Fun With Feedback — "Frathouse Of The Apes" Edition

The Internet's Theron Bretz clued me into a G+ post by Christopher "The Secret DM" Mennell that mentioned one majestic word:  broboon.  And he insisted I add it to the Field Guide.

Much to my ego's dismay, full credit for what follows goes to Mssrs Mennell and Bretz, and one Josh Roby (who named them, I believe).  I just statted them up, but I had a helluva time doing so.

—

Broboon

No. Enc.:  2d6 (4d6)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  90' (30')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  3
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or weapon)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6, or by weapon
Save:  L3
Morale:  7
Hoard Class:  VI, IX, + 1 red plastic cup per individual
XP:  95

Belligerent, lewd, loutish, and loud, broboons are the most obnoxious brutes in the Mutant Future.  They are obsessed with Ancient vehicles, colognes, fashions, beverages, and erotica, and despoil any territory they occupy with their incessant "partying". As broboons are exclusively male, they doggedly harass and pursue females of any and all sentient species.

Broboons are perpetually intoxicated, and suffer a -2 To Hit in all melee combat situations.  That said, once every 3 rounds, a broboon can disgorge a noxious stream of alcohol and bile up to 15' away that acts as a Class 5 poison.

Despite their lunkheadedness, broboons adhere to a sacrosanct code of behavior, with laws like "Brah shall never kill Brah, Brah" and "broboons before hoboons."

They are awful.

Mutations:  Reduced Oxygen Efficiency [D], Shriek, Toxic Weapon (Projectile Vomit)

"H" is for "Hungering Palm"

Hungering Palm

No. Enc.:  0 (1d4)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  7
Attacks:  4 (2 claws, 1 bite, 1 tongue-jab)
Damage:  1d8 / 1d8 / 1d6 / 1d4
Save:  L4
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  XIV
XP:  1,840

Hungering palms are insect-like trees that mimic the tropical flora found near beaches and oases.  They root themselves in the loose sand for weeks on end, and await hapless prey to stumble by, Surprising on a 1-4 on 1d6.  Hungering palms drain their victims dry with piercing "tongue-vines", leaving behind desiccated husks.

The hunting ground of a hungering palm is often littered with the detritus and artifacts (and occasional sun-bleached remains) of what can only be described as "Ancients on vacation".

Mutations:  Free Movement, Full Senses, Natural Armor (Plant) (Extreme)

Mutants In The News — "You're So Vain" Edition

The BBC reports that Yale scientists are attempting to teach a robot named Nico to recognize itself in the mirror, one of the classic psychological tests in gauging / determining self-awareness.

In 2007, scientists got a robot to recognize motion in a mirror, but "this [test] is based on appearance rather than motion," says doctoral candidate Justin Hart.

If successful, robots would join the short list of non-human species—dolphins, elephants, and primates—able to recognize themselves.

Man.  The sin-borgs and kill-bots of the future are going to be even MORE terrifying if they start worrying about their sheens and paint-jobs and such.

"DOES.  THIS.  CHASSIS.  MAKE.  ME.  LOOK.  FAT.  HUMAN?  

YOU.  NOW.  HAVE.  FIVE.  SECONDS.  TO.  REPLY."

*Shudder*

Radioactive Review — 'Menace From The Wasteland' (2012)

A few weeks back, I was issued a complimentary copy of Paper Brain Games' Menace From The Wastelands via RPGNow.com.  It was a pleasant surprise, as there was no advanced notice, and I can only assume that author C.T. McGrew sent it himself. So...mucho thanks, C.T.!  (And in case you don't speak Spanish, that means "much thanks" in English.)

I read it on the plane to Gen Con, and here's my review.

—

Menace From The Wastelands is a 35 page PDF with 4 pages devoted to cover, credits, and legalese.  There's also 1 page at the back for scribbled notes (appropriately titled "Notes"), leaving 30 pages of content.  Of those 30 pages, 20 are text (16 adventure, 4 bestiary), and the other 10 are colorful maps.

