TEXT: The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 1
  He remembered his mother, lying in a pool of slowly 
  spreading blood. The face of her killer loomed over 
  him. The ghost of Leanne Jones beckoned him to hide 
  under Blackburn Dock. The alligators, the Indian, the 
  horror that never left him. Now, he had returned. He 
  sighed, and took a long drag on his cigarette. 
  The yards of the homes looked as if they were 
  garbage dumps. Broken toys, tools, and pieces of cars 
  littered the landscape. A toddler, diaper drooping, bare-
  chested, and listing from his right to his left, moved to 
  play with a shiny piece of an old chrome bumper. His 
  mother ran out of the home, allowing the screen-door 
  to slam behind her, calling to the boy, “Randy, stop. 
  Come here!” As she reached the boy, her eyes met the 
  stranger’s. 
  He wore faded jeans, boots, a sweat-stained white 
  crew-cut t-shirt, and a black cowboy hat, its frontal 
  brim bent low to shade his face. He knew what she 
  was seeing. He looked tough, with a few days growth 
  of bristles over his face. A cigarette lay clamped 
  between his lips. He was not bad-looking, and she 
  probably took him to be in his early forties. Seeing an 
  opportunity, she smiled.
  “Hello, there.”
  He reached up and tipped his hat to her. “Ma’am.” 
  “Haven’t seen you around here before.” She picked 
  up her son and sat him on her cocked hip in the 
  practiced way of all mothers. She was cute—a true 
  redneck woman from the looks of her. She wore cut-
  off blue jean shorts and a dark t-shirt with the name 
  of some rock band emblazoned across it. Her blond 
  hair was pulled back in a tail some six inches down 
  her back. She had pretty blue eyes. “There was a 
  time…” he thought, and took another long drag from 
  his smoke. 
  He shook his head, “I ain’t been here in a long time.” 
  He glanced towards her home. In the driveway sat an 
  old, red Silverado pickup with several bumper stickers 
  on the back windshield. One read, “Yankees 1, Rebels 
  0. Halftime.” Another read, “Women, Use ‘em or lose 
  ‘em!” So, she had a man. She was just looking for 
  something better. He sighed. He had not come here for 
  this. Truth was, he was not sure why he had returned 
  home after all these years.
  “Well, I’m Amy. Amy Lopez.” She approached him, 
  holding Randy with her right arm and offering him her 
  Soul Gazer
  B
  lackburn. The armpit of Texas. In seventy some-odd years, nothing had changed. The same old wood-framed 
  houses stood near the shores of Lake Greystone. Although the homes had aged poorly, with more than a little 
  ﬂaking paint and rotten wood, the sullen setting was still powerfully reminiscent of his childhood. Memories 
  rolled and lapped at him at him like a noxious wave. 
  “Howdy” from 12 to Midnight
  In case you are not familiar with us, 12 to Midnight 
  is a Texas-based RPG publisher specializing in 
  modern horror. You might not normally think “Texas” 
  and “horror” go together, but we are pretty sure you 
  will change your mind after spending some time in 
  Pinebox. 
  Pinebox, Texas, that is—a nice little rural community 
  smack-dab in East Texas. There is a university nearby, 
  a pine forest called the Big Thicket, and a mess of 
  beautiful wildﬂowers every spring. Unfortunately, it is 
  also the epicenter of a whole lot of bad mojo. We’re 
  talking dark magic, serial killers, haunted buildings—
  the whole ball of wax.
  If you want to learn more about Pinebox, just visit 
  our Web site at 12tomidnight.com. You can start using 
  the free campaign setting on our site right now, then 
  watch it continue to grow right here in the pages of 
  Modern Dispatch. Of course, Pinebox is our setting, 
  but all the material in these pages can just as easily be 
  dropped into yours.
  If you have any ideas for future issues, 
  or if you want to comment on what you 
  read here, please drop by the forums on 
  our website.
