Metamorphosis Alpha Rises!

News broke at GaryCon today that Goodman Games is Kickstarter-ing a mega-super-deluxe oversized hardcover reprint of the original edition of Jim Ward's Metamorphosis Alpha.

And this is what they mean by "oversized".  Compare the new version with the original stapled booklet!

They're including a ton of mutastic extras, like long-lost magazine articles, new art, and new critters, plus a series of all-new modules (like the one by Michael Curtis below):

I've had the pleasure of playing MetAlpha at NTRPGCon under Jim Ward himself twice now (although the second game was damned frustrating, due to lily-livered players who cared more about a real-life prize than DOING EXCITING THINGS), and hope to make it a third at this year's show.  And not only do I like what Curtis does for Dungeon Crawl Classics, but he let me play the tyrannosaurus big-bad during another con game where my PC died early...so he's all right in my book. 

This project happily gets my money.  And they're already 10% funded, so go give 'em your lucre so I can get my shiny new toys!

Mutants In The News — "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Hungrier" Edition

According to scientists in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America...or Miss Jackson is you're PNASTY!), the corn rootworm is developing not only a resistance, but an appetite, for the very bioengineered plant designed to kill it.

<1970sSteveMartin>And no one ever, Ever, EVER saw it coming.  It's a *total* surprise.</1970sSteveMartin>.

Given that three-quarters of the US corn crop is genetically-modified, the ramifications are terrifying.  Ravenous insects and mutated plants...just one more campaign origin for your Mutant Future game!

Wired has a reader-friendly article here.

"F" is for "Florapede"

Florapede

No. Enc.:  1 (1d3)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  6
Hit Dice:  13
Attacks:  1 (bite)
Damage:  3d6
Save:  L7
Morale:  11
Hoard Class:  XIV
XP:  7,800

The horrid florapedes are 25'+ ambulatory plants that actively hunt living prey.  They mimic the coloration of surrounding plantlife, Surprising on a 1-5 on 1d6.  Florapedes cling to vertical surfaces and ceilings with ease.

As if their energy beams and life-sapping abilities weren't terrible enough, florapede bites inject Type 11 paralytic toxin...so as to devour their victims alive.

Florapedes reproduce via man-sized seedpods that contain 1d6 "eggs".  These seeds are considered a delicacy, and grant those that ingest them immunity to all toxins, poisons, and chemicals for 1 full month.

Mutations:  Chameleon Epidermis (Modified), Free Movement, Full Senses, Thermal Emissions, Toxic Weapon (Venom), Vampiric Field

Mutants In The News — "Pythocalypse 2014" Edition

It's been nine months since our spies reported on the twisted machinations of The Dread Serpent Empire.

We prayed that perhaps their warmongering schemes had gone as cold as the blood that pumps in their sinuous hearts.  Or maybe our allies-by-circumstance, The Ancient Noble Order Of Crocodilians, bravely routed their constricting forces with selfless suicide attacks.

But, friends...this newest dispatch fills us with primordial dread, for things are worse than we ever imagined...

...BECAUSE THE PYTHONS ARE WINNING!!!

Fearless photog Tiffany Corlis shared her top-secret pics with The Brisbane Times.  Click through for more flabbergasting images...IF YOU DARE.

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Dismissing this encounter as run-of-the-mill, Australian-murder-beast antics is foolhardy.  We should probably just wall-off / incinerate / pave-over the python-infested Florida now.