Radioactive Review — 'Wisdom From The Wastelands #9: High-Tech Weapons'

The second in a series of weapon-related articles [first one reviewed here], WFTW #9 brings plenty of new toys to the Mutant Future universe.

Included are seven new types of Artifacts, including:

) Antimatter Weapons (assorted bombs, grenades, and missiles that not only kill anything outright without a force field, but saturate the area with radiation for days to come)
) Bead Weapons (energy-driven BB guns...with options for explosive, gas, or poison-filled projectiles)
) Desiccators (lethal dehydration-guns...which are particularly nasty to plants)
) EMP Weapons (robot-whompin' guns and explosives)
) Grenade Launchers (self-explanatory)
) Plasma Projectors (unleashes half-plasma/half-kinetic bursts...and kept envisioning them as these iconic blasters...!)
) Screamers (sonic-guns, for all your deafening and stunning needs)

Thorough tables list out all the necessary stats (damage, range, weight, etc.) for each type.

—

Rounding out the work is the new debilitating condition, Deafened, which reduces Initiative by 2, and prevents aural perception checks.

—

This supplement is a welcome addition to the line, as it introduces some crazy firepower to the game.  I'm particularly delighted for the inclusion of sonic-blasters, because they're some of my favorite superheroic weapons from the funnybooks.

But be warned, Mutant Lords...the antimatter weapons are NASTAY.  They're the wild-n-wooly progeny of black ray pistols and torc grenades, but cranked up to 11.  Your players will love them.

—

As par for the course for the line, this is an amazing value for 99¢.  Buy it here.

James M. Ward Got Me Pregnant At The North Texas RPG Con.

Well, that should make for some interesting Google hits.

—

In the nearly four weeks since I started this update, I misplaced my camera, worked an obscene amount of overtime, and came down with walking pneumonia (which may or may not be linked to the aforementioned overtime), so that explains the tardiness.   I hope you'll find it worth the wait.

—

From June 7-10, a gal-pal and I went to Bedford, Texas for the 4th Annual North Texas RPG Con.  Being so tiny—only 153 attendees this go-round, and its largest attendance yet—I had never heard of it until a few months back.  And given that I keep my fingers in all things con-related (particularly when it comes to my own backyard), I am still shaking my head that I missed years 1-3.

But as a guy who's done GenCon about a dozen times, I can say this with absolute conviction:

My NTRPG weekend was the most fun I've ever had slangin' dice in a convention setting.

And the key component of said fun?  Hobnobbing with—and gaming under—some of The Living Legends Of Our Hobby.

—

Thursday was registration, and then a 6pm-12am round of Moldvay Basic D&D.  GM'd by con co-organizer Mike Badolato, our group delved into the classic B1: In Search Of The Unknown.  This was a hoot AND a holler, as not only did we use the pre-gen characters from the module itself, but Mr. Mike customized the experience based on the desires of the group.  ("So, do y'all wanna venture in to fight the necromancer...?"  "Do you want to start off captured, and work your way out...?"  That kinda stuff.)  This game was a Big Deal to me because, I say with considerable embarrassment, I've never really played through any of the Classic Big Gun modules.  (I was one of those pretentious grade-schoolers that "perferred my own material," you see.  Ugh.)

And he provided The Most Iconic Of Snacks:

Only Gamescience (tm) touch these hands.

Highlights included:  my companion's PC dying within the first 20 minutes from a failed Saving Throw Versus Poison from the ol' spider-in-the-kitchen-chimney gag, but then grabbing up a henchman and not only making it to adventure's end, but attaining Level 1 in the process; our thief disarming every trap throughout the session...until he got both arms severed [dis-armed?  Heh.] at the final treasure vault; Fighter #2's wardog dying (more zombies), and his player toasting a shot of bourbon in his honor...until the bottle was half-gone, and he all but fell asleep at the table.

—

Friday was "Green Acres", an 8am-3pm Gamma World 1e session run by THE Steve Winter.

AND THE GAME WAS AN ABSOLUTE SCREAM.


It involved the party—which we rolled up at random, right there at the table—investigating the Pylon Of Wholesome Nutrition, an Ancient food-processing plant still churning out eats for the mutant masses.