  Pinebox Tales
  Requires the use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying 
  Game, published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  Author: Ed.Wetterman�
  editors: Jerry.Blakemore
  Preston.dubose
  layout: Preston.dubose
  #57
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 2
  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.
  left hand. He took it into his and with the contact and 
  the shake he knew everything there was to know about 
  her.
  She had attended Pinebox High, where she’d had 
  dreams of going to college and escaping East Texas, 
  but instead had gotten pregnant at sixteen. The boy 
  was older and a football player. He abandoned her and 
  the baby and went on to play at the college level. She 
  dropped out of school, had the baby, and eventually 
  ran away from home with her child. Her father, an 
  abusive alcoholic, had made it clear to her that he was 
  not raising a “bastard kid”.
  Amy had met Augustine Lopez at a bar, and had 
  married him a few months later. She had simply traded 
  one alcoholic abuser for another. Every Friday and 
  Saturday night, Augustine would come home late from 
  some bar with a dull, sullen look in is bloodshot eyes. 
  Any excuse, and sometimes none at all, was enough 
  to spark a beating. Her greatest fear was for Randy. 
  How long until he received a beating of his own? She 
  dreamed and prayed every night for something better. 
  Someone better. Well, he was not it. If she knew him, 
  she would run.
  He could walk away, but that would not be right. It 
  was his duty to seek out those who deserved punishment 
  and to see that vengeance was done. Vengeance is 
  mine, sayith the Lord. He was the Hand of God. He 
  was the Soul Gazer—judge, jury and executioner. He 
  needed to meet Augustine.
  He smiled. “Hello Amy. I’m Isaiah. I was raised 
  here in Blackburn, but this is the ﬁrst time I’ve been 
  back in years.”
  She cocked an eyebrow considering him. “Well, 
  welcome home then.”
  He nodded towards her home. “Nice place.”
  She adjusted Randy on her hip once more. “Thanks, 
  it needs some work, but it’s home.” 
  “I hate to ask, but could you spare something to 
  drink. My throat is awful parched.” He smiled at her. 
  Would she take the bait? Of course. She needed a 
  friend.
  “Hey, no problem. Just a sec.” She turned and moved 
  to her front door and quickly entered the house, the 
  screen door screeching and slamming shut behind her. 
  He moved closer to the front porch. He noted the slight 
  movement of the curtain behind the window, and knew 
  that Augustine was sizing him up. A moment later he 
  appeared behind the screen door. 
  Augustine stood over six feet tall and easily weighed 
  three-hundred pounds. Big for a Hispanic male. He 
  wore some shiny silver shorts, and his chest and belly 
  were bare. Much like Randy had been. A big fat baby 
  in a man’s skin. Isaiah smiled. “Howdy.”
  Sensing something was wrong, Augustine sneered 
  and scratched his ass. He elbowed the door open and 
  moved towards Isaiah. 
  Isaiah offered his hand for a shake, and Augustine 
  took it. At once, Isaiah knew all he needed to know. 
  Augustine had done many bad things. Rape, beatings, 
  and robbery capped by a single murder two years ago, 
  when he stabbed a man in the back outside a club in 
  Nacogdoches. Enough. Isaiah knew all he needed to. 
  Vengeance is mine.
  The air was ﬂush with static electricity, and every 
  hair of Augustine’s body stood on end. His eyes 
  widened crazily and he attempted to yank his hand 
  away from Isaiah’s. He failed, the bones of his hand 
  crushed in the mighty grip of his assailant. Isaiah’s left 
  hand shot into Augustine’s chest, just below his ribs, 
  and emerged a second later holding Augustine’s still 
  beating heart. 
  “Vengeance is mine,” Isaiah whispered, his eyes 
  locked onto Augustine’s. The windows to the soul. 
  Augustine had glimpsed his fated eternity. Hell 
  claimed its own. He collapsed.
  Amy stood at the door, a glass of water slipping from 
  her hand and crashing down, sending glass and water 
  in every direction. A pregnant pause of anticipation, 
  then she screamed.
