Devastation Drive-In 3-D — 'The Revenge Of Dr. X' aka 'The Venus Flytrap' aka 'Body Of The Prey' aka 'The Devil's Garden' (1970)

Venusapien

No. Enc.:  1 (1d4)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  See Below
Armor Class:  5
Hit Dice:  10
Attacks:  2 (2 "claws")
Damage:  1d10 / 1d10
Save:  L8
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  VI
XP:  5,200

The maddest of Ancient scientists were convinced that human beings descended not from primates, but from vegetation, and harnessed the electrical powers of Creation to splice man and plant into one...

...and in doing so discovered the fantastic "missing leaf" of the evolutionary ladder...

...A SHAMBLING, CHLOROPHYLLIC ABOMINATION WITH AN INSATIABLE HUNGER FOR THE FLESH OF THE LIVING!!!

Venusapiens (known in the Ancient Latin as Homoarboris insectivorus) are the 7' tall, 400 lb, transitional humanoids bridging flora and humans.  Their arms terminate in toothy flower-maws, and similar biting orifices gnash rhythmically atop their enormous feet.  Spikes jut from their waxy frames.  While sentient, venusapiens aren't particularly bright (average INT of 1d4+3).

Venusapiens spend the majority of their lives in a passive state rooted in the earth (Movement: 0' (0')), feeding on small animals that venture too close to their foot-mouths. However, when supplied with ample quantities of meat and/or blood and water, the creatures animate, and uproot themselves so as to actively hunt (lumbering at 75' (25')) larger prey...even human prey.  Such ambulatory venusapiens acquire the Increased Caloric Needs Drawback, and if food and water become scarce [meaning they can't fulfill the dietary requirements in the Mutation's description], they go dormant again where they stand.  Inert venusapiens also animate when badgered and/or attacked for more than 2 consecutive rounds.

Motile venusapiens feed through their biting "hands", and if both strike in the same round, the victim suffers an additional 1d12 damage.  Those attacking a venusapien in melee must make a successful Ability Check Versus DEX each round or suffer 1d8 thorn damage.  Furthermore, anyone approaching within 2' of a dormant venusapien must also make a successful Ability Check Versus DEX, or accidentally stumble into a foot-mouth for an automatic 1d6 damage.

Three times per day, a venusapien can discharge a cloud of Class 9 sleep-inducing mist that affects all targets in a 25' radius.

Mutations:  Frailty ("Nutrient Dependence") [D], Reflective Epidermis (Electricity), Toxic Weapon ("Gas Generation")

—

Designer's Notes:  It's actually unknown if this film ever got a proper studio release, meaning a poster may not even exist, necessitating the use of the [lamentably retitled by the production company] video art.  And the footage is in terrible shape.

Super-Secret Designer's Notes:  This psychotronic-supreme movie was scripted by the mythic Edward D. Wood, Junior!!!  Read all about it's wild and wonky history here!!!

Devastation Drive-In 3-D — 'The Giant Behemoth' (1959)

Voltonodon

No. Enc.:  0 (1)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
     —Swim:  180' (60')
Armor Class:  5
Hit Dice:  18
Attacks:  1 (bite or crush)
Damage:  3d12 or 6d10
Save:  L13
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  11,250

When the Ancients entered The Nuclear Age, they unleashed a veritable army of radiation-spawned monstrosities that crushed cities across the globe...

...AND FEW WERE MORE TERRIFYING THAN A LIVING, ELECTRICITY-SPEWING FOSSIL FROM BENEATH THE WAVES!!!

Voltonodons are massive, 50' long, aquatic sauropods.  They ordinarily inhabit toxic seas, but trek inland to find bodies of fresh water in which to spawn, or die (after extreme injuries or advanced age).

The beasts generate bioelectric bolts that do 12d6 damage at ranges up to 100', and physical contact causes 9d6 damage.  And all electrical damage directed at a voltonodon heals that amount instead of inflicting harm.

Voltonodons are invisible to sonar and radar, from mechanical and mutational means alike.