Highlights included...

A super-genius chimp benefactor.

Mutant hippies with atomic hacky-sacks.

Militant pigmen that turned into telepathic pangolins.
Narcotic food additives.

A Brutorz who took Orwell's Animal Farm a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittle too close to heart.

Zen sewer-worms.
A war between the sane AI who ran the top of the Pylon, and the unhinged Sentient Reactor that powered the joint....



A war which we PCs may or may not have triggered....



Okay, okay...it was TOTALLY our fault.



Choice quotes from the session:


"Oh, is THAT what it does.  We've always been curious." — A Sleeth vagrant, on the DO NOT CROSS signage that vaporized a party member in the first 30 seconds of play

"That looks delicious." — a fabric-eating Obb [not a Yexil?], on our clothing.  You'd feed him, then he'd give you a bit of info...then repeat.  We realized we had to leave him quickly, or we'd be naked in minutes.

"I need the pencils back." — A Survey-Conducting Robot

"Those horses...man, they can learn a lot from us computers." — The Same Robot, on the Brutorz

"If Apple made a tractor, this is what it would look like." — The GM, on an Ancient Artifact


"Go with the flow, man...follow The Great Pipeway to The Great Beyond." — The Zen Sewer-Slugs


"Well, that's uncalled for!!!" — That Same Beleaguered Robot, to Clarabelle, our violent barbarian-type PC


"But we have the white [security clearance] cards!" — The PCs
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE YOU GOOD!!!" — The Poor, Poor Robot, after we accidentally disabled, well, everything that we shouldn't have in the whole freaking tower


"This animal farm is under new management!!!" — The PCs


"I must object to this in the strongest possible terms, Fusium Pile."  — The Unhinged Sentient Reactor's Major Domo-bot


"ALL HAIL THE FUSIUM PILE!!!" — The Unhinged Sentient Reactor Itself

(I have notoriously busy hands.  Note his smile!)

In addition to Mr. Winter's just amazing improvisational skills and outright hilarity, another highlight was how useful the random character process was in play.

Our party leader—a mutant bedbug named Posture Pete-Ick—had Shapechange, and was able to morph into one of the composting sewer-slugs and basically shimmy and slither his way up the entire tower.  Granted, the team was left behind to twiddle our thumbs (which translated to "cause mayhem and blow shit up") for about an hour, but we basically bypassed 5 levels of the dungeon and backdoored it all the way to one of the climactic zones.


This game was just amazing.

—

That night, we were supposed to play in the 6pm-12am Villains & Vigilantes run by THE Jeff Dee, but we were too exhausted to roleplay any more.

But we really had our hearts set on superheroing...so we went and saw The Avengers.  My fifth time!

—

Saturday was THE day for me, because I got to sit at the table of the man who made me a life-long roleplayer, THE James M. Ward.  I've waxed rhapsodic many times on this blog about Gamma World 2e being my introduction to the hobby, and this was the opportunity to participate in the science-fantasy game that spawned it:

Metamorphosis Alpha.

As run by THE AUTHOR HIMSELF.
For six hours straight.
Serious.  Plotzing.

The Granddaddy (3rd Edition, That Is)

Within the first 5 minutes, our team encountered 400+ cyclopean slugs, and my character was blasted by ONE of them with enough radiation to almost kill me outright and induce severe mutation.

Mr. Ward rolled some dice...and I blew up like a balloon...


...due to sudden-onset pregnancy.



Technically, one of these was the father.
NIGHTMARE.  FUEL.



I'm calling it a Gamma Worm.
You know, in tribute to That Other Game.

Which ruptured my abdomen...

...because of the insta-birth of a baby boy.

A crystalline baby boy..

A crystalline baby boy that talked telepathically.

A crystalline baby boy that talked telepathically and incessantly about HOW HUNGRY IT WAS.

A crystalline baby boy that apparently fed off the life force of everyone in, oh, a 500 ft radius.

A crystalline baby boy that seemed immune to any and all forms of attack.

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.



Junior



We fled the slugs, and went straight to the brig to lock up the baby.