  Isaiah dropped the heart and turned. So much for 
  his visit home. He walked toward the lake to clean 
  up. Then he would return to his wanderings. Others 
  awaited the vengeance only he could give. 
  Take 20: Join the Modern d20 Yahoo Group
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  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 3
  Soul Gazers are said to be “touched” by the divine, 
  but the few show know of their existence have 
  differing interpretations over whether the divine 
  power at work is good or evil. However, most soul 
  gazers believe they are doing God’s work. Usually 
  they, or someone close to them, have suffered an 
  injustice, prompting the soul gazer to swear true 
  vengeance upon his enemies. 
  This intervention in a moment of crises invokes 
  a spiritual change. These instruments of “justice” 
  receive certain powers, enabling them to overcome 
  adversity and complete their quests. They are forever 
  linked to their vow of justice and spend the rest of 
  their time on earth seeking out others who deserve 
  punishment.
  Although some soul gazers believe that punishment 
  must be administered by their own bare hands, in 
  fact they are not limited to unarmed attacks. As long 
  as justice is meted out, the means is not important.
  The Soul Gazer is a template that can be added to 
  any humanoid type.
  Challenge Rating: Character Class Level +1.
  Hit Dice: According to Character Class.
  Attacks: Soul Gazer can make lethal unarmed 
  attacks with a base damage of 1d6.
  Special Qualities: All of the soul gazer’s abilities 
  are considered extraordinary. These are:
  Damage Reduction: 5/-
  Dark Vision: 60’
  Drain Evil: The soul gazer may grapple an 
  opponent and if successful, he may transfer up 
  to half their total hit points into himself. Hit 
  points transferred in excess of his maximum hit 
  points are not added and may not be received 
  later.
  Limited Immortality: As long as the soul gazer 
  punishes deserving souls, he does not age. The 
  soul gazer must punish at least one evil person 
  per month, to forestall aging. The process is not 
  reversible, so once a soul gazer ages, he remains 
  at that age.
  Soul Touch: Through a successful skin on skin 
  contact, the soul gazer seemingly knows all the 
  sins and evils a person has ever committed and 
  whether certain actions deserve punishment. 
  Track Evil: Once a target is marked for justice 
  by a soul gazer, he can track the person by 
  smell, as a hound might.
  Sanctity of the Holy: Soul gazers cannot soul 
  gaze upon anyone of true faith, such as clergy. 
  If an innocent is killed, even accidentally, by a 
  soul gazer, he suffers an immediate level drain 
  of 1d6 levels. If this reduces the soul gazer to 
  zero levels then he dies. After the passing of 
  seven nights, the former soul gazer rises as a 
  Revenant of Justice.
  Allegiances: A soul gazer is bound to ﬁght evil. In 
  achieving this goal, he may join forces with a group 
  that ﬁghts evil or serves good.
  Skills: A soul gazer receives bonuses to his skills. 
  These are Hide +5, and Move Silently, +5
  Abilities: The physical health of a soul gazer is 
  strengthened by divine blessing. This increases the 
  following ability scores by Str +4, Con +4. 
  Soul Gazer Template
  GM Ideas:
  • Isaiah meets the heroes in a club. Do they have any 
  great unatoned sins? If so, he waits until the heroes 
  are alone and attacks.
  • The heroes witness Isaiah killing someone inside a 
  car. Do they get involved?
  • A hero takes a vow of vengeance against someone. 
  Upon completing his vengeance he becomes a soul 
  gazer.
  • Two soul gazers meet and each believes he sees the 
  other as an evildoer with great sin upon his soul. 
  Their ﬁght rages across the city, sometimes openly, 
  sometimes subtly. Can the heroes stop the war before 
  an innocent is killed?
  • Heroes who investigate a strange murder learn that 
  the proﬁle is identical to a string of serial murders 
  going back as far as twenty years. The killer is a soul 
  gazer, and his work is not yet done.
