reason, most Immortals choose to fight in remote locations, away from the threat of detection, and often away from areas where they can do a lot of collateral damage after a fight.

When one Immortal defeats another, he absorbs a portion of that Immortal's power and experience. Immortals often display traits similar to those of Adepts, those Awakened beings that channel magical energies into their body to enhance their physical prowess and abilities. After a Quickening, Immortals will often find they have learned a new ability, or find that one of their prior abilities has been enhanced. The Immortal seems to have little control over how the new power manifests, and they seem unable to learn or adapt their abilities the way an Adept can through practice, experience, and Initiation rituals. How the Immortals first learned their abilities is as shrouded in mystery as how they came about.

Many Immortals differ in the reasons that they fight. Some are seeking power, or a rush that they get from The Quickening. Others are simply seeking to test themselves and their abilities. However, the most common reason is that Immortals believe in something called 'The Gathering'. Legends among the Immortals say that one day, when there are only a few of them left, they will be compelled to travel somewhere, where they will have to face each other in one final confrontation. The winner gets 'The Prize.'

Just what the prize is, nobody seems to know, not even the Immortals. It is assumed that it will be the accumulated power of all the Immortals, and that it will be the Ultimate Prize. The power to be a God or simply enough power to rules the world are two theories common among those Immortals who lust for power. Others believe it is the Ultimate Knowledge and Wisdom, allowing the Immortal to help better the world and mankind (And of course, some would argue that Ultimate Knowledge is Ultimate Power). And there are those that believe that anything will be possible, and it will be up to the winning Immortal to choose their prize. It is my sincere hope that a 'good' Immortal like one of the MacLeods or my own charge, John, win the Prize.

All Immortals are subject to 2 major Rules of the Game, so to speak.

Holy Ground is any land or temple that has been consecrated to any deity, whether it's an ancient Roman God, an Indian Burial Ground, or a Mormon Temple. Holy ground is sanctuary for any Immortal that wishes it, and no Immortal will break this rule. No one is certain what would happen if two Immortals met and clashed on Holy Ground, but legend says that the Island Volcano at Pompeii exploded when one Immortal killed another while battling on Holy Ground.

Honorable Combat means always fighting with a blade, one on one, face to face. No attacks from behind, no sniper shots from a rooftop and taking you while you're recovering, and no 'teaming up'. The Immortal Larker got mortal followers to try and capture Duncan MacLeod on Holy Ground, breaking the second rule, and circumventing the first.

The second rule has been broken on several occasions, though the perpetrators have never survived for long. Breaking the second 'Rule' will often bring about severe repercussions from other Immortals, who declare the Immortal Renegade, and will hunt him using any methods necessary, as he is no longer considered part of The Game. The more honorable Immortals will do everything in their power to even the odds and defeat the Renegade(s) in honorable combat. Less honorable ones will hunt them down simply for the enjoyment of it, and to avoid getting a knife in the back or a Sniper shot to the spine, taking the Immortal while they are regenerating.

Rules

When creating an Immortal character, players pay either 30 Build Points or choose Priority A to be an Immortal (depending on the character creation system you are using). The character starts with the powers Immortal Regeneration, Immunity to Aging, Immunity to Disease, Immortal Detection. Also, all Immortals have the Bio-Rejection flaw, even during their 'Potential' stage prior to the First Quickening.

It is assumed at Character Creation that the Immortal is a 'new' Immortal, having just completed his First Quickening. This he will start the game with a Magic Rating of 1, and 1 Immortal Ability. The Ability chosen is subject to GM approval.

Immortal characters work similar to Adepts, and through The Quickening can gain Adept-like abilities. However, they are not Adepts, and cannot Initiate (Though, as with the Adept- Like powers, some of their abilities mimic Initiation powers). They can buy additional points to spend on increasing their abilities, but they cost 40 karma per point - double what an Adept pays.

Immortals appear mundane on the Astral Plane, unless someone Assensing the Immortal achieves 7+ successes, in which case they are noted as having an unusual aura about them. They do not appear magically active, and unless the perceiver has successfully Assensed an Immortal before, he will not recognize what this Aura means.

The Rules of The Game

The rules of The Game are relatively simple. One of the Rules is a matter of self-preservation. Bad things happen as a result of a Quickening on Holy Ground. The exact effects are up to the discretion of the Game master, but keep in mind that Pompeii could very well have been a direct result of a breach of these rules.

The Second Rule, honorable combat, is also a matter of self-preservation, though this is less direct. Most Immortals do not take well to the idea that one of their fellows is resorting to dangerous and deadly guerilla tactics, and will declare the Immortal a Renegade. Renegades are no longer subject to the Second Rule, and as such are vulnerable to the same types of actions that got them declared renegade. Needless to say, they rarely last long.

Immortal Regeneration

Unless an immortal has his head severed from his body, he will regenerate from any damage sustained. To regenerate, make a Body Test with a Target Number equal to 2 + 1/level of damage (with a max of +4 at Deadly Damage) + 1/box of overflow. Divide 6 Hours by the results to determine how long it takes the Immortal to heal all damage from his wounds. After the time has passed, he awakens fully healed. Until that time, he appears to be truly dead to any and all tests and astral sensing.

