Blessed Machine

Just got my ticket for Con of the Lakes. I'll be running Secret Agents of CROSS: Sable Island. Here's the description:

Your team of Catholic super agents has been dispatched to Sable Island to investigate a treasure hunter's claim that he has found the lost treasure of the Knights Templar.

two slots left!

Did you miss Secret Agents of CROSS?

Did you miss the Secret Agents of CROSS Kickstarter? Well, now you can get the setting book and all the stretch goals for one low price!

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/278754/Secret-Agents-of-CROSS-Kickstarter-BUNDLE

What do you get when you mix Nazis, archeologists, meteoric iron, and Tibet? The Archdeacons don't know, but someone is willing to kill for it, and it falls on the Secret Agents of CROSS to figure out who and why before whoever can answer the question gets to it first.

Blessed Machine has released a new 1-shot mission for Secret Agents of CROSS called Whispers. You can get this at drivethrurpg.com.

GM's Day Sale @ DriveThruRPG.com

Get Secret Agents of CROSS pdf for $20 today during GM's Day at DriveThruRPG.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/248939/Secret-Agents-of-CROSS-Savage-Worlds

Glory be from the heavens! It is done and it is 30% off!

Secret Agents of CROSS is available in pdf and is now 30% off. Also, hardcover and softcover editions are are finally available in standard or premium editions. Check it all out here:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/248939/Secret-Agents-of-CROSS-Savage-Worlds

What is CROSS?

CROSS is a clandestine spy agency also known as the Catholic Response Organization to Strategize and Strike. CROSS was created by rogue Cardinal James McDonnell to take the Pope's prayers and convert them into actions. He and his command staff create missions to protect the flock from evil using cutting-edge technology coupled with saintly magic honed over 2000 years of history.

For both gamemasters and players, this book includes:
• A brief history of Biblical events that affect the modern world of CROSS.
• A detailed history of the creation of CROSS and the entire command staff.
• Roles for players to choose from to promote CROSS's setting feel. Optional rules to expand, create, or change Roles.
• New Edges and Hindrances to help capture the setting feel of Catholic secret agents.
• Unique weapons created by the engineers of CROSS.
• A primer on how to be a secret agent of CROSS including the Holy Statutes of CROSS, Catholic and spy jargon, and a prayer generator for performing miracles.
• A Secret Agents of CROSS character sheet.

For gamemasters, this book also provides:
• Suggestions for how to handle the supernatural.
• Double-secret-GM's-eyes-only section of secrets not revealed in the other chapters.
• Powerful relics and artifacts to place into missions.
• Adversaries to interact with your agents.
• Complete missions for your agents to begin defending the flock and a detailed mission generator.

CROSS DICE!!

Secret Agent of CROSS dice are now available! Check it out here.

Evilution Unchained for ICONS Print Editions!

After a long wait, print editions are available for the ICONS version of Evilution Unchained!

You can get a signed copy here or a Print-On-Demand version here.

Did you miss the Secret Agents of CROSS Kickstarter?

Provide us your email address and pledge level in the contact form below to receive an invoice. Pay with PayPal account or with CC.

Secret Agents of CROSS Is Funded!

OH, BLESSED DAY!

We did it! Secret Agents of CROSS has been funded and then some, reaching two stretch goals giving backers another 4 missions to play.

What's up next?

Await funding $$ (1-2 weeks)
Finish description text for saints in the Character Generator chapter
Commission remaining artwork

Hi everyone! I am inviting anyone near Twin Lakes, WI to join me as I run a session of my original Savage Worlds setting Secret Agents of CROSS at Con of the Lakes @ 10 am on June 23rd. https://www.conofthelakes.com/ CROSS is a secret organization that's all about making the Pope's wishes come true, by any means necessary. This secret strike force is what you join in Secret Agents of CROSS. Here is more info on the setting: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/965139169/secret-agents-of-cross-for-savage-worlds

#RPGNET Q&A with Pete Ruttman, creator of Secret Agents of CROSS

Pete Ruttman will be doing a Q&A on Secret Agents of CROSS at #rpgnet on Tuesday June 19th @ 7:30PM CST at this link right here! Please stop by and ask questions about the setting, Pete's background, his Kickstarter, or whatever really. See you there!

http://widget02.mibbit.com/?server=irc.magicstar.net&channel=%23rpgnet&nick=Guest??