There's plenty of appropriate art to break up the text, and the entirety of the work looks clean and organized.  The layout is appealing.

A self-described "sandbox style adventure", MFTW is broken down into 6 locales:  an isolated farm free of post-apocalyptic toxicity, a spooky swamp, some ruins, a monkey mining camp [sadly, the monkeys are the miners, and not the resources], menacing woods, and a monstrous ant colony.  There certainly seems like a lot for PCs to do.

Leiningen's Farm

The 6 mutant NPCs at the farm have been peacefully raising sligs (pig-slugs) [AWESOME], chickards (chicken-lizards), and assorted other critters...but then the giant ants arrived.  The farmers want the PCs to solve the problem, and then perhaps settle down and join their ranks.

The farm feels a bit you-meet-an-old-wizard-in-a-tavern-y for me, but the NPCs are fleshed out, and McGrew adds descriptors for "mannerisms" and "quirks" in addition to the usual stats.  That's a first in a Mutant Future product, and it's a nice touch.  And 2 of the NPCs have a dark secret, involving a shout-out to A Boy And His Dog.

The Stinking Swamp

Per the text, this "location is not connected to the ants in any way," but it may tie in with the aforementioned dark secret.  It's really just a stomping ground for over-sized animals, frog-men, and dangerous terrain, and a perfect way to get the PCs eaten or drowned in quicksand.

I'll freely admit that I'm a sucker for swamp-based adventuring, but the swamp is just kinda...there.  If I were using it, I'd trick out the area with a ruined biolab in need of looting, or downed Ancient satellite.  Something to add a little more zest, and change up the mutants from typical marshy fare.  But I can see why McGrew didn't go that route, because that's just clutter up the place when he already has other ruins on the horizon.

The Ruins

The Ruins are a cluster of crumbling buildings (that can perilously collapse) that serve as home to a colony of Mutant Future's unofficial mascots, the spidergoats.

Turns out the site was a former military installation focused on trans-dimensional teleportation tech.  It's up to the Mutant Lord to determine where the trans-portals go if the PCs get them up and running.

Two hyphenated words say all that that really needs to be known about this location:  vibro-katana, and self-destruct.  Genre classics!

Animan Mining Camp

A scandalized, adulterous, lusty ape leads a band of pro-animal / anti-human primate miners.  I can die happy, knowing that I've typed that sentence.

This section is really just a throw-away bit on the map, but it's my absolutely favorite part of MFTW.

"Oh, no...my husband's home!"

The Screaming Woods

How convenient that The Screaming Woods are home to a mutant monster called The Horrible Screaming Monstrosity.  It's a gal with a pretty face...but also multiple arms, wicked claws, giant armored body, and a penchant for eating PCs.

That's the only noteworthy part of this section, and the author suggests that "The Screaming Woods are a good location for ruins of your own design."  He's right.

The Giant Ant Colony

This here is the meat of the module, comprising 9 pages of material.

There are 3 ways to deal with the menace of the mutant bugs:  kill 'em slow by slogging through the nest, negotiate a deal on behalf of the farmers, or kill 'em fast with an explosion (caused by unearthing tech in the sublevel buried beneath the mound, which also corresponds to the ruins above).  The first option would be a grind, as the mound is 7 levels deep, and there are a LOT of ants.

I like the second method, if for no other reason than this flavor text:  "[The Queen] loves her children, but would like someone or something to engage her on an intellectual level."  That just tickles me to no end.

But I'm not sure what I think of the "dungeon" itself.  Boy howdy, did I mention there a lot of ants?  Each level has some stuff to jazz it up the unabashed antliness—a buried Ancient tank, a "crafty giant gecko...[that] for some strange reason, the ants ignore or tolerate", aphids, a dismembered android, cockroaches, 2 spider-bots guardians—but it's a sure-fire ant-fest.  Obvious, I know, but...shrug.  Maybe I'd make them purple.  

