The Darknet is so-called because almost every attempt to determine anything about it has been thwarted. Its a network of indeterminate size, but even the lowest estimates number in the thousands of nodes, and some have suggested it may even be in the millions or billions.

The truly strange thing is that no one is sure where the Darknet computers are located. They are connected to the internet, but traces on the origin of their traffic have proved futile as the traces wrap around the globe multiple times before the trail fades.

Those who’ve tried to investigate the Darknet have suffered a series of increasingly-dangerous setbacks. At first, they found their computers hijacked or wiped by viruses unlike anything yet-documented, viruses which have also resisted all attempts at capture and study. They seem to know what systems are honeypots and how to avoid them.

However, the more persistent have been targeted by stranger and stranger attacks. They’ve had their houses foreclosed on despite never missing a mortgage payment; been declared legally dead; had falsified warrants and arrest records placed in their name, and more.

Recently, some of them have even had attacks made on them in meatspace. One researcher was killed when the balcony of his hotel room collapsed, and was later found to have been sabotaged. Another was assassinated by a known mafia hitman; when the police tracked the hitman down they found him lying dead in a pool of vomit in a motel in Arizona.

At this point, the Darknet has been known for only five weeks and the more it resists inspection, the more it makes everyone paranoid. Many believe it is a Chinese cyberweapon, though the only real evidence for that is that it was first discovered in Tibet. The Russians believe it to be American; the Americans believe it is European, and the EU has been strained almost to the breaking point over infighting. Several African and Middle-Eastern countries and groups have claimed responsibility for it, but have been unable to prove their claims.

One popular theory states that the Darknet is based in satellites in orbit around the Earth or even the moon, which have somehow managed to go undetected as yet. Some even claim that the Darknet is extraterrestrial in origin, and that aliens are using it to study us, whether for good or ill.

New weapon qualities

Clip: After making an attack with a weapon with the clip property, roll the indicated die; if you roll a 1, the weapon is out of ammo and must be reloaded. Weapons with the clip property will always also have the load property, but you do not need to reload them until you roll a 1 on your clip die after an attack. You only roll the die once per attack power, after the power is completely done.

Spread: Whenever you make a ranged attack (yes, that means it has to be a ranged attack, not an area or close…) with a spread weapon and the attack has only a single target, if the attack hits then every creature adjacent to the target takes 1[W] damage. Increase this to 2[W] damage at 11th level and 3[W] damage at 21st level.

Unreliable: When making an attack roll with an unreliable weapon, if your natural d20 roll (before applying modifiers) is equal to or lower than the unreliable value given for the weapon, the weapon jams. You may not make any more attacks with the weapon again until you’ve spent a standard action clearing it. A weapon jamming does not prevent any portion of a given power from working, so for example if a power has a secondary attack and you jam while rolling for the primary attack you still get to make the secondary attack. In essence, the jamming doesn’t happen until after the attack is completely done. If you roll a jam but the attack would otherwise hit, it still hits as normal.

New weapons

Revolver

Simple one-handed ranged weapon
Damage: 1d8
Proficient: +2
Range: 15/30
Weight: 2 lb.

Properties:
Clip d6
Load Standard
Unreliable 2

Group:
Firearms

Rifle

Simple two-handed ranged weapon
Damage: 1d12
Proficient: +2
Range: 20/40
Weight: 7 lb.

Properties:
Load Move
Unreliable 3

Group:
Firearms

Shotgun

Simple two-handed ranged weapon
Damage: 2d4
Proficient: +2
Range: 3/6
Weight: 7 lb.

Properties:
Load Move
Unreliable 2
Spread

Group:
Firearms

New items

Ammo: ‘Nuff said

Speedloader: This circular bit of metal has six spots to hold ammo, and is designed to make it faster to reload a revolver. It takes a standard action to load a speedloader, but they may be loaded ahead of time. When using a speedloader to load a revolver, it takes a move action to load instead of a standard but the revolver’s unreliable rating increases by two points until the next time it’s reloaded.

New feats

Conservative Shot

Benefit: Once per encounter, when you roll a 1 on a clip die, you may reroll that die. You may also reroll a clip die by spending an action point.

Deadeye

Prerequisite: Weapon focus (firearms)
Benefit: You ignore the penalty for using a firearm at long range and treat all firearms as high crit weapons.

Rapid Reload

Prerequisite: Weapon focus (firearms)
Benefit: For the purpose of reloading firearms, you can spend a minor action as though it were a move action and you can spend a move action as though it were a standard action. For example, you can spend a move action to load a revolver, or spend a minor action to load one with a speedloader.