  • Isaiah has come to visit his brother in a local 
  hospice. The heroes are also there visiting an elderly 
  relative or a friend. A male nurse in the hospice is 
  slowly poisoning the patients and getting away with 
  the murder of those fated to die anyway. The soul 
  gazer discovers this and attacks the nurse right in the 
  hospice.
  • A federal agent has come to town and is searching 
  for someone ﬁtting Isaiah’s description. The heroes 
  spot Isaiah on the streets of Pinebox.
  • The strain of living for almost two centuries has 
  snapped a soul gazer’s mind. Now on a murder spree 
  for crimes no more severe than jaywalking, one of 
  the heroes is now the next victim.
  • After accidentally killing an innocent child, a soul 
  gazer has decided to stop killing and allow himself 
  to die of old age. However, his Soul Touch ability 
  remains. Now serving as a priest in a local church, 
  he also acts as an anonymous informant for one of 
  the heroes.
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 4
  Isaiah Roberts
  Isaiah appears to be in his late thirties to early forties. His frame is well deﬁned and slender. He wears faded 
  jeans, a sweat-stained white crew-cut t-shirt, and well-worn, dusty cowboy boots. His head is covered by a black 
  cowboy hat; its frontal brim is bent low to shade a face that sports a ﬁve-o’clock shadow. A cigarette is constantly 
  clamped between his lips and his skin is drawn taut like old leather.
  Pinebox Personalities
  Character Proﬁle
  (January 13, 1921 – Present)
  Isaiah was born and raised in the Blackburn community 
  of Golan County, Texas. He has a younger brother 
  named Timothy, who is currently in the Pinebox 
  Hospice dying of age and cancer. Isaiah was a strong 
  and independent child, spending much of his early 
  years combing the piney woods of his home and ﬁshing 
  and swimming along the banks of Lake Greystone. 
  Isaiah’s memories of his childhood are warm ones, 
  full of love and peace. His father died when he was 
  very young, and his mother, Mary, raised her two boys 
  as best as she could. It was not easy raising the boys, 
  and when the Great Depression hit, she could not ﬁnd 
  any work to pay for their home. She took up with the 
  local Sheriff, Andrew Tate. Andrew had a thing for 
  Mary, and now he seemed to bring her some peace of 
  mind in the knowledge that her boys would be taken 
  care of. 
  Unfortunately, Andrew was a true beast of a man, 
  and many episodes of family violence followed her 
  moving in with him. Then, one stormy summer night, 
  as lightning ﬂashed and thunder groaned across the 
  sky, Mary had enough. She fought back. 
  Andrew, in a drunken rage, had struck Timothy. 
  Mary grabbed a wooden baseball bat and swung with 
  all her might at Andrew. He fell, his ribs broken and 
  screaming in pain. He yelled that he would kill her 
  and her boys. Timothy ﬂed into the night, while Isaiah 
  watched Andrew pull his service revolver and shoot 
  his mother. Her back seemed to explode in a burst 
  of red as she fell to the ﬂoor before her son. Andrew, 
  gripped in his fury and rage, raised the pistol to ﬁre at 
  Isaiah, but something happened and Isaiah ﬂed into 
  the night.
  Secrets
  As young Isaiah stood before his mother’s killer, 
  the spirit of Leanne Jones appeared between them. 
  Leanne had been a beautiful young teenage girl who 
  had disappeared several years before, the victim of 
  Andrew’s rage and lust. He had tied the girl’s body 
  beneath the Blackburn boat docks and sliced her open 
  to attract the alligators. The body was consumed 
  and shortly thereafter the Sheriff closed the case. 
  He claimed that the Leanne had become smitten and 
  followed a boy to the city of Beaumont. Her parents 
  never accepted that explanation, but murder was never 
  proven. This night she would protect the boy from the 
  fate she suffered. Startled, Andrew shot wildly and 
  Isaiah ran from the house toward the lake.