And that crafty gecko?  I'd TOTALLY make him the Ant Queen's personal assassin who disposes of ants that gain sentience and get all uppity.  Play him as debonair and suave and dangerous, too.

Oh!  Lest I forget, there is a level with some contaminated water and fungus and crystals and such...and it's home to a hilariously grody / grodily hilarious flock of monsters called pus bats, which are white, foot-long blobs that wetly hang from the ceiling...then jump on victims below!  That visual is just disgusting, and I'd gleefully spring them on PCs.  I love pus bats.

—

General Comments

One thing that I really liked is McGrew's use of the descriptor "Oldways"—Oldways coins, Oldways weapons, etc.—instead of the typical "Ancient" adjective.  It's a small thing, but I don't think I've ever seen that term used before in post-apocalyptic materials, and I'll definitely use it.

The maps are just dandy, too.

And any module that lists a lone "girlie mag" in a treasure haul is a-okay with me.

But there are some issues with the work.  Primarily, it needs some serious editing, as there are too many spelling and grammar mistakes (mainly a criminal misuse of commas) for my sensibilities.  And I'm not sure if the supplement is...hurm, how do I phrase this...Mutant Future-y enough?...for my liking.  The farm has plenty of mutant animals, but they're scenery.  And except for T.H.S.M. ladymonster, there's a general "tameness" to the other encounters—giant bug, giant bug, giant lizard, giant bug, token robot, giant bug, giant bug, etc.

This is the inevitable part where the word "gonzo" gets thrown around, but that way lies madness given how each post-apocalyptic fan has their own baseline.  Personally, I'd bump up the mutant-ness and the future-ness.

The farm setting has potential, too, as a PC base of operations or Shangri-la for migrant tribes, but it's a bit too bucolic for me.  I likes my settings full of rubble and radiation and reactors.  (Huh.  Ruins & Radiation would make a swell little title for a post-apocalyptic game....)

And there must be something in the water, because this is the second supplement I've run across in the last year with an ant mound for a dungeon.  You may have heard me mention the other before.

—

My overall stance on Menace From The Wasteland is that there's some gold nuggets buried in the anthill, and any Mutant Lord worth his salt can buff 'em and shine 'em into something worthwhile.  But as-is, it's a little colorless.

I'd still recommend it, though, if you want a pre-fab sandbox of a more tame nature.  And I look forward to Mr. McGrew's [mutant?] future projects.

—

 

You can purchase the PDF here.

 

—

 

[Note:  I've been working on this review for a few days, but by utter coincidence, I just noticed an alert from RPGNow that MFTW has a revision awaiting download.  As I've only read the initial version, I have no idea what's been updated.  Maybe the aforementioned errors...?]

"B" is for "Brino"

Brino

No. Enc.:  0 (1d12)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  0' (0')
    —Swim:  60' (20')
Armor Class:  4
Hit Dice:  6
Attacks:  1 (bite)
Damage:  1d8
Save:  L3
Morale:  8
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  1,070

Preying on fish and crustaceans lured by their phosphorescent filaments, the scaly 2-3 ton brinos languidly drift through polluted seas.  Their prominent barbels discharge electric shocks.

Venomous spines line a brino's back and fins, which inflict 1d6 damage and inject a Class 11 paralyzing neurotoxin upon contact.

Brinos often surface at night to engage in strangely beautiful courtship rituals consisting of strobing flashes and resonant lowing.

Mutations:  Energy Ray (Electricity), Spiny Growth (Medium), Toxic Weapon (Venom)

"P" is for "Phosphoratu"

Phosphoratu

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d4)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  360' (120')
Armor Class:  2
Hit Dice:  15
Attacks:  2 (2 claws)
Damage:  1d10 + 1d6 / 1d10 + 1d6
Save:  L15
Morale:  12
Hoard Class:  XXII
XP:  8,700

With irradiated, skeletal frames ablaze and agonized, keening shrieks, the horrifying phosphoratu rocket through the darkness like Roman candles from The Time Before. Useless wing-spurs jut from their backsides. For beings comprised of nothing but bones, ligaments, and flame, they are savagely strong and spry.

