Mutants & Marvels: Combat!

 When we left off we were making a new character in Mutants & Marvels….or rather I was making an old character from long ago and updating him to 2015. Here’s Dan Carver, alias the Arbalest, in his current guise as Agent 13 for the Nil Group:

Arbalest

Alias Dan Carver, alias Agent 13

Former sidekick, former rogue vigilante, current agent of Nil Group

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

Resources: remarkable (+4)

Powers: Armor +3, Hardened Fists +1, Regeneration +2

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Firearms/Bows +7, Investigation +2

Contact: Nil Group

Weapon: arbalest (+3 damage, range 100’, skilled, lethal)

Combat in M&M is only two pages long. Think about that for a moment. You know with certainty you’re in OSR territory when combat takes only two pages. M&M is a game which expects a certain amount of reason on the part of both the GM and the players….and as long as the answer to a problem makes sense within the range of ranks and abilities of the game you should be able to find it.

To demonstrate combat we’re going to quickly roll up an equivalent foe for Arbalest. In this case, I’m going to make The Demon, Arbalest’s own “Doc Oc” if you will….

Allan Drake, alias the Demon, was a criminal who stole a super-serum from a more prestigious villain in the mid-eighties and after gaining both super powers and madness from imbibing he spent several years on a real tear before he was finally incarcerated. Away from his serum Allan began to deteriorate rapidly though sanity also returned to him….therapy in prison did not help. In 2008 at age 51 he was freed when a jail bust for the supercriminal Ravener took place, and Allan made for one of his secret lairs where he knew he still had serum, only to discover that most of it had gone bad….he created a new batch, but something wasn’t quite right….the madness and strength returned, but it felt like he was burning out even faster. The Demon built a power suit from his old equipment, and began a lengthy quest to hunt down the man who put him in prison: Arbalest. He’d seen Arbalest on television, and he looked younger than ever….if he could get a sample of his blood, he could recreate the old serum, he theorized, and make himself revitalized again….

Demon’s stats are:

The Demon

Alias Allan Drake

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility excellent (+2), Strength incredible (+6), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason excellent (+2), Intuition typical (+0), Psyche typical (+0)

Resources: good (+1) – hidden safehouse base

Powers: super strength, super endurance, Regeneration +1

Power Package: Demon Suit Rank 6 (Energy Blast +6, Armor +2, Flight +2) – Demon wears this batlike suit of armor which he constructed from other gadgets he had stolen long ago.

Gauntlets: Claws +4 – these retractable gauntlets let him extend long wicked looking blades for lethal damage.

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Inventor +3

Contact: an old mob connection for contract hits

The Demon’s  thing is his strength and regeneration. His suit makes him tougher and lets him fly; he cobbled it together from a glider weapon he stole a long time ago (similar to the one used by Hobgoblin in the Marvelverse).

The Demon has arranged to be on an exchange of Mutant Growth Hormone being sold at the warehouses down by the docks in Liberty City. He asked his contact to get word out to the right snitches, hoping to bait Arbalest into appearing. Arbalest, as Agent 13, took interest….especially after his Nil Group contact informed him that The Demon was a target and needed to be brought in.

The Demon makes himself obvious, and has about a dozen goons he hired to patrol the warehouse and alert him when Arbalest is spotted….half a dozen are overseeing the actual job of exchanging cash for the MGH. The goons look like this:

Demon’s Goons:

Fighting +2 Agility +1 Strength +1 Endurance +1 Reason 0 Intuition 0 Psyche 0

Skills: Firearms +2

Armor: +3 (bullet-proof vest)

Weapon: large handgun (+4 damage, range 100’, skilled and lethal)

We’ll assume Arbalest covertly reconnoitered the warehouse and dispatched a half-dozen guards and then moved in before the next one could call. From a high perch at a window overlooking the cluttered warehouse floor he sees the Demon and his men making the exchange. The seller is a panicky fellow with no interest in fighting.

Since The Demon is looking out for Arbalest, and Arbalest is trying to gain an edge, the GM declares that Arbalest should roll an Agility check for stealth and the Demon should roll an Intuition check to notice him….high roll wins surprise. Arbalest rolls a 15+6 for 21, and Demon gets a 19+0 for 19….Arbalest has the drop on him! For our example we assume a DC (difficulty class) of 10 for the goons, so they are clueless.

In M&M there is apparently no surprise rule, so this is the point where a 3.5 D20 era player might panic….but don’t! It’s a system that’s meant to be played fast and loose, within the structure of the rank system, so this is easy. The GM rules that Arbalest can take an action before he is spotted and actual rounds of combat begin.  