  His mother’s dead face stood vivid in his mind, and 
  Isaiah could not stop picturing her precious blood 
  spreading upon the wooden ﬂoors of their little home. 
  He could hear Sheriff Andrew calling for him in the 
  rain and giving chase. Somewhere, deep within the 
  boy’s soul, he cried out for revenge. “I’ll kill you! 
  I’ll kill you!” He chanted as he ran toward the Wayne 
  home on the lake.
  Suddenly a Native American stepped from a tree. 
  The warrior was covered in tattoos and his eyes were 
  eerily white. The ﬁgure calmly pointed to a nice-sized 
  rock, brown and sharp edged, approximately the size 
  of a softball. 
  Andrew was approaching quickly from behind. 
  Isaiah grabbed the rock and turned on his mother’s 
  killer, whose face was consumed in madness and 
  bloodlust. The rock struck the Sheriff across the bridge 
  of his nose with a thud, followed by a crack, and he 
  fell forward.
  Andrew was not dead, but unconscious, and the 
  Native American was gone. Isaiah stood in the rain, 
  the lightning ﬂashes outlining his frame in the night. 
  What to do? Would he go to prison now? The Sheriff 
  moaned, and Isaiah’s heart leaped into his throat. He 
  had to kill the man. He had to.
  Then a strange calm came over the boy. Leanne 
  appeared, smiled at him, and gestured toward the 
  nearby boat dock. Isaiah understood. He dragged the 
  Sheriff to the docks, and used the old tie ropes to strap 
  the man underneath. Sheriff Andrew’s head remained 
  just above the water.
  Isaiah surfaced before Andrew, holding the Sheriff’s 
  own pocketknife mere inches from his face as the 
  drunk murderer awoke. “This is for killing my mother” 
  He sank beneath the dark water and moments later the 
  water around the Sheriff turned a pinkish tint. Isaiah 
  surfaced and stood above the dock, pausing to watch 
  as the alligators glided silently toward their prey.
  Later, when Isaiah ﬂed into the night, he was 
  unaware that he had become a Soul Gazer.
  Character Speak
  “Mister, you better turn away now. You don’t wanna 
  see what’s coming.”
  “If you do the crime, you must...die.”
  “The right hand of Justice. The hand of God. 
  Vengeance is mine.”
  “Prison? Oh yeah, I could do prison!”
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 5
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 5
  pinebox news
  New Mayor Sworn in on Steps of City Hall
  Mayor James Flowers was sworn in on the 
  steps of City Hall today, becoming the 
  125th Mayor in the history of Pinebox, 
  Texas. Mayor Flowers replaces the recently 
  deceased Mayor Red McCoy, who fell 
  victim to a bear attack a few weeks ago.
  In a speech to over a hundred well-
  wishers, city-councilmen and others, 
  Mayor Flowers promised to see to recent 
  reports of corruption in city government. 
  He also promised to ﬁght for lower 
  property taxes throughout Golan County.
  He remembered Mayor Red McCoy as 
  a man of action, and asked for a moment 
  of silence to remember the contributions 
  of Mayor McCoy. He then gave a bouquet 
  of yellow roses to Lalie McCoy, Red’s 
  widow.
  Mayor Flowers is a lifelong resident 
  of Pinebox and a graduate from Pinebox 
  high in 1985. He started a paint and 
  body shop in 1989 and the business has 
  grown very successful. Mayor Flowers 
  was elected to the Chairman of the Better 
  Business Consortium of Golan County 
  in 1996, and is an elite member of the 
  Wolf Hunters Club. He was appointed to 
  replace the deceased Mayor by the City 
  Council last Tuesday and will serve out the 
  term of Mayor McCoy.
  GM Ideas:
  • Mayor Flowers hires the heroes to ﬁnd 
  out the truth regarding what happened 
  to Red McCoy or to discover his ties to 
  the Texas National Militia.
