Friday, August 10, 2018

Episode 12 Mutagenesis

Episode 12 Anniversary Episode - The Four Horsemen of the Post-apocalypse - Mutagenesis

Tongue planted firmly in cheek this episode...

James - Archaic Alignment: The Marlacks
  • Should be no surprise that I am a BIG FAN of the 2002 Time Machine movie, even though I know that it wasn’t that great. But Guy Pierce is THE MAN!
  • So once my character from earlier, Marlack the Mutant, reaches suitable level (maybe Level 6+) he’d be out there creating his own Archaic Alignment. 
  • Marlacks are those who submit themselves to the supreme will and super-genius of Marlack the Many Brained. Marlack has created a Hive colony beneath the ground, with a rigid caste system. There are three castes that PC’s can join: workers, gatherers, or meat. There’s also the Marlack caste, but that’s limited to only one… 
    • Marlack: There can be only one Marlack the Many Brained, and he shall rule supreme as the one and only eternal member of this caste.
    • Workers: They are the builders, the creators, those that expand the “Hive of the Marlacks” so that one day it shall expand across the entire world. 
    • Gatherers: Not gatherers of food, but of Artifacts. This is probably the caste that PC’s will want to be, because they go out into the world and find tech to bring back to Marlack the Many Brained.
    • Meat: Not the caste you want to be in, but I think this could make for a fun way to start a campaign. Actually, this is my favorite caste. You are MEAT! You are meant to be consumed by the rest of the Hive colony. You know full well your fate. Perhaps you were gathered from above the colony, or maybe you’ve grown up knowing that you are meat. But meat you are, and meat is all you are good for. 
  • Qualifications: Membership is open to anyone who lacks a mental mutation. So all Pure Strain Humans and Plantients. But Marlack is insecure about his mental abilities, and so he would never allow a Mutant or Manimal with those powers to join the Hive.
  • Benefits: Workers and Gatherers need never starve, and are always welcome to eat some Meat when at a hive. Not much benefit to being Meat, except that they know their station in life very well.
  • Secret Sign: The reality is that all Marlacks are meat to the real Marlack, to be done with as he pleases. So the final test of joining is that initiates must permanently remove a finger (or limb for plantients) and surrender it to Marlack. Showing the stump is a way to show that you belong. 

Forrest - Stranger Flames
  • I’m honestly not much of a TV watcher, but I LOVE Stranger Things. It hits all the right notes for me, partly because I was exactly the same age as the kids on that timeline. I was one of those geeky 12 year olds playing D&D in the basement. I rode my bike everywhere. I lived near secret government installations. And my neighborhood was frequently visited by Lovecraftian horrors. All of this is true, except the Lovecraftian horrors part.
  • Now I could take any number of . . . strange . . . things . . . from Stranger Things, but I’m feeling utilitarian, so I’d like to feature for my mutagenesis, a pair of old standbys: The Asbestos Suit and the Quadruple-Barrelled Flamethrower or QBF.
  • Asbestos Suit: 
    • Tech Level: 3 
    • Complexity Level: 2 
    • Protection: +1 AC 
    • Special: Sheilds against fire damage - An Asbestos Suit provides the wearer with protection from heat damage of up to 12 HP of damage per round. This does not mean, however, that the armor does not get hot! In fact, the wearer can only be subjected to sustained heat for a number of rounds equal to their Stamina score. After this point, the wearer must make a Fortitude save each round beyond this, with a cumulative -1 to their roll for every round or pass out. Those who pass out will sustain heat and fire damage at the regular rate until dead, rescued, or the fire burns itself out. It provides minimal protection from other attacks as well, however, if worn over other armor, the number of rounds before Fortitude saves are required is ½ of what it would normally be. 
  • Quadruple-Barrelled Flamethrower (QBF): 
    • Tech Level: 3 
    • Complexity Level: 5 
    • Range: 60’ 
    • Damage: 1d6 to 4d6
    • The Quadruple-Barrelled Flamethrower is known as one of the most horrific weapons of the ancients. It features a back-mounted fuel tank, a nitrogen propellent tank, and the firing mechanism/gun. One to four barrels may be ignited, each of which will spew forth napalm (or “sticky fire”) to a range of 60’. Those caught in a stream of flame immediately suffer 1d6 of fire damage per stream fired. Furthermore, those hit by the QBF must spend two full rounds doing “stop, drop, and roll,” which grants the victim one opportunity to make a DC 12 Reflex save to put out the fire. During these two rounds, the victim continues to suffer 1d6 of damage per round for each stream that has hit him. Allies of the victim must make a DC 12 Will check when the victim is struck or run away in absolute terror for 1d6 rounds.Thankfully, the fuel for these weapons is rarely found in appreciable quantities and it is consumed rapidly. One full fuel tank holds enough fuel for 8 total streams.

Bill - Cross-Fidget-Bow
  • In the post-apocalypse, crossbows have found a purpose again.  The simplest require no electricity or gun powder to hurl things at high speed towards your enemies.
  • With poor manufacturing facilities, many crossbows are converted to fire what is just lying around. (What would by still lying around?)
  • Many, many centuries before the Great Disaster, a previous civiliation produced something the great seekers have discovered to have been named Fidget Spinners.
  • These have been found to be easily modified to have sharper edges.  The Cross-Fidget-Bows were also modified to use either a power source or mechanical spring to pre-spin the weaponized fidget spinners just prior to firing. 
  • Damage 1d6, Range 40/50/52, Two-handed 
  • Spinning-Accuracy:  Both a characters Agility and Luck modifiers are used in firing the Cross-Fidget-Bow.  If you have a clear shot at the target, you have to factor in a -1.  If the target is around the corner, you get a +1 instead.
  • Special Fidgets:
    • LED Light-Up - These fidgets light-up when spun for some time.  If these are fired and stick into a target (doing at least 1 point of damage), then they glow giving everyone else that round +1 to hit with a ranged weapon

Hector - Dead Lotus
  • Beautiful glowing flowers that grow around irradiated pools, weather big or small
  • When creature comes within 5 feet of the flower it will expel a 20 foot radius cloud of red spores
  • Spores: Fortitude Save DC 14
    • Pass: Limbs controlled by Dead Lotus for 1d3 hours
    • Fail: Limbs controlled by Dead Lotus for 1d6 hours, 
      • Fail a second time and duration is permanent.
    • Plantients are immune to this effect, and additionally may attempt a DC 12 Personality check to wrest control of an affected PC from the Dead Lotus.
  • The Dead Lotus will use the controlled creatures to attack other creatures or to move to other locations to be exposed to more spores.
  • The controlled creature is fully aware of the control throughout the duration. 
  • Inspired by the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis

2 comments:

  1. I forgot to add that Plantients are NOT affected by the Dead Lotus. In fact, they may take over control of an affected PC with a DC 12 Will check.

    ReplyDelete
  2. where could an avid Glowburn fan find the stats for those characters ya'll rolled up on this episode... I thought I remember seeing them somewhere but I cannot seem to find them anywhere?

    ReplyDelete