Devastation Drive-In: The Final Chapter — 'Fido' (2006)

Artifact:  Zomcon Corpsecollar

To handle the not-as-infrequent-as-they'd-like uprisings of flesh-hungry ghouls, The Ancients did their best to domesticate the creatures with technological artifacts...

...WHICH OFTEN PROVED AS ERRATIC AS THE SHAMBLING CORPSES THEMSELVES!!

The Zomcon corpsecollar is an Ancient artifact used to control the walking dead [p. 101 of the Mutant Future Core Rules].  When clamped around a ghoul's neck, the device renders its subject docile and compliant.

Collared zombies can follow simple commands, and perform basic tasks without supervision (including gardening, standing guard, collecting refuse, etc.).  The collar also raises (restores?) both intelligence and awareness by slight degrees.

When functioning properly, a corpsecollar's two red lights glow red.

But when the lights go inactive...beware, for the ghoul reverts to its savage, ever-hungry state!

Damage in excess of 3 HP will deactivate a corpsecollar, and necessitate repairs. Accidental jostling and intentional tinkering are also risky, eliciting a malfunction 50% of the time.

Each corpsecollar comes with a hand-held remote-control.  This device sends an electric shock through the collar, and serves to aid in the training of zombies (or outright torture them).

There is evidence to suggest that particularly strong-willed specimens of the walking dead regain shreds of their humanity after long-term exposure to a corpsecollar...and may even remain docile and friendly if the device malfunctions!

Rest Assured, The Movies Will Resume Shortly.

The film kinda-sorta melted in the projector.  (This may or may not have something to do with the projectionist's wife having a baby!)

Enjoy our concessions as we replace the reels!

Devastation Drive-In: The Final Cut — 'Frankenfish' (2004)

Gorgegill

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d10)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  90' (30')
      —Swim:  180' (60')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  7
Attacks:  1 (bite)
Damage:  3d6
Save:  L4
Morale:  12
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  1,490

As the Ancients polluted the waters and depleted sealife to extinction, men of means paid to bioengineer the ultimate sporting fish...

...BUT THEY PAID WITH THEIR LIVES INSTEAD, AS THE RESULTANT CREATURES PROVED TO BE THE DEADLIEST CATCHES OF ALL!!!

Gorgegills are bluish-brown, freshwater fish with toothy heads and thick bodies that taper to sinuous tails.  They possess awesome mass and power, averaging in bulk somewhere between an Ancient bovine and a rhinoceros.  Gorgegills are shockingly speedy and agile, too, and can outrace watercraft and leap over 15' out of the water.

As if those qualities weren't terrifying enough, gorgegills possess a dim intelligence.  They focus on weaker targets first, and destroy piers, docks, and rigs from below to get at topside victims.  They can also survive—and slither!—on land for up to an hour.  Many a boat passenger has perished after gorgegills rammed and chewed their way through the hull, and chased down prey across the decks.

Gorgegills nest in weedy, muddy burrows and wrecked ships, and lay clutches containing hundreds of eggs.  Hatchlings possess AC 6, 1d4 hp, and bite for 1d4 damage.  They attack in swarms of 12d12 individuals, and "hop" on land at 45' (15') and swim at 120' (40').

Gorgegills are utterly immune to chemical and pharmacological agents.

Mutations:  None

—

Designer's Notes:  This film never got a proper theatrical release, so no official poster exists (necessitating use of the DVD cover).

Devastation Drive-In: The Final Cut — 'The Brood' (1979)

Psychotyke

No. Enc.:  1d6 (2d10)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  3
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or 1 weapon)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6, or by weapon
Save:  L2
Morale:  12
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  150

The Ancients explored not only the farthest reaches of space, but also probed the deepest depths of the human psyche...

...and did so via radical cognitive therapies to exorcise traumatic childhood demons...

...BUT IN DOING SO, UNLEASHED TRAUMA-INFLICTING DEMON CHILDREN!!!

Psychotykes are eerie beings that resemble Pure Human children from afar...but up close, the hideous differences are readily apparent.  Their pale faces are marred by iris-less sunken eyes and clefted, toothless, razored, beak-like mouths.  Their tongues are inflexible, preventing speech and allowing only gibbering growls.  Their little fingers end in claws.  More thorough examinations reveal that psychotykes lack sex organs and navels, and only see in black and white.  And they sport hump-like "yolk sacs" on their backs; when this nutri-fluid depletes in 1d8 days from point of initial encounter, the creatures expire.

The little freaks are brutal combatants, and get +2 To Hit from sheer ferocity.  And groups swarm one foe at a time, rending and biting with superior numbers.   Psychotykes also love striking from Surprising (1-3 on 1d6) positions, such as high shelving, under beds, inside closets, etc.

Psychotykes are spawned by powerful—and altogether insane—Mutant Human females (known as "broodmothers") with untapped psionic powers and deep psychological damage. These women channel their anxieties, fears, and hatreds, bringing the 'tykes to life as literal manifestations of murderous wrath.  A broodmother can "birth" 1d10 psychotykes per week through external abdominal organs.  Any Mutant Human female with a WIL score of 15+ and at least 3 Mental Mutations has the potential to become a broodmother if her life circumstances are awful enough.  Bizarrely, psychotykes look like twisted versions of their respective mother's actual children, right down to the clothing.

Psychotykes act based on their mother's moods; when she's angry, they attack the recipient of her rage, and when she's calm and lucid, they lie dormant.

When a broodmother is killed, her respective psychotykes collapse and die instantly.

Mutations:  Metaconcert