  • A bomb is set oﬀ in Flower’s Paint and 
  Body Shop. The Texas National Militia 
  is responsible. Mayor Flowers looks to 
  hire someone he can trust to protect 
  him and his family.
  • Mayor Flowers decides to go after the 
  Texas National Militia and seeks to hire 
  someone to inﬁltrate the group.
  “It was a bear!”
  Sheriﬀ Anderson Closes Case
  Community Calendar
  September 19
  4-H Club car wash fundraiser—
  Donald Donuts parking lot, 12 
  p.m. - 4 p.m.
  Golan County Historical Society 
  monthly meeting—First State 
  Bank meeting room, 6 p.m.
  Pinebox High School open 
  house—PHS, 5 p.m. - 8 p.m.
  September 20
  Woodsmen luncheon—Catﬁsh 
  King, 12 p.m.
  Cont’d.
  September 19, 2005 
  Volume XII, Issue 24
  Golan County Sheriﬀ Butch Anderson 
  announced today that the rampage at 
  the Timberland Country Club that 
  killed Mayor Red McCoy was caused by 
  an enraged, rabies-infested black bear. 
  He went on to blame Louisiana Game 
  Authorities for its release into the wild. 
  Recently, the Louisiana Game Authority 
  has been releasing black bears into the 
  woodlands of western Louisiana in the 
  hope of restoring the bear to its native 
  habitat. Hunters devastated the black bear 
  population in the mid twentieth century, 
  and many animal rights activists have 
  pushed for rebuilding the population.
  While many witnesses to the attack 
  stated that the beast could ﬂy and had 
  literally “ripped” the Mayor to shreds, 
  Sheriﬀ Anderson dismissed such claims, 
  stating that the “late hour and the amount 
  of alcohol consumed could make for wild 
  stories.” He emphasized that “science 
  and good investigative techniques” have 
  proven the attacker was a black bear.
  While no black bear remains were found, 
  Sheriﬀ Anderson assured the citizens of 
  Pinebox that the bear is most “deﬁnitely 
  dead.” He went on to state that the bear 
  was obviously in the last, extreme stages 
  of rabies, or it never would have attacked 
  such a large gathering of people.
  Anderson also laid to rest rumors that 
  Mayor McCoy’s body suﬀered knife 
  wounds instead of claw marks. “No 
  human would do what that bear did. A 
  trained medical professional said that the 
  mayor’s wounds were claw marks. Do you 
  think you know more than the coroner?”
  GM Ideas
  • A wildlife activist named Heather Mays 
  comes to Pinebox seeking the truth 
  about the bear attack. She does not 
  believe it was a black bear, and enlists 
  the support of the heroes to prove it.
  • Eco-terrorists, hearing of the bear attack, 
  come to Pinebox and campaign against 
  the city leaders.
  • More people are attacked by the “bear”, 
  forcing the Sheriﬀ to admit that he was 
  wrong in announcing that the threat had 
  ended. The heroes are asked to protect 
  an accountant who has caught glimpses 
  of a creature at the edge of his wooded 
  property.
   
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 6
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 6
  Harmony Parties 
  Raise Interest 
  Throughout County
  By Melinda Lee-Jones
  Harmony Farm, best known for its sixties 
  rebels and wheat germ slushies, has entered 
  the twenty-ﬁrst century with a bang! The 
  owners of Harmony Farm are providing 
  a series of free rock concerts featuring 
  several local bands, including WindDig, 
  Joshua’s Heart, and MelonWood. Flyers 
  are being passed around the ETU campus, 
  and several outspoken city leaders are 
  warning the youngsters to stay away from 
  that “commie-cult of peaceniks.” 
  Reverend Michaels of the Risen Church 
  of Pinebox has been very outspoken 
  regarding the eﬀects of such rock concerts. 
  Furthermore, he has asked Sheriﬀ 
  Anderson to supervise these parties. The 
  Sheriﬀ has refused, stating these aﬀairs are 
  taking place on private property. He has 
  said there will be several law enforcement 
  personnel in attendance to stop underage 
  drinking or any drug usage by the 
  partygoers.