He happily sauntered into a cell, plopped down, and started mucking with the wiring inside the obligatory vid-screen (the Starship Warden doesn't believe in "cruel & unusual", I guess).

We ran shrieking from the brig level upon hearing the ship's speakers say, "Override initiated."

The Crystal Baby Wants A Hug.
RUNNNNNNNN!!!

We went to another level, and fought some metallic trees, and had to run from it, too...because we threw grenades all willy-nilly and blew up our own hovercraft and protective suits.

It was at this point that the con overseers surprised the ENTIRE room—celebrity GMs included—that everyone at their tables had to switch to a nearby game.

WTF?


Turns out, the whole block in that room was a "Quantum Leap"-ean event.

The MetAlpha players were sent into the wild west of Boot Hill.
The Boot Hill types went to the future of Star Frontiers.
The Star Frontiers-men went to the savage days of Cavemaster.
The Cavemaster hominids went to MetAlpha.

And everyone just "jumped" into the PCs of the ongoing game,in medias res.

Cute in concept, but really, really annoying for those of us that wanted—and, when it comes down to it, paid for—Jim Ward exclusively.

But I got over it really quickly, because I'm a helluva sport, and love a good story.

GEEKING.  OUT.

—

I don't have a whole lot to say about the Boot Hill game run by THE Frank Mentzer.

Just straight up rootin' AND tootin'.

Mr. Mentzer was completely flummoxed about how his entire game got derailed by the player switch, and spent almost the entirety of the 90 minute block explaining the game mechanics, setting, history, politics, technology, etc.  When all was said and done, I think the only thing our group had time to do was dig a concealed wagon out of some mud.

If I may be so bold, I'll quote what I G+'d on the day of the event:

So, nertz. I only got 90 mins of MetAlpha, and sent to Frank Mentzer's Boot Hill. 

And I can't decide on what I think of the game.

Because on one hand, it's been a 90 minute history lecture about the Civil War, the commercial development of aluminum, the crisis of the 1880s Mexican presidency, and Native American cultures.

And on the other hand, it's been a 90 minute history lecture about the Civil War, the commercial development of aluminum, the crisis of the 1880s Mexican presidency, and Native American cultures.

But a cool thing about the event?  Turns out my ladyfriend is a "black powder reenactor" (which I think translates to "SCA for cowboys"), and she and Mentzer just talked shop the whole freaking time.

Which kinda irritated the rest of the bored, already-annoyed-at-the-switched table, but I found it endearing.

Sooooooo much combined Wild West knowledge.

—

We moved on to Star Frontiers by THE Aforementioned Steve Winter.

That game went smooth as silk, as we just plopped into some ice caves and started battling rocket-powered robots and laser-blasting yetis.  (And everyone already knows my fondness for laser-blasting yetis!)

Grenades were thrown, robots were exploded, laser-yetis were lasered in return, and icy stalagtites proved invaluable in all our combats.

Turns out the Sathar were responsible for everything.  Of COURSE they were. 

Close-Up Of The Screen

All the grenades made it impossible to hear.

—

CaveMaster by THE Aforementioned Jeff Dee was a nifty little game.

The mechanics boil down to "have more rocks in your hand than the GM, and you win; have less, and you lose", and it was really fun for a con game.  Our cavemen beat up some other cavemen, and my "mammoth-shaman" stomped some dudes heads in with pachyderm-ian powers.

I bought the book (in part because I felt like a jerk for bailing on his game the night before), and while I haven't given it a thorough reading, it looks like it may have plenty of "crunch" to expand the rock-holding mechanics. 

The gimmick is that this is the RPG that cavemen actually played.

—

After that fourth table-leap, everyone returned to their original game to see how the PCs were faring.

Turns out the crystal baby had run amok, and destroyed an entire level ("Aquatic Zone") of the Starship Warden.  And slaughtered plenty of PCs.