Mutations:  Energy Ray (Electricity) (x3), Energy-Retaining Cell Structure (x3), Reflective Epidermis (Electricity), Unique Mutation ("Electro-Healing")

Voltonodon, Atomic

No. Enc.:  0 (1)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  150' (50')
     —Swim:  210' (70')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  30
Attacks:  1 (bite or crush)
Damage:  5d12 or 10d10
Save:  L15
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  43,500

Voltonodons exposed to massive amounts of radiation mutate into larger (70' tall, 150-200' long), deadlier, bioluminescent specimens that no longer project electricity.  Instead, these atomic voltonodons emit blistering Class 6-10 (determined on a roll of 1d6) radiation in concentric circle-shaped beams every three rounds that inflict 16d6 damage at ranges up to 200'.  And they generate deadly fields of Class 10 radiation in a 100' radius. Victims of their attacks are reduced to blackened skeletons, and equipment and artifacts turn to ash.  Submerged atomic voltonodons kill all fish and aquatic wildlife in a 2-mile radius, just by their presences alone.

Ironically, these beasts are highly unstable, and suffer +3 damage per die from radiation-based attacks. Radiation bombs [see p. 120 of the Mutant Future Core Rules] kill them instantly, but the resultant explosion scatters toxic particles far and wide.

Like their smaller cousins, atomic voltonodons are invisible to sonar and radar, and regenerate from electricity.

Mutations:  Energy Ray (x4), Frailty ("Radiation Susceptibility") [D], Reflective Epidermis (Electricity), Unique Mutation ("Electro-Healing")

YOU WERE WARNED.

In 2011, the living nightmare that was Devastation Drive-In brutalized your body and mangled your mind.

In 2012, its unholy progeny laid waste to your very soul.



And now...

              ...in 2013...

                      THE NIGHTMARE LIVES AGAIN!!!

TREMBLE IN FEAR!!!
COWER IN TERROR!!!
QUAKE IN FRIGHT!!!

MAKE PEACE WITH YOUR GODS!!!

FOR YOU FACE THE UNRELENTING ONSLAUGHT OF...

YOU.  WERE.  WARNED.

AND NOW IT'S TOO LATE!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

FOR THEY ARE LONGING FOR YOUR BLOOD!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

BECAUSE IF YOU SCREAM...YOU'RE DEAD!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

...FOR PASSIONATE DREAMS...TURNED INTO A LIVING NIGHTMARE!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

FOR IT IS REAL...IT IS EVIL...IT IS HERE!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

...FOR A GEOMETRICAL PROGRESSION OF DEADLY MENACE!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

FOR YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

PREPARE YOURSELVES...

FOR IT...IS COMING!!!

THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN.

PREPARE YOURSELVES!!!

If I May Brag I Moment...

...I have some of the most creative, dynamic players that I've EVER had the privilege of gaming with.

My table has old pros, novices-of-the-adult-but-never-really-gamed variety, and a 13-year-old who grew up with gamers.  That kid is an absolute Game Master's Mutant Lord's nightmare—in a good way—because he comes up with damned brilliant uses of his mutations on the fly.

Case in point, just yesterday he made an encounter with two waasps go completely off the rails—in a good way—from the get-go, and the PCs murderhobo-ized those monsters to artifacts and riches.

Seriously.  It was a massacre.  And it was awesome and terrifying to behold.  They done good.

I am just BEAMING from behind my ML's screen.  I'll write up the encounter just as soon as I can.

"C" is for "Coral Crawler"

Coral Crawler

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  90' (30')
      —Swim:  45' (15')
Armor Class:  2
Hit Dice:  12
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d8 / 1d8 / 1d12
Save:  L6
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  4,400

Coral crawlers are ambulatory, rhinoceros-sized, animalistic collectives of marine polyps. They hunt along the ocean floors, but surface to prowl beaches and riverbanks.

Coral crawlers are covered stinging barbs that inject a Class 7 neurotoxin.  And being made of millions of individual creatures grants them complete immunity to any and all Mental Mutations.

Aquatic tribes with thick carapaces and/or immunity to poisons tame coral crawlers as mounts.

Mutations:  Density Alteration, Dermal Poison Slime, Parasitic Control

"F" is for "Finkdaddy"

Finkdaddy

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d4)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  5
Hit Dice:  8
Attacks:  4 or 1 (2 claws, 1 tailslap, 1 bite, or weapon, or vehicle)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d8 / 1d10, or by weapon, or by vehicle +4d6
Save:  L8
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  XVIII
XP:  3,560

Finkdaddies are 5' tall, bug-eyed, pudgy relatives of the vermen.  Their mangy fur is usually a toxic green hue, but the creatures can appear in any day-glo color.

Finkdaddies are manic and altogether unhinged, and can't handle their liquor.  But they are geniuses when it comes to unearthing, repairing, and upgrading Ancient technology, and vehicles are their specialty.  The sheer rarity of mechanical transport in the Mutant Future makes finkdaddies the undisputed kings of the blasted roadways.

