Introduction
Moscow, Russia. Capital of the Motherland. Where people live their dreary, boring lives. Much like the rest of the world, Moscow is a rather hustle and bustle place, with street vendors, petty crime, and corrupt traffic cops. But unlike the rest of the world, Moscow is a battlefield between Light and Dark, Law and Chaos. And no, I'm not talking about the chap from Internal Affairs who notices the discrepancy in the Traffic Cop's fines he collected and tickets he filed.
The Battle between Light and Dark has been raging since time immemorable. Imagine, if you will, two Shamans. While under the effects of some narcotic or other used in their rituals, they both slip into a semi-transcendant state and enter the Twilight.
One Shaman, a man of simple needs and desires, has just come from a feast where his tribe had slain a rather large beast. His family is well, and his general feeling is one of contentment. The First Time he enters the Twilight, it draws from him those positive emotions and fills him with Light. He becomes a bastion of good, fair and just in all of his doings.
The Other Shaman, a jealous and covetous cur, had found his mate in the arms of a Warrior from his tribe. In his anger, he went to the other Shaman to procure poisons to kill them both. While they spoke, they consumed the narcotic substance, and he slipped into the Twilight as well. It drew from him the negative emotions he was feeling, and filled him with Darkness. He becomes cruel and cunning, using his newfound abilities to spread the influence of his tribe, and slay his mate and her lover.
And thus, the world procured it's first two "Others," a subrace of humans who have the unique ability to look into the Twilight, and unleash the fearsome energy that it gathers from the normal humans living their normal lives.
Anyone can be an Other. Johnson from Accounting? He's a Vampire. That Homeless guy sleeping off his hangover on the park bench? He's one of the most powerful Light Magicians in all of Moscow. The point is, The Battle is still raging, even though we can't see them.
Enter the Twilight. A mystical demi-plane that overlaps our own. The Wisest of Dark and Light Sages know that there are Seven Levels to the Twilight. However, the only two people to enter the Seventh Level of the Twilight since Merlin was Anton Gorodetsky, and his Daughter Nadyaneushka.
True History
As long as humanity has existed, there have been Others among us.
They're human, yet they have abilities beyond those of ordinary men.
Witches, sorcerers, shape-shifters... the Others are as varied as stars in the sky.
The Others are soldiers in the eternal war: The struggle between Dark and Light.
Light Others protected mankind from the Dark Others, who plagued and tortured humans.
Legend tells of a day when the two armies met on a bridge.
Geser, lord of the Light and Zabulon, general of the Darkness, faced each other. And neither one would give way.
And so began a great battle, bloody and merciless.
Zabulon gloried in the slaughter. But Lord Geser wept.
As the screams of the dying reached heaven, Geser realized the armies were equally matched, and he knew that unless the fighting stopped every last soul would perish.
So he stopped the battle.
Thus, the forces of Light and Darkness forged a truce.
Geser spoke for the Light and, Zabulon spoke for the Darkness.
And these things were agreed:
No one could be forced to good or evil, without choosing freely.
The soldiers of light would be called Night Watch, making sure Dark Others obeyed the truce.
And the soldiers of darkness would be called Day Watch, to do the same.
And so the balance would be kept for centuries to come.
- Night Watch, By Sergei Lukyanenko.
The Night Watch
The Moscow Night Watch, led by Geser, is one of the oldest and most prominent Watches on Earth. For centuries, he has watched over the Motherland and most of Europe, staving off the encroaching Darkness that threatens to consume all things.
As an Agent of the Night Watch, you are expected to hold up certain ideals. Mercy, Honesty, and many other fine qualities one would see in a Good-Aligned Cleric or Paladin. A Night Watch agent may bend or break these rules as he or she sees fit in a certain situation, but only one of them holds any great punishment.
Murder. Intentional or Unintentional. For the Cause of Good, or Not. When an other Murders someone, they must make a Will Save Equal to 10 + The Character's HD.
Certain Modifiers Apply.
Self Defense: -10
Victim was Evil: -5
Murder was for the Cause of Good: -5
Unintentional: -5
Wanton Slaughter: +10
Victim was Good: +5
Murder had nothing to do with the cause of Good: +5
Intentional: +5