"Now the ground be shakin', when my bass drum's breakin'...." — Sir Mix-A-Lot, "Swass" (1988)
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When building my beasties for this blog, I've tried to stick exclusively to the official mutations listed in the Mutant Future Core Rules. Not only did I want to make the monsters painless to drop into any campaign, but I wanted to keep things simple and uniform. (And it hasn't always been easy, as I'm a 28-year Champions player, and wired to be all about the Special Effects.)
That said, I'm not fond of the Shriek mutation [p. 25]. It lacks flair, pizazz, and all-around oomph; the damage (which can be avoided outright) is paltry, the deafness isn't that big a hassle, and the "once per day" restriction grates.
So here's my fix: a brand new mutation cleverly called...Greater Shriek.
Shriek, Greater
The mutant's vocal cords are substantially altered, allowing him to produce sounds both above and below the normal human auditory range. The culmination of this ability seems to be a focused shout, using the sonic vibrations on everyone in the immediate vicinity of the mutant.
1d6 times per day (as determined randomly during Character Creation), the mutant can let out a horrible shriek that affects everyone within a 20' radius of him. Targets in the area of effect take 2d6 points of sonic damage, and must Save Versus Stun Attacks or be both deafened for 1d6+4 rounds and Paralyzed for 1d4+1 rounds.
Both total damage and effect durations are doubled if the mutation is used under water.
Those who successfully Save are unaffected by the deafness and paralysis. Mutants with Echolocation suffer a -3 penalty to Save.
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I've gone back and updated a handful of relevant critters, like Brainwhales, oscreeches, and zephrogs. And expect to see it in future entries.
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