Announcing Veiled Fury Entertainment's interview with...

ME!

My whirlwind tour for Secret Agents of CROSS continues. This time via YouTube video. This video includes in-depth responses to the content in the Test Drive pdf. Details on the Mission Generator and new pledge levels for the Kickstarter.

Check out the video out here!

Check me out on the SavageCast

Check me out on the SavageCast:

Everything you wanted to know about Secret Agents of CROSS and too much more!

http://www.savagecast.com/2018/06/episode-24-secret-agents-of-cross/

We've uploaded the Secret Agents of CROSS Test Drive pdf to DriveThruRPG. Give it a look, this is mostly pages directly from the draft of the complete game. There is enough there to create characters and run an included mission.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/244133/Secret-Agents-of-CROSS-Test-Drive

If you like what you see, consider pledging to the Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/965139169/secret-agents-of-cross-for-savage-worlds

Secret Agents of CROSS Kickstarter is now LIVE!

Wheels up! Protect the flock! let's finish this mission!

Secret Agents of CROSS @ Nexus Game Fair

Gang,

Event Registration is open at Nexus Game Fair in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and it looks like there are still open slots in all of my games. Please come play. I add stuff I learn to the book with every playtest. Come help me out!

Secret Agents of CROSS: Not Dead Enough
Thursday, 10:00am to 2:00pm

Secret Agents of CROSS: Blood & Teeth
Thursday, 3:00pm to 7:00pm

Secret Agents of CROSS: Let There Be Light
Friday, 10:00am to 2:00pm

Secret Agents of CROSS: The King's Trump
Friday, 3:00pm to 8:00pm

Secret Agents of CROSS: Sable Island
Saturday, 10:00am to 3:00pm

Kickstarter For Secret Agents of CROSS launches June 1, 2018

We are getting close. Here is the Kickstarter video for Secret Agents of CROSS. Give it a click!

What do you think?

Secret Agents of CROSS at Nexus Game Fair

THURSDAY, MAY 31, THROUGH SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2018

Guys, I have signed up at Nexus Game Fair and will be running more Secret Agents of CROSS. Let me know if you are going to attend. Also, let me know if you've played in one of my sessions before and I will make sure there is at least one new adventure. Maybe more...

Great news! I got to show off the cover art at Gary Con this weekend, but I now have the entire spread (front and back cover) ready to go. check it out! Cover art by Hokunin (https://hokunin.deviantart.com/gallery/)

Had a great time running Secret Agents of CROSS at Gary Con X! I ran three full sessions to good reviews from the players. Savage Worlds is complementing Secret Agents of CROSS well and learned a lot from all my new players. Thanks everyone!

Nexus Game Fair 2017

I had fun running the original CROSS adventure and a new one this weekend at Nexus Game Fair!

Evilution Unchained Bundle at HERO Games

I shipped 50 dead tree editions of Evilution Unchained to Hero Games and they have put together a nice $26 book+pdf bundle. Here's the link!

http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/537-evilution-unchained-bookpdf/

Blessed Machine Q&A Chat Log Link

Thanks to everyone that attended the Blessed Machine Q&A chat. if you were interested but couldn't make it, please checkout the chat log pdf here: http://nocancel.zapto.org/share/chatlog.pdf

Don't Forget Blessed Machine Q&A at 7pm CDT/5pm PDT

Blessed Machine Q&A Chat
Sunday August 2nd at 7pm CST
Visit: www.blessedmachine.com (Click the Chat link in the menu)

Pete Ruttman will be hosting a chat session at blessedmachine.com chat. I will go over all the Blessed Machine products and discuss our current project Secret Agents of CROSS. Obviously, since it is a Q&A, we'll take any questions throughout. Thanks!