  Only the ﬁrst hundred people are to 
  be let in, so arrive early and bring your 
  own drinks. The Harmony Farm folks also 
  request that you be prepared to clean up 
  after yourself, but that all are welcome.
  Editor’s Note: Melinda Lee-Jones 
  is currently missing. If you have any 
  idea of her whereabouts, please contact 
  the Pinebox Police Department or 
  Golan County Sheriﬀ’s Department 
  immediately.
  Farmer Claims Aliens Took Him 
  and his Herd into Outer Space
  “There’s aliens amongst us!” Dave Blewer proclaims loud and often.
  Blewer, a local farmer and rancher, 
  swears that strange lights in the night 
  sky above the national forest are actually 
  “alien spacecraft”. He has ﬁled an 
  insurance claim stating that over ﬁfty 
  head of cattle are currently missing 
  from his ranch. He blames the aliens for 
  rustling his herd.
  “Yeah, the little gray ones. They been 
  coming to my place for the past three 
  weeks. Took me right out of my bed one 
  night. They did terrible things to me, and 
  I saw my cows there too.”
  Sheriﬀ Anderson has recently arrested 
  Dave Blewer, and Judge Lindsey has 
  committed him for his own protection for 
  the next thirty days. However, ﬁfty head of 
  cattle are indeed missing from the ranch.
  Even more interesting is that Dave has 
  suﬀered a severe sunburn on his face and 
  hands. It is as if “he were exposed to a 
  sunlamp for way too long,” according to 
  Blewer’s physician, Dr. Jameson. 
  Many people have reported the strange 
  lights in the night sky over the national 
  forest and out toward the Burn. No proof 
  of the Unidentiﬁed Flying Objects has 
  been recorded.
  Captain Sean Nelson of the Air Force 
  was contacted and he stated, “there are no 
  UFOs in the Golan county area, and no 
  experimental US planes have ﬂown there 
  either.”
  GM Ideas
  • The heroes go hunting for proof of 
  UFOs. They ﬁnd some. See Modern 
  Dispatch #49.
  • Dave’s wife, Jane, hires the heroes to 
  rescue her husband from the institution. 
  She warns “they” are coming back. The 
  mysterious men in black are also spotted 
  on her farm. She asks for help.
  • Elements of a special US task force 
  (Department 7) are seen in the area of 
  the Burn. No one is being allowed in. 
  Do the heroes try to discover what’s out 
  there?
  • Overnight, all the cattle are returned 
  to Blewer’s ranch. Every single cow is 
  pregnant.
  • Blewer escapes the institution on his 
  own, killing a doctor and security guard 
  in the process. Since escaping, he has 
  carjacked three diﬀerent vehicles, killing 
  those who do not get out of his way fast 
  enough. Based on the sightings, Blewer 
  seems to be searching for something. 
  Will the manhunt catch up with him 
  before he ﬁnds what he seeks?
  • The heroes begin having ﬂashbacks of 
  being strapped to operating tables. In 
  these “dreams”, Blewer is also present. 
  Does he have the answers they need to 
  ﬁll in their memories?
  
  The Modern Dispatch
  Soul Gazer
  Page 7
  Open game license
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  15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE
  Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, 
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  Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards 
  of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, 
  Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, 
  Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, 
  John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.
  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2004, Wizards 
  of the Coast, Inc.: Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip 
  Williams, Bruce R. Cordell, based on original material by E. Gary 
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  Modern Dispatch #57, 2005, 12 to Midnight, Inc.; Author: Ed 
  Wetterman
  open gaming content
  Designation of Product Identity: The following terms are 
  designated as product identity as outline in section 1(a) of the 
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  template is Open Content.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/3rd Edition (3.x)/3rd Party/d20 Modern/3rd Party/RPG Objects/Modern Dispatch/Modern Dispatch 057 - Soul Gazer.pdf