Casus Belli
A CRO team commanded by a fallen king intends
GUINEVERE (12 HP)
ƬƬ Photon filament blade (1D6+1 DAMAGE, ALT-
FIRE: Blade can be overloaded at will to expel
surplus energy as a ranged photon beam (1D6
DAMAGE))
ƬƬ Titanium half-mask (1 ARMOR, accessory)
ƬƬ Scarlet cape (0 ARMOR, accessory)
ƬƬ Rail-grinding boots (grind on any surface)
ƬƬ AR goggles (let you see enemies' HP)
ƬƬ 2D6 cans of spray paint, random colors
The elite CRO going by GUINEVERE is stranded in the
twentieth century, trans-temporally deployed by a
remnant CYCLOPS splinter cell from the mid-2070s.
Hoping to avert a timeline where her employers are
ultimately dismantled by FIST (designated Timeline
[000000000=0] by the CYCLOPS Temporal Survey Corps),
Guinevere has comfortably settled into the Templar
Unit, glad to serve the totalitarian organization it
answers to in its storied and virile "good old days".
The tiny [REDACTED] calculation error that stranded her
in the past also left her chronosignature cluttered
and redundant—but she doesn't seem to mind.
DEVIATE (BOSS MOVE): With a kick and a quantum
flourish, Guinevere summons 1D6 rainbow-colored
shadow-clones of herself. This costs her HP equal
to the number of clones summoned. Each clone has
MAX HP equal to 7 minus the number of clones and
carries an identical instance of her consciousness.
to impress CYCLOPS by hunting the heroes for
sport. Only FIST can face the Templar Unit.
MORGANA (18 HP)
ƬƬ Agony sphere (1D6 DAMAGE to 3 targets, or
4D6 DAMAGE to a single target after charging up)
ƬƬ Eight sharp, bony arms (worst-of-2D6 DAMAGE,
POISONED: Do not roll for damage; wait and mark
the target as poisoned. Next time they’re hurt,
roll this weapon's DAMAGE and add to the total)
ƬƬ Trajectory manipulation field (4 ARMOR)
ƬƬ Black carapace slathered in viscous, sour sweat
ƬƬ Threadbare robes and wrappings in deep black
YOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'T has been designated
"MORGANA" by the HAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOU Research Team
SHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOU
SHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOU
SHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHIS, often internally referred to as
the “‘Mass Psionic Command To Open Sarcophagus'
Incident". YOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHIS
YOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVE
COPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHIS
YOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVE “The Black Rites of Uruk”
COPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHISYOUSHOULDN'THAVE
COPY-PASTEDTHISYOU “far beyond your comprehension, you
three-dimensional worms." SHOULDN'THAVECOPY-PASTEDTHIS
BIND (BOSS MOVE): Morgana fans her segmented
arms wide, and chains of congealed hate burst
forth from the earth to bind a single unfortunate CREDITS
target. This target cannot move or act until they Created by B. Everett Dutton. Public domain images
from Flickr. Fonts used: Aktura, Michroma, Space
have correctly answered three fair riddles. Grotesk, and Redacted.
 INCOMING TRANSMISSION
[ANSWERING MACHINE TONE] FIST: consider
this an ultimatum. I'm sure you all understand
why the price on your head, both in the
financial and sociopolitcal senses, is quite
high. You are, after all, career meddlers. I
do not like meddlers, nor do my esteemed
colleagues in the Templar Unit, nor do my
ever-diligent CYCLOPS supervisors. Again,
I'm sure you must understand why.
My CROs and I have taken to thinking to you
as a sort of game as of late—dangerous,
challenging game, asking to be bested. You
will be a thrilling hunt. When I deliver your
mounted heads to my superiors, I expect
they shall be quite pleased. [AUDIO ENDS]
INTRODUCTION and FOOTNOTES
CASUS BELLI is a themed miniboss team pamphlet
for FIST about a special branch of CYCLOPS Recon
Operations agents (also known as CROs). These
four are the last remaining members of the Knights
Templar, retooled for the modern era as the CRO
Templar Unit. You can drop the Templar Unit into any
mission to work against FIST's primary objective.
*Items marked as accessories may grant ARMOR alongside body-
sized ARMOR-granting items, and can be “shattered” at will to
negate damage once, destroying them permanently.
†Boss moves are special abilities (usable only once per mission)
granted to powerful or important enemies which can completely
change the fictional situation.
KING ARTHUR (12 HP)
ƬƬ “Excalibur”, M1919 light machine gun (1D6+1
DAMAGE, BANE: Deals × 2 DAMAGE to undead)
ƬƬ Heat-seeking micro-missiles (1D6+2 DAMAGE,
fired from the wings, six uses)
ƬƬ Steel plate armor (2 ARMOR)
ƬƬ Crusader helm (1 ARMOR, accessory*)
ƬƬ Mechanized wings (3 HP, 1 ARMOR, user falls
for 1D6 DAMAGE if destroyed midair)
ƬƬ Perfect Queen’s English
[REDACTED[REDA was a decorated RAF fighter pilot who
found himself locked in a tense skirmish with a
Luftwaffe ace during the height of the London Blitz.
Equally matched, the two pilots exchanged light
blows and near misses until their fruitless dogfight
had taken them hours off-course and westward
into Wales. The steadfast and skilled RAF pilot was
finally shot down at midnight sharp, landing with
a splash in a certain magic lake thought lost to
time. Made amnesiac by ancient magic, the English
airman became KING ARTHUR, destined master
of the dwindling Knights Templar. In the order’s
twilight years, they were made wholly subservient
to CYCLOPS (see [REDACTED] Restructuring Program,
1958), and Arthur now finds himself reduced to the
life of a punch-clock mercenary. Ever-proud, he
will stop at nothing to show his superiors that the
Templars are, and always will be, a relevant player in
the global shadow government game.
MERLIN (9 HP)
ƬƬ High-voltage quarterstaff (1D6 DAMAGE,
ELECTRIFIED: Deals × 2 DAMAGE to machines;
electrifies water and shorts out electronics)
ƬƬ Lead-lined overcoat (1 ARMOR)
ƬƬ Shoulder-draped chains (1 ARMOR, accessory*)
ƬƬ Rubber bodysuit and boots (ignore electricity-
based DAMAGE)
ƬƬ 6 × pneuma vial (gain 2D6 MAX HP, consumable)
ƬƬ Leatherbound tome and ink bottle bandolier
MERLIN is a quasi-immortal human presumably born
in [REDACTED...] sometime during the fourth century
A.D. Aside from their naturally-occuring ultrahuman
PHF level (PHF was discovered by CYCLOPS during
the [REDACTED...] Initiative and stands for “postmortal
healing factor”), they are also equipped with an
anomalous and perpetually unfinished illuminated
manuscript which can alter the pillars of reality.
ILLUMINATE (BOSS MOVE†): Merlin intricately pens
a single word into the Book of Aquinas. Players
cannot use this word to narrate their actions until
Merlin hits 0 HP; if they still try, they will find these
attempted actions to be ontologically impossible.
REGENERATE (BOSS MOVE): When Merlin reaches 0
HP, they are functionally dead. If another person
subjects any amount of Merlin’s tissue to a strong
electrical charge, Merlin regenerates with full HP.