Phosphoratu crave the blood of the living, and attack with deranged fury.  Each successful attack inflicts an additional +1d6 fire/heat damage.  And anyone hit with both claw attacks in the same round is grappled, and for each subsequent round, takes both automatic 1d12 biting damage and 2d8 burning damage until escaping.  It takes a STR check at a +5 penalty to break a phosphoratu's crushing grip.

Due to their hideous visages and anguished shrieking, anyone within 50' of a phosphoratu must make a Saving Throw Versus Stun at a -3 penalty.  Those that fail are rendered helpless (Paralyzed) from abject terror for 2d4 turns.  That said, phosphoratu never Surprise their targets, and can be spotted and heard approaching from miles away.  Their unrelenting speed doesn't give much time to mount a defense, however....

Mental attacks that engage the conscious mind (specifically Empathy, Mental Phantasm, Mind Thrust, and Neural Telepathy) are utterly useless against the unhinged phosphoratu. And anyone attempting a  Possession attack against them takes an automatic 12d12 damage from psyche-shredding torment.

Phosphoratu bizarrely disintegrate when exposed to daylight, so they spend their days nesting in the deepest, darkest ruins and crumbling nuclear plants.  And they suffer x2 damage from laser-based weaponry.

Mutations:  Frailty ("Solar Susceptibility") [D], Increased Sense (Smell, Vision), Regenerative Capability

"R" is for "Roadpecker"

Roadpecker  ("Sledgebeak")

No. Enc.:  0 (1d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  480' (160')
Armor Class:  3
Hit Dice:  5
Attacks:  2 (2 pecks)
Damage:  see below
Save:  L3
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  800

Terrors of the cracked and fractured highways, roadpeckers are speedy, aggressive, man-sized birds with flaming red crests and eyes that glow like halogen lamps.  

A roadpecker's massive beak hits with the force of an Ancient jackhammer, and it's designed to puncture even the hardest surfaces to get at succulent mutant grubs, vermin, and roots.  Against targets with Armor Classes ranging from 7-9, the beak does 1d10 damage per strike; against ACs 4-6, it does 2d8 damage...and against ACs of 3 or lower, it does 2d12 damage.  And a Charging roadpecker does double damage with its first peck, as per p. 57 of the Mutant Future Core Rules.

Mobs of racing roadpeckers have been known to chase down and destroy even the most heavily-armored vehicles and robots.

Mutations:  Enhanced Vision (Night Vision), Optic Emissions (Bright Eyes), Quickness

Radioactive Review — 'Wisdom From The Wastelands #11: Optional Combat Rules'

I gotta say, I had MAJOR trepidation about this issue.  Just a cursory glance at the text of the front page and the table o' contents induced visions of D&D-ian Feats and HERO System-y OCV/DCV modifiers and all manner of combat-bogging-down-ful complications.  

And I HATE combat-bogging-down-ful complications.

But you know what?  I really, really liked these rules additions.  I've run a Mutant Future campaign, and while I certainly appreciate the speed and simplicity of combat, I have to confess there have been sessions where "You swing.  You miss.  Monster swings.  It misses.  You swing again...." just bored everyone to tears.  That's always been one of the perils of our beloved To Hit charts.  

So, I'm the last guy that wants more rules, but these jazz up the proceedings.  Hell, I'd use almost all of 'em.

The supplement includes some nifty bits, such as...

) All-Out Attack:  grants +3 To Hit, and +3 (total) damage; -2 AC and loss of DEX-based AC bonuses

) Bursts:  area-effect attacks that elegantly divide total damage evenly-ish amongst the targets

) Combat Modifiers:  all-purpose bonuses and penalties, for all your combat needs! "Attacking From Behind!"  "Firing Into Melee!"  And even "Attacking Blind!"  Some of these are obvious and redundant from the Mutant Future Core Rules, but this master list of modifiers is convenient.

