#crypticexplorers

"Kevin Lynch was born to a European American family in the Republic of New England, which—along with the California Republic—has now split off from the economically unstable United States of America. Corporal Lynch served as a Green Beret in the United States Army Special Forces with Sergeant Scott Burton, who influenced him to become an Asatruar and join a small kindred, of which Burton was Gothi. When Burton retired from military service, Lynch took over his role as leader of the kindred.

A few years later, when Lynch had been promoted to the rank of Sergeant, he was contacted by Burton and invited to join an unofficial mercenary mission in Kurdistan. Lynch expressed incredulity about abandoning a legitimate military career for this sort of work, but when Burton disclosed the nature of the Cryptonaut program to him—explaining it as an opportunity to be part of a new frontier of exploration worthy of an Asatruar—Lynch was won over. Through the influence of Nauticus, he was able to receive an honorable discharge from military service without delay and shipped off to Kurdistan to be a part of the Alpha wave of Cryptonaut exploration."

KEVIN LYNCH is the AMBUSHER, a sneaky ranged Mercenary class Cryptonaut from the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

The Ambusher serves as a specialist mercenary, able to take a good position and exploit it against incoming monsters who threaten his squad. He specializes in using the Prepare action, which "saves" a Cryptonaut's action, allowing them to act when a monster has entered vision or otherwise threatens them by moving/shooting/etc.

LIE IN WAIT is the Ambusher's starting ability, giving him increased damage on his piercing Carbine weapon while he is Prepared, and making it even more dangerous for a monster to push into his sight while he is Prepared.

Kevin's second ability is HIT AND RUN, giving him a free 3 space Move after performing a Prepared Attack, allowing him to reposition himself immediately after his ambush.

TACTICAL SIGHT improves the range of the Ambusher's Carbine weapon, increasing the area he threatens while Prepared.

A preview of ARTIFACT cards from the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS tabletop game...

Cryptonauts that have delved into the Realms of Death seek Knowledge therein, and to that end Artifacts provide occult secrets to the Cryptonaut that wields them.

"When Corporate States mercenaries started talking about how Nauticus was paying generous wages to anyone who was willing to do a long tour of duty in Kurdistan, Reid signed up and insisted that her fee would be twice as much, since she was bringing A.T.T.I.S., who could fight better than most human soldiers. They got their price, but they had no idea what they were getting into.

During her time with the Beta wave, Izem fought alongside Edmund Jonas and Helen “The Hellion” Reid as part of a special combat unit dubbed the “Chalice squad,” which was formed by Xian Tzu with the purpose of training experienced fighters with no aptitude for magic to use the “Soul Devour” technique. Little did she know that every time he used it, she was annihilating the soul of a person who had once been alive—perhaps a fellow soldier, an old friend, or one of his own ancestors."

HELEN REID is the INFANTRY, a highly versatile and combative Mercenary class Cryptonaut from the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

The Infantry serves as generalist Cryptonaut combatant, with 3 different starting attacks (the most of any Cryptonaut), and abilities to adapt to many combat situations.

COVER FIRE is Helen's starting ability, giving her a bonus to aim and range while within sight of an ally, and allowing her to work well in a tight-moving squad.

The Infantry's second ability is TRUDGE ONWARD, giving movement and a bonus to stamina checks, helping the Infantry escape from adjacent monsters, avoid hazards, and push across the Realm faster.

ARSENAL SUIT gives a boost to each of the Infantry's starting attacks, and her final ability.

"Dr. Sven Maurer’s papers were written in German, so when he perished with the rest of the Alpha wave of Crypronauts, Nauticus had to find a German speaking archaeologist to resume his work where he left off. While teaching at a prominent Swiss University, Dr. Danuser’s groundbreaking work in near eastern antiquities attracted the attention of Nauticus, who contacted him and offered him a generous sum to do some top secret “field work” collecting artifacts in Kurdistan. In this way, Danuser inherited Dr. Maurer’s position and papers without knowing anything about the Thanatos facility. This pudgy, pipe-smoking professor did not realize that he was signing up for an adventure in the Realms of Death."

WENDELL DANUSER is the ARCHAEOLOGIST, a Scientist class Cryptonaut from the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

The Archaeologist serves a unique role as a Cryptonaut focused on obtaining and utilizing artifact cards better than any other Cryptonaut.

