Today I bring you some of the work I'm doing with Deck Hero, a part of the Modern Horror setting, specifically the human types and custom archetypes.

MODERN HORROR

Modern Horror is set in the contemporary world, but with the constant presence of the unexplained, the dark and the macabre. Supernatural and psychological threats lurk in every shadow, and the characters, far from being heroes, are ordinary people drawn into a world where terror and madness intertwine with everyday reality. Surviving is not just a matter of strength, but of wit and mental endurance, facing horrors beyond human comprehension.

Available Races

In this setting, all player characters are human, but with unique characteristics that set them apart:

1. Normal Human:

o Description: The common individual who faces the unexplainable with wit and bravery. They are people who may seem insignificant in the face of the vast power of the supernatural, but their resilience is astounding.

o Special Rule: Resilience: Once per short rest, you may reroll a failed Spirit test to resist effects such as fear, panic, or insanity. The second roll is made with +1 additional card.

2. Psychic:

o Description: Humans with extraordinary mental abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis, or precognition. While their powers can be very useful, each use has a high mental cost, making psychics both powerful and dangerous allies.

o Special Rule: Psychic Cost: Each time you use a psionic power, you introduce a “Q” card into your deck, reflecting mental damage. With 4 “Q” cards in the deck, if a fifth is added, the character loses control at the discretion of the Director.

o “Q” Healing: One “Q” card is healed per short rest and two per long rest. If the character's control is lost, a roll is made with the fate deck to determine the recovery:

 1 or 2: The character does not recover and becomes an NPC.

 3: The character recovers, but will always play with a permanent “Q” card in his deck.

 4: The character recovers without sequels.

3. Hunter:

o Description: Individuals who have dedicated their lives to tracking and fighting supernatural forces. Whether out of vengeance, duty or because they are good at it, they combine physical skills and knowledge to face horror.

o Special Rule: Supernatural Training: Gain +1 card on attack tests against supernatural creatures (demons, vampires, ghosts, etc.). At the start of the game, choose an additional proficiency related to combat or knowledge of supernatural creatures (e.g., “Demon Knowledge” or “Vampire Hunting”).

4. Marked:

o Description: a human who has been touched or altered by a supernatural force. This connection grants them unique abilities, but also makes them susceptible to the influence of dark forces.

o Special Ability: Veil Vision: Once per scene, the Marked One may activate their Veil Vision. For 2 turns:

 Can see and hear any hidden or invisible entity within 10 squares.

 Gains +1 card on Occult or Perception tests to identify magical traces, portals or the presence of supernatural entities.

 Can communicate with spiritual entities or invoke their attention.

o Cost: At the end of the effect, make a Spirit test (difficulty 2). If he fails, he receives a “Q” card in his deck, reflecting the mental toll of his interaction with the Veil.

o Employs the same mental damage rules as the Psychic.

Custom Archetypes

1. Paranormal Investigator:

o Wound Threshold (UH): 4.

o Attack Value (VA): 3

o Magic Value (MV): 4

o Skills: Investigation, Occult.

o Special Ability: Partial Clairvoyance (can see fragments of the recent past of a place or person, once per short rest).

2. Exorcist:

o Wound Threshold (UH): 5

o Attack Value (VA): 4

o Magic Value (MV): 5

o Skills: Ritualism, Religion.

o Special Skill: Expulsion (can perform a ritual to weaken or exorcise a demonic entity, once per long rest). This is a spirit test (bonused by the ritualism proficiency) with a difficulty commensurate with the creature's power.

3. Urban Hunter:

o Wound Threshold (UH): 6.

o Attack Value (VA): 5

o Magic Value (MV): 2

o Skills: Survival, Firearms Combat.

o Special Skill: Urban Tactics (can move 1 additional square and get +1 card in attacks in enclosed areas or buildings).

4. Medium:

o Wound Threshold (UH): 4

o Attack Value (VA): 2

o Magic Value (MV): 6

o Proficiencies: Empathy, Spirits.

o Special Skill: Spirit Communication (may attempt to communicate with spirit entities to obtain information, once per short rest). This is a Spirit test (bonus to the Spirits proficiency). Difficulty will depend on how long the spirit has been “dead”, being more difficult the longer it has been dead.