) Disarming:  A genre staple, and full of dashing AND derring-do.

) Limb Breakage / Loss:  These are nas-tay.  AND AWESOME.  "Any strike doing damage equal to 20% of the creature's total hit points breaks a limb, which is unusable until this damage is healed."  And if a limb sustains 40% of the HP total?  It's blown off!!!  Fun, fun, fun!!!

There are plenty of other rules and subsystems (why, oh why, is Grappling always so problematic in OSR games?), but I'm not listing them all, because I want you to buy the supplement here.  It's that good, and I remind you that this is coming from  guy who likes fewer rules, not more.

It caps with a new Mutation, Ambidexterity, which prevents off-paw penalties.

One other thing of note:  Author Chris "Outlander" Van Deelen uses the feminine pronoun throughout the examples.  This is the first time I've noticed it in a WFTW supplement.  Well played.

Buy it.  Now.

Gen Con, HO!!!

I'm heading out at an ungodly hour for Indianapolis, and will do my dangedest to regularly update on the wacky hijinks.  I'm particularly excited to slang dice again at Our Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman's table, as he runs a helluva Mutant Future game.

I've also got a melange of material scheduled to auto-post throughout the weekend, so stay tuned, true believers!

(And if you're going to be at the show, hit me up via email.  We'll figger it out on the fly.)

Mutants In The News — "THEY'RE HERE ALREADY!!!" Edition

We here at A Field Guide To Doomsday have been ever vigilant in our coverage of the sinister serpentine assault from the swamps.  

We've warned you!  We've begged you!  BUT DID YOU LISTEN?!!!  DID YOU?!!!!!

Perhaps you should have heeded our warnings...

...because things are even worse than we thought.

University Of Florida researchers caught a Burmese python of a record-breaking [for the region] 17ft 7in length and 164.5 lb weight...which also happened to be chock full of a record-breaking 87 eggs.

"There's nothing stopping them, and the native wildlife are in trouble," says Kenneth Krysko of The Florida Museum Of Natural History.  "A 17-and-a-half-foot snake could eat anything it wants."

As of now, population estimates range from the thousands to, oh, the hundreds of thousands of ravenous reptiles.

And although it's from 2010, this map is perfect for all your Mutant Future-y, Gamma-World-ly, ophidi-oid-related needs.

GAZE UPON YOUR GRANDCHILDREN'S SCALE-FILLED TOMORROW, FOOLS!!!

Python Predictions For The Year 2100 (courtesy of www.esa.org)

Mutants In The News — "RAVISHING A UNIVERSE FOR LOVE!" Edition

News is flooding in that researchers have discovered rampant mutations in Japanese butterflies thanks to 2011's meltdown at the Fukushima power plant.

"Initial results indicated that roughly 12 percent of the butterflies showed signs of abnormalities, such as disfigurement in their antennas, smaller-sized wings, change in color patterns, and indented eyes...[and] six months later...those abnormalities had increased to 28 percent and the mutations had doubled to 52 percent in their offspring."

Yeah.

I think we ALL know how this one turns out.

"J" is for "Jammerhead"

Jammerhead

No. Enc.:  0 (1d8)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  0' (0')
        —Fly:  180' (60')
Armor Class:  3
Hit Dice:  4+2
Attacks:  1 (bite)
Damage:  2d6
Save:  L3
Morale:  8
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  290

Jammerheads are 10-12' long, sleek monstrosities with broad heads, feathered wings, and gaping maws.  They never sleep, and prowl the skyways in a never-ending quest for living prey.