Blessed Machine Q&A Chat with Pete Ruttman

Blessed Machine Q&A Chat
Sunday August 2nd at 7pm CDT
Click the Chat link in the menu

I will be hosting a chat session at blessedmachine.com chat. I will go over all the Blessed Machine products and discuss our current project Secret Agents of CROSS. Obviously, since it is a Q&A, we'll take any questions throughout. Thanks!

Worst Kept Secret Revealed!

If the Stars, Sun and Moon align as we pray they do, you shall see Secret Agents of CROSS in March. What, you don't believe me? Show some progress you say? fine, take this logo and stuff it down your cassock!

Modern Maps #1: NewU Gym

We have just deployed another product to rpgnow.com. This time it is:

Modern Maps #1: NewU Gym

This product includes two 8x11 maps that detail the two floors to the NewU Gym as well as a detailed key for all the rooms in the facility. Finally, multiple page versions of the map are included that you can cut and paste together into tabletop maps you can explore and fight on. Enjoy!

OMG! The angels are finally singing and Blessed Machine is now on twitter! Follow us for instantaneous pulse pounding updates from the world of Blessed Machine.

https://twitter.com/blessedmachine

Supervillain Showdown #1: HARDHATE

Supervillain Showdown #1 is now available for ICONS at rpgnow.com.

What is the Supervillain Showdown about?

Supervillain Showdown is a series of short publications detailing supervillains and their stats, lairs, vehicles, minions, plots or any sort of details that centers around supervillains and the way they go about doing their business.

Supervillain Showdown #1

In this issue, you meet the 5 members of Hardhate, a construction-themed supervillain team bent on paying back the government for what they consider unfair treatment.

Evilution Unchained for ICONS

Evilution Unchained for ICONS has just been released on rpgnow.com. Enjoy!

Secret Agents of CROSS at Garycon 2015

With EU Behind me, I am back to working on Secret Agents of CROSS. I have three missions to run at Garycon 2015 this year. Its next week already!

Secret Agents of CROSS: The King's Trump (The original first classic mission is back!)
Why has a small time art dealer garnered the attention of several terrorist groups? Chatter indicates he has something code-named The King's Trump up for sale and you have been sent on a mission to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. Unfortunately, nothing is ever straight forward or easy when you live the life of a Secret Agent of CROSS.

Secret Agents of CROSS: Blood & Teeth (Brand new mission!)
Your team has been tasked with investigating the disappearances of people from a Catholic village in Eastern Turkey. Intel points to straight forward religious unrest, but the mission rapidly unfurls into a complex tale of power and revenge. Join your fellow CROSS agents and embark on a mission of Blood & Teeth.

Secret Agents of CROSS: Blood Ties (Most popular mission!)
A missing persons case is usually mundane and simple, but when your case comes from the heart of the Vatican and you are a Secret Agent of CROSS no case ever is. Join your teammates as you travel to Jolly Old England to locate a celebrated otolaryngologist that has gone missing. Its a cut-throat world out there so you better smell out his intentions before you hear of his untimely demise.

Here are the pregens if you wanna take a look:

Mary Xu - Silent Knight (Infiltrator)
Kalid Atwah - Heavy Weapons Specialist / Transporter [No cool name :( ]
Jericho Zuma - Blessed Machine (Cyborg)
Dante Balducci - Exorcist
Aleksandr Sarov- Judas Agent (Grifter) / Iron Shroud (Hitter/brick)

https://app.box.com/s/x7opg87i4pwyfqfu8ajrka49v5h4wao7

Discount Linkypoo: http://www.rpgnow.co...ount=93c1af2eaa

Reviews for Evilution Unchained are pouring in. Check out this one!

"it's very good" -- Bubba Smith

Come on folks, you know you want a copy!

http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/7646/Blessed-Machine

Many Thank Yous to Hero Games for getting Evilution Unchained into the Hero Store during this busy time of year.