If engaged in vehicular combat, a finkdaddy's attacks automatically gain a +3 To Hit and +4d6 damage.

Mutations:  Atrophied Cerebellum [D], Energy-Retaining Cell Structure, Increased Willpower, Intellectual Affinity (Tinkerer), Prehensile Tail, Reflective Epidermis (Radiation)

"M" is for "Molock"

Molock

No. Enc.:  1d10 (5d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
  —Burrow:  30' (10')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  7
Attacks:  2 or 1 (2 claws, or weapon)
Damage:  1d8 / 1d8, or by weapon
Save:  L7
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  XVII +1d12 gizmos
XP:  2,540

Molocks are 4' tall bipeds with fleshy snouts and enormous claws.  Their beady eyes are obscured by dusty fur.

Molocks construct elaborate subterranean complexes, where they cultivate forests of the tastiest fungi in the Mutant Future.  They trade their harvest for only the most exotic of Ancient foodstuffs, as they fancy themselves quite the gourmands.  Molocks hoard any and all artifacts they find in their excavations.

Most molocks are genial...but a renegade fringe faction known as The Architects Of Night seeks out buried doomsday weapons so as to destroy the sun and claim dominion over the planet's surface.

Mutations:  Damage Turning, Echolocation, Fragrance Development, Increased Sense (Hearing, Taste), Precognition

"L" is for "Laazghul"

Laazghul

No. Enc.:  1d6 (2d8)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  90' (30')
Armor Class:  6
Hit Dice:  6
Attacks:  2 or 1 (2 claws, or 1 head-beamer)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4, or see below
Save:  L4
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  XXI
XP:  1,820

Laazghuls are mutated relatives of the walking dead [p. 101 of the Mutant Future Core Rules].  They blast foes with the emitter arrays on their heads.

To determine what their skull-zappers shoot, roll on the chart below, either for each laazghul or the entire group.  Ranges for all attacks are 90'.

1. Heat Ray:  3d6 damage; metal objects melt on a failed Saving Throw Vs Energy
2. Cold Beam:  2d8 damage; frozen to the spot for 2d6 turns (or until chipped free) on a failed Saving Throw Vs Stun
3. Napalm Gout:  2d6 damage, plus another 1d6 per round for the next 1d6 rounds
4. Hypno-Ray:  target switches sides and allies with the laazghul for 2d6 turns on a failed Saving Throw Versus Stun
5. Pulse Blaster:  4d6 straight-up damage
6. Lightning Arc:  6d6 damage; half damage on successful Saving Throw Vs Energy

Anyone killed by a laazghul's claw attacks rises in 3 nights as a new laazghul.  (Those killed by head-beamers are probably too zapped to return from the dead as anything.)

Mutations:  Energy Ray (x6)  (See Above)

—

Not-The-Designer's Notes:  Shamelessly horked from Unca Jeff at Jeff's Game Blog.  I just Mutant Future'd 'em up (which pretty much just means more HD).

"S" is for "Stagsquatch"

Stagsquatch

No. Enc.:  1d6 (2d8)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  6
Hit Dice:  13
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or 1 gore)
Damage:  1d12 / 1d12 / 3d6, or 2d10
Save:  L13
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  XIV
XP:  5,100

Stagsquatches are shaggy, reddish, 10' tall bipeds with lithe, lean builds that belie ferocious strength.  Nasty fangs and tusks jut from their salivating snouts, and their eyes glow red with malice.  Stagsquatches are extremely stealthy (Surprising on a 1-4 on 1d6), and like apes, they locomote on prominent forelimbs.

Cruel and clever, stagsquatches set traps (deadfalls, pits, tripwires, etc) and stage ambushes to capture their favorite prey:  Pure Humans.  And they have an ironic fondness for Ancient metal "deer crossing" signs, which they post throughout their hunting grounds to further unnerve victims.

Stagsquatches share a collective fear of dogs, both normal and mutant (including humanoids).

Mutations:  Dual Cerebellum [+1 random Mental Mutation], Phobia ("Canids") [D], Reflective Epidermis (Electricity)

"L" is for "Lionfrog"

Lionfrog

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d8)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
      —Swim:  30' (10')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  12
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or 1 gore)
Damage:  1d10 / 1d10 / 1d6, or 2d6
Save:  L6
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  VII
XP:  3,600

Lionfrogs are bovine-sized, garishly-hued amphibians that prowl the irradiated grasslands in family prides.  Combinations of bony growths and prominent external gills form the "manes" that give them their names.