Flailing filaments line a jammerhead's backside.  These tendrils continually generate an EMP field that disables all technological systems—computers, Advanced melee weapons and firearms, the majority of Ancient artifacts, powered armors, robots, etc.—within a 25' radius.  Such devices reactivate in 1d12 turns after leaving the area of effect.  Even Android PCs are susceptible; they must make a Saving Throw Versus Stun at a -3 penalty or fall "unconscious" with the same reactivation period as above.

Jammerheads are never surprised.

Mutations:  Unique Mutation ("Electromagnetic Pulse Generation"), Unique Sense (360-Degree Vision)

"M" is for "Marblemaw"

Marblemaw

No. Enc.:  1d4 (2d6)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  105' (35')
Armor Class:  1
Hit Dice:  13
Attacks:  3 (2 bludgeons, 1 bite)
Damage:  2d8 / 2d8 / 3d6
Save:  L8
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  XVIII
XP:  7,800

Marblemaws are massive, 12' tall creatures that dwell in the deepest, darkest subterranean environs.  Their smooth bodies are seemingly composed of living rock, and streaked with colorful mineral veins.  They have some of the most powerful jaws in the Mutant Future so as to better feed on rare elements, ores, minerals, and buried artifacts...the very same kinds of substances coveted by most other sentient beings.

Though they lack ears, sound is all-important to the marblemaws.  The creatures use their flattened hooks and hooves to tap out reverberating communications that travel for miles.  Large groups even "play" resonant "symphonies" on clusters of stalactites, stalagmites, and crystalline outcroppings, resembling nothing less than an Ancient orchestra.  A marblemaw's hypersensitive echolocation works at 540' instead of the standard 90', and the granted +4 To Hit counteracts their natural -4 penalty due to blindness; consequently, they suffer an additional +3 damage per die from sonic- and deafening-based attacks.

Marblemaws and quarillas have been observed in both epic battle and cooperative alliances.

Mutations:  Echolocation (x2), Frailty (Sonics) [D], Increased Hearing, Reflective Epidermis (Cold, Lasers/Light), Sensory Deficiency (Blindness) [D]

"L" is for "Ladytank"

Ladytank

No. Enc.:  0 (1d12)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  -2 (see below)
Hit Dice:  6
Attacks:  1 (gore or trample)
Damage:  2d6 or 2d12
Save:  L3
Morale:  11
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  1,070

Herds of the immense, 2-ton ladytanks roam the plains and grasslands, feeding on vegetation, small animals, and eggs.  Their belligerence is legendary, as is their tendency to Charge or Trample at the slightest intrusion into their territory.

A ladytank's armored carapace is impervious to all known weaponry (including Ancient artifacts), so even the most battle-hardened adventurers know to give them a wide berth. Only the underside is vulnerable, with an Armor Class of 2.  But striking from beneath a ladytank rarely works out for the attacker....

It goes without saying that ladytank-hide armor is one of the most coveted possessions in the Mutant Future.

Mutations:  None

Welcome To The Jungle. Meet... The Mumkey.

Fire In The Jungle, that is!

—

Mumkey

No. Enc.:  1d4 + 12 (1d8 + 12)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  6
Hit Dice:  4
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6
Save:  L3
Morale:  12
Hoard Class:  VII
XP: 355

For aeons they slept, with shattered display cases their sarcophagi and crumbling museums their tombs...but, lo, the mumkeys arose from the wreckage to prey upon their humanoid descendants in the far-flung Mutant Future!

Mumkeys are desiccated primates granted an uncanny unlife by unknown energies.  They congregate in shattered ruins, lying in wait for hapless passersby.  Mumkey troops fixate on one foe at a time, mobbing it with sadistic fury.

Anyone hearing a mumkey's freakish gibbering must make a Saving Throw Versus Stun or be Paralyzed.  And, even more terrifying, a mumkey's touch scrambles the DNA of its victims, inducing a devastating Mutational Drawback upon a failed Saving Throw Versus Death.  Those afflicted can no longer be healed by medical artifacts; instead, the gizmos inflict damage corresponding to what they ordinarily repair.  Only the most advanced of Ancient science can reverse the condition.

