One of the major factions included in the Deluxe Edition is the Bloodstone Group:
A private military company that offers an extensive range of services that vary in legality. Bloodstone leverages NDAs and deniable assets, which allows them to take contracts from a wide array of organizations, both public and private. Investigators may find themselves in the crosshairs of a Bloodstone contractor due to them being hired to go after the same objective. This faction allows Facilitators to introduce a wide array of colorful human NPCs that pose a direct threat to the Investigators, or civilians.
As a Faction Bloodstone introduces a lot of flexibility as they can function as human threats for Investigators. Their structure allows them to work with and against multiple factions and integrate material challenges for play.
As a special sneak peak for Patreon Members, we will look at some expanded info that will be making its way into future releases. The oppporunities that Bloodstone provides as a faction are wide reaching and give Facilitators a lot of options for play. We will be looking at:
EXPANDED BLOODSTONE RESOURCES
Bloodstone Hunters (a group of premade operatives)
Bloodstone NPCs (from the Deluxe Edition)
Paperwork
Downtime
Operations
Upcoming modules involving Bloodstone
A sneak peak at future Patreon Member Only Posts
Bloodstone Hunters
An elite team of Bloodstone Hunters that can be sent on contracts for various factions. This group typically works independently but can come together to complete a job. If they have failed multiple times, they will seek the support of a Bloodstone Facilitator (Deluxe Edition p. x) or Bloodstone Specialist (Deluxe Edition p. x). This will be a last option after all else fails.
STR: 13 DEX: 13 CTRL: 10
HP: 5 Armor: 1
Side Arm (d6) or Assault Rifle w/ Underbarrel (d8, d6 blast)
Amazon: Former olympian, she prefers her electrified compound bow (d8 non-lethal) and her bolas (d6 non-lethal).
Net: Engineer and hacker, Chaz uses a series of drones to remotely hack any and all electronics. Drone with taser (d6 non-lethal), Remote overload of electronic device (d6 blast).
Chameleon: Rumored to be a former broadway actor, Chameleon has a state of the art printer that can almost perfectly create a mask of any scanned face. Can quickly change their appearance, even to someone you know.
Gris: Grafted into a power armor exoskeleton, Gray wields a sword and moves with inhuman speed. STR: 13 DEX: 15 CTRL: 10 HP 6 Armor 2 Katana d8
No Name: While he’ll dress to suit the job, in his down time he wears outfits that harken back to spaghetti westerns. He never misses. Colt Single Action Army revolver d6.
Fin: An expert marksman that can use his sniper from an astoundingly long distance if needed. Will use tranquilizing rounds (d8, STR save or pass out) and send Security Personnel to extract. Does have Explosive Rounds (d8 blast) and Armor Piercing Rounds (d8, ignore armor) if needed.
BLOODSTONE NPCs
ANTONIO (p. 139)
Antonio Cupertino, username “Carrion”, is a self-employed private investigator. A middle-aged man with an impressive thick swoop of hair, his claimed specialty is in numerology, using numerical patterns and coinciding events in order to solve the array of missing persons cases that end up on his desk.
STR: 14 DEX: 10 CTRL: 8 HP: 4 Armor: 1 Revolver (d6)
Antonio has a passion for collecting matchbooks, especially from casinos, and will often go out of his way to “end up” at places he thinks will have them.
ON THE JOB: Antonio’s claim to fame is that he used to work for Bloodstone (p.x), though he vastly overstates his role. He did work for them at one point, but as an independent contractor for a security detail for a minor celebrity a decade back where nothing exciting or interesting occurred beyond a bit of buzz from paparazzi.
INVESTIGATION LEADS: Antonio will occasionally require assistance on jobs when he’s overbooked himself or uncovered something particularly strange.
There have been a number of disappearances lately of folks with confirmed or suspected ties to the Church of Celestial Science (p.x). Antonio has been hired to track down someone who went missing while supposedly camping near Astoria, OR, though he has a hunch something stranger is at play.
KEY PERSONNEL (p.134)
Alan Black. Current CEO. A former field operator that primarily worked contracts for Panopticon (p.x).
Becca Good. Operations and Logistics Coordinator.
Edward Nikas. A Lawyer and Lobbyist for Bloodstone Group who maintains relationships with law enforcement and local/federal politicians.
Howard Green. Manages the Pest Control operations for Bloodstone Group that provides cover for agents.
Julie Campbell. Runs the construction arm of the company.
LANCE LEE (p.317)
STR: 14 DEX: 13 CTRL: 13 HP: 5 Armor: 2 Submachine gun (d8)
A Bloodstone Operative and field team lead. Black fatigues, a ballistic vest, and a gas mask. A pressing anxiety well masked under a hardened exterior.