You can now purchase the pdf version of the document here: http://www.herogames.com/forums/store/product/506-evilution-unchained-pdf/

I am currently working through the bumpy proceed of getting a print edition available at rpgnow.com (http://www.rpgnow.com/browse/pub/7646/Blessed-Machine)

I also have some nice t-shirts available for those of you that just can't get enough of Evilution Unchained or Evil Pete(tm*).

http://www.redbubble.com/people/blessedmachine/shop/t-shirts?ref=artist_shop_product_refinement

Happy Holidays!

Pete Ruttman

"pruttm"

*Its a joke, USPTO. A joke.

Evilution Unchained Adventure for Hero System!

Blessed Machine proudly announces the release of its first product: Evilution Unchained!

Evilution Unchained is a three act mystery adventure that takes the heroes throughout the city to solve a series of high profile kidnappings. Heroes will hunt for clues on nine fully detailed color maps to discover a horrific plot that threatens the entire campaign city.

Also, the heroes will meet a fresh batch of supervillains as they try to solve the mystery ofEvilution Unchained.

This adventure is fully compatible with Champions Complete and the Hero System Sixth Edition rulebooks.

What's Inside: This 144 page full-color adventure book includes a 48 page adventure along with supporting cardboard heroes, top-down tokens and nine maps to cut and paste together for exploring or combat.

You can purchase the pdf and/or the Hero Designer Character pack from rpgnow.com.

Purchase Here!!

Champions Unchained at Pen & Paper Games Minicon on Aug 16th

Here is the description of my session August 16th:

Game Title: Champions Unchained

Game System: Champions 6E

Gamemaster: Pruttm

Max Players: 5

Start Time: 10:00A.M. EST to 2:00 P.M. EST

Duration: 4 Hours

Experienced Required: Rules will be taught

Short Description: City officials have recently coaxed a few minor but celebrated sports teams and popular celebrities to set up shop in North Detroit, but the city's good fortune is now in jeopardy as several of them have gone missing. The police seem to be baffled by the bizarre, maybe superhuman, circumstances of the cases and appear to have made little progress in locating any of the missing athletes and celebrities. Rumors from sources at City Hall indicate the mayor has lost faith in the Chief of Police and has requested the help of the local superhero team, the North Detroit Vindicators. Join your teammates in the North Detroit Vindicators to find the missing victims, preserve the city's reputation and live up to the title of superhero!

http://www.playbyaction.com/champions

Support Pen & Paper Games Con

Please join me at Pen & Paper Games Online Mini-Con on August 16th where I will be running Champions: Unchained! once again.

http://penandpapergames.webs.com

Post Nexus Game Report

Thanks much for my players of my Champions Unchained! Game. This was in fact, a play test of my Evolution Unchained adventure modules for Champions Complete. I got a ton of ideas on how to improve the information I will be including in the adventure. Thanks much to Nexus for hosting us.

CROSS and Champions at Nexus Game Fair

Please join me for two HERO Systems games at Nexus Game Fair in Milwaukee, Wisconsin -- June 19-22nd.

http://nexusgamefair.com/

Kidnap Victims All Local Celebrities

by Pete Ruttman Northern Bugle Staff Writer

NORTH DETROIT - City officials have recently coaxed a few minor but celebrated sports teams and popular celebrities to set up shop in North Detroit, but the city's good fortune is now in jeopardy as several of them have gone missing. The police seem to be baffled by the bizarre, maybe superhuman, circumstances of the cases and appear to have made little progress in locating any of the missing athletes and celebrities. Rumors from sources at City Hall indicate the mayor has lost faith in the Chief of Police and has requested the help of the local superhero team, the North Detroit Vindicators. Join your teammates in the North Detroit Vindicators to find the missing victims, preserve the city's reputation and live up to the title of superhero!

Blood Ties

A missing persons case is usually mundane and simple, but when your case comes from the heart of the Vatican and you are a Secret Agent of CROSS no case ever is. Join your teammates as you travel to Jolly Old England to locate a celebrated otolaryngologist that has gone missing. Its a cut-throat world out there so you better smell out his location before you hear of his untimely demise.

Chatroom Fun!