Mumkeys are unaffected by radiation, and all known diseases and poisons.

Mutations:  Reflective Epidermis (Radiation), Unique Mutation ("Genetic Corruption")

—

Not-The-Designer's Notes:  Name and base stats by Dustin Brandt, as seen in his Fire In The Jungle supplement.  Download it today...or, even better, buy a print copy!

"S" is for "Stalker Dolphin"

Stalker Dolphin

No. Enc.:  1d4 (1d6)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  90' (30')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  4
Attacks:  3 (2 claws, 1 bite)
Damage:  1d6 / 1d6 / 1d4
Save:  L4
Morale:  10
Hoard Class:  VI
XP:  410

The lumpen, scarred stalker dolphins half-lurch, half-hop from freshwater rivers and lakes on rusting, rickety struts implanted grotesquely into their flesh.  They malevolently slaughter any and every Pure Human or Mutant Human they can with grasping pincers and snapping beaks.  Anyone attacking a stalker dolphin suffers a -2 To Hit, due to the creature's abject hideousness and madness-inducing squeaks.

For every 3 hours spent on land, stalker dolphins require immersion in fresh water for 1 hour.

Evidence suggests that the same unknown parties responsible for the stalker dolphins also created the ravenous rocketjaws.

Mutations: Enhanced Vision (Night Vision, Thermal Vision, Ultraviolet Vision) (Implants), Metaconcert, Mind Thrust

Radioactive Review — 'Wisdom From The Wastelands #10: Monsters That Improve With Age #2'

Expanding on the material featured in Wisdom From The Wastelands #2:  Monsters That Improve With Age, issue #10 of WFTW brings even more monsters (and the lifespan charts that love them!) to the Mutant Future universe.  And these include geriatric beasties, kaiju-class critters, time-lapsed plants, and metamorphic monstrosities.  All in all, there's 7 new monsters, and 2.5 new mutations [see below].

—

First up under the "Elder Age" banner come the gagelings.  They're techno-savvy rattlesnake-beings with elaborate crests ridged with organic "telepathic wiring".  These guys lose armor and damage output as they age, but make up for it with psionic mojo.  I'd use these freaks in a heartbeat.

Uplift hunters are up next, and they're, um, hunting animals who, er, hunt uplifted animals (from WFTW #6).  They also have the power to strip away mutations at the end of their lifespan.

Dogs that hunt mutants.  Hmmmm...

"If Marvel Superheroes Were Cats" ( http://walyou.com/marvel-superhero-cats/)

—

The "Kaiju Age" section begins with a bang, because it stats out the colossal sun eater, which happens to be a solar-powered Gamera.  (Not THE Gamera, but A Gamera.  And I'm not even going to include a hyperlink, because if you don't who Gamera is, then we can never be friends.)

A Gamera that grows from 25 to 50 to 100 to 200 to 500 Hit Dice.

A Gamera that can be hand-reared from as a hatchling, which means...

Your Mutant Future PC can become Kenny The Monster Boy.

Ridiculous.

Yet awesome.

Ridiculawesome, if you will.

I actually like the next monster, the smoking ruin, much better.  They're giant, parthenogenic, smoldering snakes that live in the craters of burnt-out cityscapes.

They top out at only 100 HD.  Whew!  Much more my speed.

—

The "Plant Age" brings the slick vine and the tap root.  The former is a seaweed that turns its victims into petroleum byproducts (useful!), and the latter is essentially a killer forest.  Obviously, they both get bigger and tougher and nastier as they age.

I'm always on the lookout for more mutant plants, and these show some clever expansions of the rules (almost too clever).  And they're more plot devices than combat encounters proper.

But I likes 'em.

—

The final creature (under the "Other Age" heading) is the bad juju cow, which is another ridiculawesome beast that finally answers one question that has haunted me for all my days:

What would you get if the Scarlet Witch was born as a calf and blossomed into a full-fledged specimen of cattlehood?