Severed body parts will regenerate normally if held against the 'stump' within one minute of the wound being caused, and held there for the duration of the healing process. This will heal the limb fully, but will leave a very nasty scar, which will not heal.

Severed limbs will regenerate, but very slowly. They regenerate at a rate of 1CM per year. Immortals cannot regenerate Stun Damage, nor do they suffer a Magic Rating loss for taking Deadly Wounds.

Immortal Detection

Immortals can sense when other Immortals, or Potential Immortals, are nearby. Their Detection ability works at a range equal to their Magic Rating x 10 Meters, with a maximum range of 200 meters. This sense does not allow the user to automatically tell another Immortal just by looking at him, but it will let them sense how far away that Immortal is, so often they can figure it out pretty quickly.

Whenever another Immortal is near, the Game Master should secretly roll a perception test for the player, with a Target Number of 12 minus the Immortals Magic Rating. Potential Immortals have a Magic Rating of 0, and Immortals with a Magic Rating of 12 or more are automatically detected, unless they have the Masking ability (See Immortal Abilities, below).

The Quickening

The Quickening process usually takes anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes or more. The more powerful the Immortal that was killed, the longer the Quickening lasts. It lasts a number of rounds equal to the Magic Rating of the defeated Immortal. The Quickening takes its toll on the Immortal, however, and leaves him weakened and vulnerable. Players take Stun damage with a power of 10, and a damage code of M if the Immortal killed was of equal or lesser Magic Rating, S if the Immortal had a higher magic rating, and D if the Immortal had a Magic Rating of twice the MR of the victor.

The Quickening will also affect an area around the defeated Immortal. The discharge of the Quickenening will strike all metallic objects within an area of MR/2 Meters with the electrical elemental effect, doing damage equal to what the winning Immortal takes.

Once the Quickening is completed, the Immortal gains some of the power and experience of the defeated Immortal. He gains a +1 to his magic rating, and 1 point to spend on Abilities. They may only spend this point toward learning an Ability that the defeated Immortal knew, or he may save this point, and spend it later, combining it with one or more points to buy a more expensive power from a defeated Immortal later.

Note: When a point is saved in this manner, and combined with points to buy an expensive power, the points spent do not have to all come from Immortals that know the new power. Only the recently defeated Immortal needs to know this power.

Example: John is attacked by an Immortal and kills him. He wants to purchase the Concealment power, but not only does he not have enough points stored up, the Immortal he defeated didn't know the power anyways. Several weeks later, John is challenged by another Immortal, and comes out the victor. This Immortal knew Concealment, and John is able to spend the point he had saved as well as the new point to purchase this ability.

Immortals may only buy 1 power each Quickening. Thus, they can't save multiple points, and then buy multiple powers later on from a single Immortal.

Immortal Abilities

Immortal Abilities are identical in name, point cost, and effect as the Adept powers. All Adept Powers are available as Immortal Abilities with the exception of Distance Strike, Killing Hands, and Mystic Armor. Immortals also have access to the Fast Recovery and Concealed Weapon Abilities, which are Abilities unique to Immortals.

Fast Recovery (.5 Point per Level)
Fast Recovery gives the Immortal 1 automatic success for his Recovery Test while regenerating damage.

Concealment (2 Points)
Concealment allows the Immortal to place his sword under his coat and out of sight almost magically hiding it from view. As long as the Immortal is wearing a long coat or very baggy clothing, he can add +6 to the concealability of any normal sword. Great Swords, Claymores, and the like are impossible to hide, even with Concealment.

Masking (2 Points)
The Immortal can attempt to 'Mask' his Immortal presence from the senses of a fellow Immortal. The Masking Immortal makes a Will (4) test, adding a modifier to the Detection Target Number equal to the number of successes he gets. Masking is a sustained ability, and for as long as it is sustained applies a +2 penalty to all actions the Immortal takes. It is a simple action to use this power.

Advanced Immortals (Optional Rule)

At the GM's discretion, this option allows a player to play a more experienced Immortal. The Player can raise his Magic Rating (and choose powers accordingly) for 5 Character Points per MR Increase. It is strongly recommended that no more than 2 Increases be allowed.

Author's Notes

First off, I realize there are a couple of things I left out. One of the biggest that jumps to mind is the Dark Quickening. I've already had questions about this, so I'll specifically address this. Simply put, the concept of Good and Evil are very loose and hard to define concepts, and they really don't apply easily or well to Shadowrun. So this was left out. I tried to include as many things as possible that I could remember or find out from research, and while I gave the Immortals as much as possible, I tried to keep the characters balanced well. Overall, I think this version does that well.

Secondly, as a warning to Game Masters, Immortals are powerful. As much as I limited them, the fact remains that regeneration alone makes them very powerful. Plus the fact that their growth depends heavily on the GM means that they should not be allowed unless the GM can work them into his campaign relatively easily. An Immortal is no fun if they never encounter another Immortal, and thus can't really grow. However, an Immortal character has a lot of potential for fun and entertainment in the hands of a skilled roleplayer.

Lastly, to the Nitpickers: Yes, I watched the show. I've seen all three movies, though I've not seen every episode, I don't have them on tape, and I only saw a couple episodes of The Raven. However, I believe I remained faithful to the show. So don't sweat the small details, and enjoy!