We have opened up a simple chatroom here at Blessedmachine.com. Hit the Chatroom menu item above to enter the chatroom. Or click this link: http://blessedmachine.blogspot.com/p/chat.html

News for the week of July 7th

Meet Anton Marolf

"I am Anton Marolf. I am the Archdeacon of Strategic Operations at CROSS. My job is to direct CROSS operatives from our underground headquarters."

As the Archdeacon of Strategic Operations, Anton Marolf, runs the Congregation of Strategic Operations and is in charge of recruiting, training and guiding its men on missions for the Holy General. This position holds control of over eighty percent of the field operations within CROSS. He also holds command over any field work done by other divisions if there is a chance for combat activity. He also will run any missions where there are multi-division teams in the field. Anton Marolf, from Switzerland, was the first person appointed to this position and still holds the title. He is a career military man and runs his division much like the Swiss Army. He is a major proponent of the multi division teams and often requests for these other disciplines on his missions. For the most part, the other Archdeacons are content to oblige the requests, but dislike the fact they lose control of their members for those missions.

News for the week of June 16th

I am in the process of finding lodging for November's Gamehole Con. Assuming, I get that worked out, I will be there for the weekend and I will try to run 4-6 CROSS events over the course of the weekend. Likely, I will run the same adventure multiple times to give them a good run through. Once I have more specifics I will update this blog.

I am also working to rebuild my playtest group. I had a player leave and another that is unhappy with his character. I have also discovered two local folks that I will try to get involved in the play test as well.

Besides that, I hope to really get to the process of working through my manuscript and figuring out what's missing. I know..I know...soon.

News 05/17/2013 - Brief Hiatus

Sorry its been awhile since I updated. Various family issues and a creative writing class have tied me up. The class is half done now and I hope it will improve Secret Agents of CROSS. Once that is wrapped up I will flesh out what I really need to write yet. I will also begin going over the old stuff and clean it up and hand it off to others to read. I may also begin looking for a professional editor.

News 04/11/2013 - Some Odds & Ends

Well, no big update this time, but here is what I am working on:

1) Finished a draft of the chargen section of the book and shipped it off to my new player
2) Two CROSS playtest sessions scheduled
3) CROSS NPC page on blessedmachine.com in production
4) Pulling in notes from all over and trying to get into a single document

News 03/23/2013 - Meet Ande Starlin

ANDROMEDA “ANDE” STARLING

Ande started with CROSS as the head of Cybernetic Research and Development and created dozens of innovative, stable and relatively economical components for CROSS cyborgs. Since then, she has extended her vision to all technical aspects of CROSS and is now the Archdeacon of Technical Services for CROSS.

Ande has a wildly sarcastic personality that often can reduce the stress level of a moment, but is also used as a defense mechanism to protect her when she needs it. She is most at home creating in the lab and she abhors field work (likely due to some sort of debacle when she was with MI6). However, she will do whatever is required of her, but don't expect her to be quiet about it.

News For 03/20/2013

Garycon Results
Things went very well on the two CROSS sessions at Garycon. The players really got the setting I was trying to make and really pushed the scenes to play up both the spy angle and the Catholic angle that is so much a part of what I have been trying to build with CROSS. That said, I saw some holes in the setting that I will be trying to fix over the next several weeks. In general, though, I feel that I can now solidly write the Character Creation side of the CROSS source book so that will begin in earnest. Wish me luck! And a big thank you to any of my Garycon players that may be watching this space. Thanks so much!

I missed this during Football season

News For 3/5/13

Fake Priest Misses His Disguise Roll But Apparently God Likes A Good Practical Joke, Anyway

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/fake-bishop-sneaks-vatican-article-1.1278885

News Update for 3/2/13

Exorcist Template for CROSS: Secret Agents of the Vatican

Here is a template for an Exorcist. It uses the bases of the Catholic Priest Template but adds all the goodies needed to combat the infernal baddies.