EVOCATION MASTER is the Archaeologist's starting ability, Soul Charging each artifact his squad carries, and giving them immediately more value when obtained.

Dr. Danuser's second ability, READ THE GLYPHS, allows his squad to gain particular artifacts from the deck, rather than drawing them completely at random, and sets up the squad to form powerful combos between their abilities and the artifacts they gain.

GRAVITY INVERTERS dramatically increases the gathering capabilities of the Archaeologist's squad, giving them a ranged free action that collects tokens from the Realm.

"A prototype for a line of a line of military robots that never ended up going into production, ATTIS (Standing for “All Terrain Tactical Infantry Support”) was sold at a discount price to an arms dealer, who pawned him off to a group of Sudanese rebels. When the rebels ran out of money, they sold him to the captain of a Somali pirate vessel—Ismail Isse.

Short on money as he prepared to embark on a short voyage ferrying explosives from Kochi to Sri Lanka, Isse accepted payment from Hellen “The Hellion” Reid for clandestine passage out of the country. During the transit, Reid was able to win her money back from Isse at the card table. Already in dire financial straits and determined not to lose to a woman, Isse wagered ATTIS against all Reid’s winnings in a single hand. Reid won again, so the furious Isse decided just to kill her instead. He didn’t count on the fact that ATTIS now considered Reid his owner and would protect her.

The robot killed Isse before he could touch Reid, and all hell proceeded to break loose as the two fought their way off of the ship. Deciding that she would even the score for having to put up with such poor hospitality, Reid proceeded to detonate the vessel’s cargo load of explosives, killing everyone onboard. ATTIS escaped with Reid in a small motorboat and has been with her ever since."

A.T.T.I.S. is the ROBOT, an extremely durable combat-centric Mercenary class Cryptonaut from the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

The Robot serves as a powerful forward-pushing Cryptonaut, able to handle many monsters alone with his incredible defenses and array of attacks.

OBSIDIANITE BODY is the Robot's starting ability, giving him bonus armor and unyielding, which prevents the robot from being knocked back. This dramatically increased durability comes at a price, as A.T.T.I.S. restores his vitae and stamina more slowly than other, fleshier Cryptonauts.

The Robot's second ability, RELENTLESS, reduces the cost he must pay for additional actions by 1 Stamina, making him able to take many actions in a single round.

HEAVY PLATING further increases A.T.T.I.S.' natural armor at the cost of his movement, his body being weighed down with additional plating.

"Of the strange beasts we have chronicled in our missions, one of the minions of Sk'Zaak stands out as a formidable foe. This creature stands much taller than a man, skeletal and covered in decaying wrappings, wielding a gnarled spear, and possessing incredible durability, resisting even potent firepower from our Cryptonaut weaponry. When first observed, Hugo dubbed these creatures the "Tomb Guardians". While the Tomb Guardians appeared to move very slowly, and almost shambled with inhuman focus and tenacity, they seldom left the vicinity of the monoliths or chambers they appeared to protect from mortal interlopers, seeming to draw power from their watchful vigil over them..."

~ Cryptonautical Mission Log of Xian Tzu, the Magus

The TOMB GUARDIANS are minions of SK'ZAAK, the Goddess of Burial in the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

"Negrescu was trained by Xian Tzu as part of a special unit within the Beta wave, focused upon harnessing the occult secrets hinted at by Yugura’s Key. Jealous of Xian’s skill and knowledge, he secretly began experiments of his own in his quarters, attempting to open more direct channels of power between the Goddesses of the Realms of Death and himself. The results of his experiments gave him power to rival Xian’s (courtesy of Sk’Zaak), but they also took a toll upon his mortal body, which was only barely able to contain the dark power he had called into it. Negrescu’s decayed form became so monstrous that he was forced to hide away from the rest of the staff and contractors at the Thanatos facility, only emerging from his chambers to don his Cryptonaut suit and go on missions down the maw of the Thanatos reactor."

DRAGOMIR NEGRESCU is the NECROMANCER, a cunning and evil Spellcaster class Cryptonaut playable in the CRYPTIC EXPLORERS board game...

The Necromancer's benefits to his Cryptonaut squad are in fighting monsters and bringing dead Cryptonauts back from beyond the Realms of Death.