Desire: Carry out the tasks as ordered by the client in a tidy and structured manner with minimal screw ups.
Secret: Lance has encountered the horrors before. While he tries to maintain a tough exterior, the inexplicable nature of his encounter has shaken his resolve.
T (p.261)
Runs a pirate radio station The Lost Broadcast out of his van. Sports dark sunglasses and black tracksuit. Expertly weaves obscure news reports, music, and leads on the esoteric every night starting at 11:37 pm.
Drive: To bring the nightly sounds, sights, music, and mysteries of the Haunted PNW to your dial.
Secret: A former Bloodstone (p.x) operative who left after an encounter with a Devil (p. x). He left his team and a small town dead in exchange for a piece of lost knowledge.
TREVOR M. (p.246)
STR: 14 DEX: 13 CTRL: 12 HP: 8 Armor 1 Assault Rifle (d8, d6 blast), Flamethrower (d6, blast)
Modifications: His rifle and flamethrower are augmented to look like pest extermination equipment.
Items: Gloves, coveralls, bolt cutters, lockpick set, bleach sprayer, mobile incinerator.
Runs a “Pest Control” company as a front for his work with the Bloodstone Group (p.x). Pragmatic in his approach to normal social situations and extermination jobs. He typically works solo, but does have a small Rolodex of subcontractors for more extensive jobs.
Desire: To continue to make money and do quality work.
Secret: Currently being paid to protect a small wooden box that contains the heart of a Panopticon executive. Trevor is tempted by the power and potential of the box.
PAPERWORK
Given the legal gray areas that the Bloodstone Group’s contracts operate in, there is extensive paperwork required for employment. GSOs may have a wide range of moral and ethical codes that have to be put aside to engage in the work. Some believe in the cause, while others are there for a paycheck. Two pieces of paperwork that Bloodstone Group uses to create a consistency in worker output is an extensive NDA that is directly tied to their Insurance Benefits. All Bloodstone Employees are bound by an ironclad nondisclosure agreement that prohibits sharing any and all information, even with authorities. To break the NDA will result in financial and legal punitive action and void the extremely generous insurance benefits (both health, life, and hazard). These stakes help the Bloodstone Group to control for any operational lapses due to moral quandaries faced by their contractors.
DOWN TIME
Bloodstone Group only sends specialists into the field when deemed an operational necessity. This means there is a lot of non-field time for specialists. That time is often spent in combat training, remote support, or sill maintenance.
Combat Training: Since specialists typically lack the military or law-enforcement background of other employees a lot of their non-field time is spent building the skills necessary to survive in hostile situations.
Remote Support: Specialists are on call in order to support operations in the field. Excellent communication skills are a must, as specialists will often need to guide someone in the field through a complex task in which the operative has little background in.
Skill Maintenance: Specialists are often provided time and space in which to continue work in their field. Either through professional development or contract work.
OPERATIONS
Given their high clearance level, Lead Operators are able to take on a wide range of contracts. These employees are the most vetted, and have proven themselves loyal to the Bloodstone Group. This means they will take on contracts that break US and International Law, and they are compensated well for taking on such risks. Some typical contracts may be:
Surveillance
Investigation
Breaking and Entering
Kidnapping
Assassination
Interrogation
Extermination (paranatural)
Containment (paranatural)
Security
Protection
Sabotage
Transportation
Espionage
Upcoming modules involving Bloodstone
Our next major release following the Deluxe Edition will be titled Extraction/Extinction. One of the major portions of Extraction will be a supplemental playstyle that will leverage groups like Bloodstone and how they interact within Liminal Horror. The companion Case Files (03) will align with the content in Extraction to provide more resources in play, following alongside the same themes and mechanics.
Extinction will be an accompanying module to the Extraction portion, putting the concepts into play. If you've paid close attention to previous posts you may be able to glean what the touchstones are for Extinction. I personally am so excited to see Zach's art take on the content in this module.
P.S. its worth noting that the thing we are doing directly after the Deluxe Edition is getting The Bureau Remastered and Case Files 02 out. I've already drafted all of the manuscripts for both so the turnaround time on those wont be long.
P.P.S. Josh finished the last of the maps last night which means the Deluxe Edition only has a few more tasks left to wrap up (region map for the PNW and a few emblems for factions).
A sneak peak at future Patreon Member Only Posts
In a fervor yesterday I had my notes app open all day, creating a list of groups/organizations/institutions for LH that can be used in play. A few will be cherry picked for expansion in Extraction but each one is super fun. For an upcoming Patreon Paid Access Post I'll put up the draft d66 table of organizations.
Some future posts will also look at some upcoming content for Case Files 02 and Bureau Remastered (which includes a ton of agents and Resonant Artifacts)!