Cost Skills

Exorcist Template

3 1) KS: Biblical Texts 11-

3 2) KS: Catholic Teachings 11-

3 3) KS: Demonology 11-

3 4) KS: Mystical Lore 11-

3 5) KS: Philosophy 11-

3 6) KS: Supernatural World 11-

3 7) KS: Theology 11-

3 8) Language: Latin (fluent conversation; literate)

3 9) Language: Hebrew (fluent conversation; literate)

3 10) Language: Aramaic (fluent conversation; literate)

3 11) Language: Greek (Byzantine) (fluent conversation; literate)

Language Options

3 1) Language: Enochian (fluent conversation; literate)

3 2) Language: Sanskrit (fluent conversation; literate)

3 3) Language: Assyrian (fluent conversation; literate)

3 4) Language: Babylonian (fluent conversation; literate)

3 5) Language: Hitite (fluent conversation; literate)

Skills Total: 33 + Extra Languages

Cost Perks

Exorcist Template

2 1) Contact: Catholic Priest's Bishop (Contact has useful Skills or resources) 8-

6 2) Fringe Benefit: Membership: Catholic Priesthood, Priest

3 3) Contact: Additional Contact Related To Exorcism (Contact has useful Skills or resources) 11-

Perks Total: 11

Value Complications

Choose One:

Catholic Diocesan Priest

15 1) Psychological Complication: Promise To Obey Their Catholic Bishop Frequently, Major

10 2) Psychological Complication: Promise To Pray The Liturgy Of The Hours Every Day Frequently, Minor

15 3) Psychological Complication: Promise Of Celibacy Frequently, Major

Catholic Religious Priest

15 1) Psychological Complication: Vow of Poverty Frequently, Major

15 2) Psychological Complication: Vow of Chastity Frequently, Major

15 3) Psychological Complication: Vow Of Obedience To Catholic Superiors Frequently, Major

Complications Points: 40 or 45

News Update for 2/28/13

Catholic Priest Template for CROSS: Secret Agents of the Vatican

I have begun cleaning up some of the templates I will be using for Garycon. Here is the Catholic Priest Skill template. Comments welcome.

Cost Skills
Catholic Priest Template
3 1) KS: Biblical Texts 11-
3 2) KS: Catholic Teachings 11-
3 3) KS: Philosophy 11-
3 4) KS: Theology 11-
3 5) Oratory 11-
3 6) Persuasion 11-
3 7) PS: Priest 11-

Skills Total: 21

Cost Perks
Catholic Priest Template
2 1) Contact: Catholic Priest's Bishop (Contact has useful Skills or resources) 8-
6 2) Fringe Benefit: Membership: Catholic Priesthood, Priest

Perks Total: 8

Value Complications

Note: Choose One Of These:

Catholic Diocesan Priest
15 1) Psychological Complication: Promise To Obey Their Catholic Bishop Frequently, Major
10 2) Psychological Complication: Promise To Pray The Liturgy Of The Hours Every Day Frequently, Minor
15 3) Psychological Complication: Promise Of Celibacy Frequently, Major
Catholic Religious Priest
15 1) Psychological Complication: Vow of Poverty Frequently, Major
15 2) Psychological Complication: Vow of Chastity Frequently, Major
15 3) Psychological Complication: Vow Of Obedience To Catholic Superiors Frequently, Major

Complications Points: 40 or 45

Danger International Debacle

So, I was looking over Danger International - -the old modern role-playing book from HERO Games. My intention was to see if there was anything interesting that would be of use for CROSS. However, to my horror I discovered it is missing pages 65-96 :( :(

I was looking at the cover and discovered that this was a Print Buyer's copy so maybe it wasn't complete on purpose. See the picture below. Maybe this is a collector's item. Nah, I just got screwed.

Garycon Events

Join me on March 14th-17th at Garycon in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for two sessions of CROSS. Here is the ad copy for the event:

Why has a small time art dealer garnered the attention of several terrorist groups? Chatter indicates he has something code named The King's Trump on the auction block. Your mission is to discover what the item is and prevent it from falling into enemy hands.

Join in and play test a new HERO System setting where you play secret agents of the Vatican. Fueled with faith and high-tech weaponry you will defend all God-fearing Christians from the likes of terrorists, demons and things that go bump in the night.

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