[Interesting aside:  the con seemed to have instituted a "Don't Kill The PCs" edict over the whole con, and that didn't become totally clear until sitting down again at Mr. Ward's table. Turns out that there had been SEVERAL TPKs since we left—all thanks to my mineral offspring, in fact—but everyone kept getting cloned back to existence, albeit imperfectly (more mutations, crappier stats, etc).   That explained why, in the prior  D&D and Gamma World games, the GM's were quick to pass out henchmen or clones and such.  Seemed kinda...weird...given the entire OSR vibe of the show.]

Anyhow, our group was about to be courts-martialed due to the other players' antics, so I just up and ordered my monster-child to kill every senior officer above our rank on the ship, so we'd be top dogs and not have anything to worry about.



"Can I feed, Daddy?"
"Can I kill them, Daddy?"
NIGHTMARE.  FUEL.



But then some security robots showed up, blasted the baby with some funky rays until it collapsed, and took us all prisoner.

Game over, man.  

Game.

Over.

—

After that long day of fun, we went to mingle a bit, and I overheard some of the con organizers discussing the "Quantum Leap" event.

And if I heard and understood correctly (which, me being bleary, may not be the case, but...), turns out that one of said organizers really, Really, REALLY wanted to play under both Mentzer AND Ward some time over the weekend, but there was no way to do it, given how everything was ultimately scheduled.

He simply couldn't make it work, and be in two games at the same time.

Until *lightbulb* he found a way to make it possible....

So, back to ANNOYING.

—

Sunday was spent making the rounds and just generally gushing over every celebu-type I'd already bothered enough.

I almost forgot to mention some of the neat artifacts at the show.  There were plenty of vintage gaming materials on display, and a gallery of original advertising stills from TSR's glory days, all framed and beeyootiful.

As if there was any doubt this was my favorite:

Belongs in The Louvre.

And here's where I swapped business cards with Mr. Ward.  Mine has mutants on it.  He approved!

It was his idea.  AWESOME.

Oh!  Almost forgot.  In all my gabbing with Mr. Ward, I brought up My Esteemed Colleague Tim Snider, and re-told Mr. S's tales of GaryCon and such.  And about the write-up of the brainblabla.

Jim [I get to call him Jim!!!  SQUEEEEE!!!] was ecstatic, and insisted I send him all the relevant linkage to The Savage Afterworld.

—

Here's some more of my favorite random quotes from the weekend:

"I come mainly to dispel the rumors, and prove I'm still alive." — Frank Mentzer

"You're not allowed to be funnier than the GM." — Jim Ward, to me

"He takes after his mother."  — Me, on my bloodthirsty crystalline offspring

—

What an amazing, amazing show.

And my gaming contingent is already planning on a mass roadtrip for next year.

AWESOME.

Mutants In The News — "Bearmageddon" Edition

Since Theron was kind enough to give me just about the greatest compliment ever for my Acid Panda entry, I thought I'd keep the bear goodness rolling by pointing out one of my favorite web comics...

TREMBLE, FOOLS!!!

I've been sitting on this one a while, wanting writer/artist Ethan Nicolle (of the immortal Axe Cop fame) to build up a big chunk of material.  The link above starts at Page #1; he's up to #74 now.

Updates every Wednesday, so take a gander!

"A" is for "Acid Panda"

Acid Panda

No. Enc.:  1d2 (1d3)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  60' (20')
Armor Class:  6
Hit Dice:  8
Attacks:  1 (bite)
Damage:  1d6
Save:  L6
Morale:  8
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  3,060

Acid pandas trundle through the desolate wastes feeding on toxic scrubs and grasses that even the hardiest of mutant herbivores avoid.  They reach lengths of 6'-7', and weigh upwards of 400 pounds.

When threatened or enraged, the creatures discharge jets of corrosive fluid from their nozzle-like front "paws".  They can blast twice every other round, in two separate arcs each reaching 20' long and 15' wide at the farthest point.  The acid causes a continual 1d12 damage per round—to flesh, equipment, and Ancient artifacts alike—until washed off.

After their foes are melted into sludge, acid pandas lap up the remains.

Acid pands are immune to the damage from all known poisons, diseases, and chemical-based attacks.

Mutations:  Mind Reflection, Toxic Weapon ("Acid Spray")

Mutants In The News — "Would. You. Like. To. Play. A. Game?" Edition

Vidya gaming site Kotaku.com reports (via Reddit) that a guy has been playing the same game of Civilization II for over a decade.