Up to 3 times per day, a lionfrog can discharge a 20' diameter cloud of deadly Class 17 gas from armored pores on its backside.  Lionfrogs are immune to this substance, but still vulnerable to other poisons.

Massive and muscular beasts, lionfrogs avoid the water; in fact, they take 1d4 damage per round when submerged.

Mutations:  Epidermal Susceptibility ("Water") [D], Natural Armor (Extreme), Toxic Weapon ("Gas Generation")

Mutants In The News — "Lord Humungus Throws A Mean Kegger" Edition

This is a thing I must attend one year.

And I expect a rowdy crew (to arms, Sniderman and The Abominable Dr. Causey!) to join me!

Rest In Peace, Chalur

R.I.P. Chalur, the winged, fire-blasting, chameleonic, injury-doubling, arachnophobic Mutant Human.

Your crippling mutations combined with even more crippling decision paralysis in the heat of every battle would've done you in eventually...

...so perhaps it's a kindness that a teammate's Critical Miss with an implosion mace both pulverized your ribcage and detonated all your ammo in the same fumbled swing.

Your corpse will provide a sumptuous feast for the local crawfrogs and frogdads.  As you arose from the swamp, so shall you return.

—

This Saturday's Mutant Future session was a doozy, what with the Ancient bunker and the blood-sucking freakjob and its thralls and the missing henchmen and the universal decryption box and the new doll-sized mutant teammate and the three-armed necro-specialist and the fungus-giants and the  quest for airboat fuel and the six Critical Misses in a row (4 from the PCs, 2 from the Mutant Lord) and the mayhem and the first PC death.

"B" is for "Bogie"

Bogie

No. Enc.:  2d6 (5d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  3
Hit Dice:  4+1
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d3 / 1d3 / 1d4
Save:  L5
Morale:  7
Hoard Class:  XVII + 3 gizmos
XP:  590

Bogies are 3' long, nocturnal, matriarchal primates that lurk in jungles and overgrown ruins.  Mischievous and highly intelligent (and rather snobby about it, too), bogies love harassing and spooking any who encroach on their territory.  They are quite adept at using tools and Ancient artifacts.

Bogies can alter their atomic structure so as to shift "out of phase" with matter around them. They can use this ability up to 4 times per hour, at a duration of up to 1 minute each.  Bogies are completely immune to any and all attacks and environmental conditions while intangible...but they can't interact (attack, use mutations, etc.) with the world around them, either.

Renegade bogies often become "retrieval specialists", and they charge a premium for their services.

Mutations:  Control Weather, Metaconcert, Neural Telekinesis, Prehensile Tail, Psionic Flight, Unique Mutation ("Ghosting")

THIS Is Mutant Future

Prepare to be awesomed.

Mutants In The News — "Chickens Come Home To Roost" Edition

When we last mentioned Friend Of The Field Guide Legion McRae and his intrepid artisans at Interloper Miniatures, they were all hard at work bringing my favorite RPG mutants of all time to life!

And their labors have hatched!  

Just check out the majesty provided by master painter, Chad Lascelles!

And here's the rest of the figs, unassembled and unpainted!

Check out the eyepatch on the rightmost rabboid!!!

In the Mutant Future, cyclops-chicken-with-a-molotov fries YOU up!!!

Buggoids gone bonkers!!!

Syd & Marty Krofft WILL NEVER DIE!!!

Man.  I haven't slopped paint on minis since I was about 14, and there is NO WAY I'm gonna make them look as spiffy as ol' General Cluck up there.  Daunting!

—

Good Mr. McRae assures me that more miniatures are in the works, and that he'll have a website up sooner than later.  You'll definitely want to send him some sweet, sweet lucre in exchange for his special brand of post-apocalyptic goods and services.

Thanks again, Interloper!

(I would've posted about these about a month ago, except I kinda-sorta lost the package they mailed back in June in a deluge of wedding gifts.  The little critters got boxed in a crockpot, of all things. Yeesh.)

Smarmageddon!!!

I'm so tickled by Jack Shear's Planet Motherfucker, I set up another blog dedicated to its trashocalyptic, psychoholic sleazery.  There's a tumblr and everything!

If you like my Devastation Drive-In nonsense—and based on the utterly boggling number of hits the Rottweiler and Robot Monster entries get, SOMEONE does—I think you'll find something of interest over at...

THE HAUNTED SPOOKSHOW OF CHANNEL X!!!