And now I know!

These critters don't really feel all that "Mutant Future-y" to me, but they do crack me up.

Approved!

—

At last come the new mutations.

We've seen the Chemical Gland before (in WFTW #7).

Loss Of Trait is a weird little Defect that reads, and I quote, "the mutant has lost a mutation or species trait that is not vital to survival."

I'm clearly missing something here, because I fail to see how, say, being born without wisdom teeth or an appendix counts as a legitimate liability.

That .5 of a mutation I mentioned at the onset?  It's a collection of variants for the core Energy Ray that read like Power Advantages right out of the HERO System's various Big Blue Books.  The Coherence Beam is laser blast that blinds; the Energy Helix corkscrews around barriers; the Oscillating Ray "goes up and down the electromagnetic spectrum" and deals out hefty damage when locking-on its target; the X-Ray Beam bypasses defenses.

Those really don't do anything for me (they lack the elegant simplicity of "Cold Ray" and "Electricity Ray" and whatnot), but I can the allure of using them against the PCs.

—

As usual, this supplement is a jam-packed 5 pages for only 99¢.  I'm not really sold on the need for age-expanding monsters, because you could do just take any ol' random creature out of the Mutant Future Core Rules and trick it out.  But this issue is worth every penny for the mojo-bovines alone.

(And I'm convinced author Derek Holland must've been seriously hitting the ol' funnybooks before writing it.)

Buy Wisdom From The Wastelands #10 here.

"S" is for "Sandseal"

Sandseal

No. Enc.:  0 (1d8)
Alignment:  Neutral
Movement:  150' (50')
Armor Class:  3
Hit Dice:  5
Attacks:  2 claws, 1 (bite)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6
Save:  L3
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  650

Top predators of the desert wastes, the powerful, 10'-12' sandseals glide effortlessly beneath the barren landscape.  

Sandseals hunt in packs, and burst forth from the ground (Surprising on a 1-4 on 1d6) to grab unsuspecting prey, and then drag it beneath the shifting grit.  In addition to taking automatic biting damage each round, anyone pulled under for more than 3 rounds must make a Saving Throw Versus Death, or suffocate.  (Those with proper environmental gear get a +3 bonus to the roll, but must still Save due to clogging and contamination.)  The suffocation Save must be made each round until free of the beast's jaws.

At night, the forlorn barks of the sandseals echo across the badlands.

Mutations:  Echolocation

"S" is for "Spiderhead"

Shamlessly horked from M.P. at Barbaric Frontier!!!

I can't claim any credit whatsoever (aside from just a teensy bit o' Mutant Future-ing 'em up.)

—

Spiderhead

No. Enc.:  1d6 (2d6)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  5
Hit Dice:  10
Attacks:  1 (bite, or bludgeon)
Damage:  2d4 + poison, or 1d10
Save:  5
Morale:  11
Hoard Class:  VI
XP:  2,400

Spiderheads are 8' tall, furry barbarians that make their lairs in subterranean environs (caverns, abandoned sewers, etc).  Their loosely-knit bands often venture far and wide across the surface world to plunder and murder with rapacious ferocity.  Spiderheads are excellent climbers, often dropping from above on their victims (and Surprising on a 1-3 on 1d6).

Spiderheads inject venom with their bites, with the intensity determined at random on the Poison Class Table [p. 50 of the Mutant Future Core Rules]

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

The Inspiration! (by M.P.)

Mutants In The News — "The Best Part Of Wakin' Up...." Edition

According to CNN, researchers have discovered elevated levels of caffeine contamination in Oregon coastal waters.  It's thought that untreated water from sewer overflow and septic tanks is to blame.

While "the amount of caffeine is well below a lethal dose for marine life..., [it] can cause some 'cellular stress' to organisms."


...


"Cellular stress," indeed.  You've been warned, humanity...for the rise of the fizzfiends is at hand!!!