Which is impressive in and of itself.

But the nifty—and by "nifty" I mean "absolutely terrifying"—part is that the game has progressed to the year 3991, and it's an apocalyptic nightmare devastated by tribes of nuke-hurling barbarians.

"What the player has discovered is a true dystopia, the post-apocalyptic madness of a world gone wrong. And after two thousand years of destroying the environment, killing the population, and living the Orwellian nightmare, he's ready to see if it can be fixed. It's time to rebuild the world. And Reddit's ready to help."

Dude is taking suggestions on how to actively fix the planet, with options ranging from self-destruction (for the greater good) to total obliteration (for the greater good).

Seriously.  Give the article and original post a read.  The double-linkage means they're just that nifty.

"J" is for "Jelstrider"

Jelstrider

No. Enc.:  0 (1d8)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  195' (65')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  7
Attacks:  4 (claws) + special
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d4 / 1d4, + poison
Save:  3
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  1,140

Jelstriders are 8' tall, multi-limbed, gelatinous beasts that tirelessly stalk the irradiated wastes.  They can be found in all but the coldest climes, but prefer open expanses in which to chase down their prey.

Jelstriders attack with pincers that can reach targets up to 12' away.  And their dozens of lashing, stinging tentacles have a 25% per combat round [no To Hit roll required] of striking any opponent(s) engaged in melee combat, and injecting a Class 10 paralytic poison.

Lacking brains and central nervous systems, jelstriders are utterly immune to all Mental Mutations that  directly impact the mind:  Empathy, Mental Phantasm, Mind Thrust, etc.

Mutations: Enhanced Vision (Thermal), Toxic Weapon (Venom)

Apocalinks Now

Well, so much for those regular updates.  Ugh.

Yep, it's been a rough few months here at A Field Guide To Doomsday, and I'm playing catch-up.  I have a backlog of reviews to post, plus some belated links to pimp, and more Fire In The Jungle beasties.  And then there's my own material, which has been backburnered due to a sheer lack of energy.  My creative juices usually kick into overdrive when  I'm stressed, but...man.  I'm tired, y'all.

I owe you people an apology.

So here's a picture of a cat.  A MUTANT cat.  You Internet types like cats, right?  That's still a thing?

Let me get to those links.

)  Brian Wood at www.awesomedice.com emailed me, asking for a shout-out.  Who am I to refuse such moxie?

Awesome Dice carries a handful of my Gamescience (my brand of choice) polyhedral sets, but their glow-in-the-dark options are perfect for all my post-apocalyptic needs.  (They'd also be great for my Champions character, Rex Radium—Atomic Detective.  I need to play that guy again.)  I ordered both sets shown below:

)  Derek Holland is one of The Main Men behind material for Mutant Future, and his blog (over at the Skirmisher Publishing site, the crew who put out the Wisdom From The Wastelands series) is a never-ending source of dandy stuff for multiple genres.  He wanted me to draw attention to his Gearhead character class, who "break[s] the laws of physics with [its] artifacts."  There is some serious Thundarr-age all up in there.

)  This week marked the debut of Outland Arts' Pitford: Gateway To The Ruins supplement for The Mutant Epoch rpg.  I've wanted to do so much more with this game than I have, because it hits some gritty buttons I often fail to consider in my own GMing.

It's available both in PDF and hardcopy!

)  Oh, yeah...speaking of Fire In The Jungle, Mr. Dustin Brandt has a new supplement out!  Across The Dark Wide Jungle is a sequel to his prior work.  Only $5, so send him some scratch!

Let's Go To Gamma World. Meet... The Albilope.

Albilope

No. Enc.:  2d6
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  180' (60')
Armor Class:  8
Hit Dice:  6
Attacks:  2 (1 bite, 1 gore)
Damage:  1d6 / 3d4 + special
Save:  L3
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  1,820

With its snow-white fur and glowing pink eyes, the sleek, graceful albilope stands out on the plains of the Mutant Future...but don't mistake it for easy prey.  An albilope's foot-long, y-shaped, serrated horn delivers wicked injuries that inflict an additional automatic 1d4 damage each round due to excessive bleeding (which can be stanched with proper first aid).  And while they usually feed on vegetation, albilopes viciously chase down and devour vulnerable targets.

Albilopes are thought to be the first creatures to evolve an immunity the Vampiric Field [see p. 31 of the Mutant Future Core Rules] Mental Mutation.  [Anti-Vampirism actually induces the Albinism Disability in its possessor.]

Mutations:  Albinism [D], Optic Emissions (Bright Eyes), Reflective Epidermis (Cold, Radiation), Unique Mutation ("Anti-Vampirism")

—

Not-The-Designer's Notes:  The Albilope appeared in 1982's Famine In Far-Go, which was designed by Michael Price, and developed by Price and Michael J. Richie.  Illustration provided by the enigmatic Darlene.

Not-The-Designer's Notes Addendum:  The original text from FIF-G described the Albilope as being slender...yet the resulting picture made it look like a husky caribou.  I went with sleeker, daintier, and un-shaggier for my version.  Furthermore, I just made it completely immune to radiation, instead of the complicated "double its effective CON against radiation" from the source material.

Radioactive Review — 'Wisdom From The Wastelands' #8: Diseases & Medical Options'

Like finding a sealed and intact pharmacy in a ruined post-apocalyptic hospital, Wisdom From The Wastelands #8:  Diseases & Medical Options provides a grand sampling of odds and ends regarding all things biological, both ill and benign.  I'll break it into chunks, because there's a ton of material and rules tweaks to cover.

) First comes the Modified Constitution Table,  which expands the core rules stat block to ranges from 3-30, with corresponding Saving Throw bonuses.  The table also adds daily bonuses to healing--the higher your CON, the more extra HP you heal per day.

As a GM, I'm not that fond of the increased stat ranges—I mean, really, a 30 CON?—but the bonus healing sure is useful from the players' side of the screen.  I'd allow it.

) Next comes Rules Option:  Negative Hit Points.  This is your typical section on not dying when your PC reaches 0 HP; instead, you die when you reach a score equal to your negative CON.  Nothing fancy here, but again, useful for players who don't keep enough character sheets on hand.

) Rules Option:  Bonus To Daily Healing.  Oh, I already mentioned that above.  Move along.

) This next section is where things get a bit crunchy.  Rules Option:  Medical Compatibility introduces the Genotype Medical Compatibility Table and the Medical Incompatibility Table.  These two tables determine IF Ancient medical devices / treatments / substances work with particular PC Races (including the new races found in WFTW #4) in the first place, and how badly they damage the recipient in the process.

Here's how it works.  Roll 2d6.  If you're, say, a Mutant Animal, any given device works on a roll of 2-6, with a -1 modifier per mutation.  Then, if it fails, roll d100 to find out if you suffer half-effect, no effect, poisoning, stat reductions, genetic damage, lost mutations...or outright death.

Every Race has their own baseline, with Pure Humans ALWAYS benefitting, and Mutant Plants NEVER being impacted.

As I said, CRUNCHY.  And I honestly have no idea how I feel about it (but the sadistic GM in me thinks it might be fun).

) Next comes about a full page and a half of Disease Symptoms and their in-game effects:  tinnitus, blurry vision, fatigue, headaches, lesions / pustules, nausea, and more.  These are fun.

And I have to give the Skirmisher Gang their due:  Man, those sunnsabitches are THOROUGH.

) New Diseases follow, and they are a hoot AND a holler:  Blood Melt (turns victim's blood to acid...GRODY!), Rhino's Curse (super-callousing), Ghost Flesh, Predator's Gift (induces rot-stank), Rage.

) Two small sections close the 5-page supplement, New Medicine (with 2 new options to trick out the standard Filter Dose artifact) and a new mutational drawback:  Transparent Skin.  Ugly + increased laser damage = misery!

—

There is something for every Mutant Future fan in this issue.  While I don't know if I'd use the more complicated options—because we've already established that I'm lazy—much mayhem can be dished out towards the players.

And that's always a good thing.

Buy it here.