Arbalest decides that one-shotting The Demon is probably not going to happen….but he’ll never get a better chance than now to get the drop on him. The GM decides an unaware Demon defaults to 10 for his “roll” on Agility to defend…..so his passive defense is 11. Arblaest rolls an attack and gets 16+7 for his ranged skill, totaling 23…a nice hit. Demon immediately has to make a damage save. This is based on a DC of 12 plus the difference between the attacker’s successful roll and the target’s failed defense roll….in this case 12, so the DC is 24, as well as +3 for the weapon damage so DC 27. But….there’s a problem…

M&M doesn’t actually tell you what a Damage Save is (that I could find), just when to roll it and how to figure the DC. At this point I am inferring from other stat blocks in the book that a Damage Save is based off of Endurance and adds in any relevant power defense such as armor (also, regeneration says to add it in), because that makes sense, but it would be nice if the rules actually explained it a bit (also, some surprise rules….and attacking two or more opponents….more on this later). If this is correct, then the Demon would roll D20+9 for his damage save: he gets a 9+9 for 18, a failure. He takes 1 level of damage for every 3 he fails by….3 levels in this case. Ouch! That puts him at “stunned” on the damage track….he can’t act for the next round, and when he snaps out of it he is in an “injured” state with -4 to all rolls until he makes a proper recovery.

Now regular combat begins. Initiative is a D20 with Agility ranks added. You can play with static initiative or re-roll every round; for our purposes we’ll stick with static initiative. Here’s what we get (rolling for the Demon even though he’s currently stunned this round):

Arbalest 8+6 (14)

The Demon 10+2 (12)

Goons 3+1 (4)

Sucks to be the goons!

At the beginning of each new round an injured character gets a recovery save. Demon is injured already and this is a new round, so we check: DC is 15 plus 2 per health lost, and Demon is down 3 so his DC is 21. He rolls 11+7 (including regeneration) for 18….failure (if he had made it, every 3 over the target recovers a health).

On Arbalest’s round he decides to take The Demon out, figuring the goons will flee if the boss drops. He shoots, rolling a total of 8+7 for 15 this time. The GM figures that the Demon’s passive Agility was 11, but now he’s stunned and injured (which makes all rolls a -4) so he’s at 7 for defense now…a hit. The damage save would be DC 20 this time. Demon rolls 13+8 (endurance and armor) but -4 (injured and stunned) so 17….missed it by 3, so he takes another wound. Wow…..quite a contrast from the EGS fight! Demon is now unconscious. (For the record, the final two steps are disabled and dying).

The GM decides that the Demon’s got a safety feature in his armor suit: it powers up and flies on autopilot to his safehouse when it detects that he is unconscious. It will wait one round before doing this, though.

The goons are in a panic, so they open fire on Arbalest. There are some rules in the book for multiple foes on one target, but it’s aimed at en masse melee fighting, not ranged gunplay. The goons each roll a D20+2 for their firearms skill, and we’re assuming Arbalest is within 100 feet. It’s a cluttered warehouse so the GM could say Arbalest has a cover advantage, maybe +2, but there are no specific guidelines in M&M on combat modifiers so that sounds as good as anything.  Anyway, the six goons roll (totals) of 19, 4, 21, 11, 9 and 15. Arbalest gets six Agility rolls to dodge. His totals are: 14, 12, 8, 22, 16 and 22. He is hit by the first and third bullets….

Damage Save time for Arbalest: He needs a DC 21 and DC 29 against the two handgun shots that hit. These are lethal! Arbalest has Endurance +6, armor +3 and regeneration +2 for a bonus of +11 on his soak. He rolls a total of 26 and 18. The first one grazes him, not even a real wound. The second one hits dead center: 3 wounds, meaning he is also stunned this round. Ouch!

The goons close in. Characters typically move 30 feet in a round, so assuming Arbalest was 80 feet away the goons are about 50 feet away at the end of the round. He really needs to make a recovery roll….

Round Two.

Demon attempts a Recovery, rolling 11 against a DC 23 for 4 wounds….he’s out. Arbalest rolls Recovery (6 for endurance and 3 for regeneration)  getting a total of 13 against DC 21 for 3 wounds….he’s still stunned this round then.

The goons realize they have an edge on Arbalest, and close another 30 feet while shooting at the injured hero. One goon, named Mario Gastoni, slides away from the pack and moves over to the demon, realizing that anyone could be in that suit…..only to see the suit fire up and rocket off through the roof.

The other five fire at Arbalest: they roll 7, 4, 16, 4, 12. The GM applies the same logic to Arbalest as an injured, stunned opponent with passive defense: 10-4 plus Agility +6 totalling DC 12. Somehow only two of them hit this time. The Damage Saves are 16 and 12 respectively….Arbalest rolls D20+11 for each getting 21 and 20….he soaks it, piece of cake.

Round Three.

Arbalest will get up this round from his stun, but everyone still gets a recovery roll: Arbalest rolls an 18 vs. DC 21…no recovery. The Demon, currently on an automated flight path home, rolls 18…still unconscious.

Arbalest shakes off the stun and is now able to act, but at -4 on all rolls. He targets the closest goon to him and fires, getting a total of 22. The goon tries to dodge, rolling 13….he’s hit for a difference of 9, or three wounds….he’s stunned.

The four remaining goons open fire….Mario is elsewhere, trying to run outside to see where the Demon’s power armor is taking him. The four roll well this time: 20, 17, 12 and 20! Arbalest rolls his dodges: he gets 15, 7, 23 and 20 this time….so he’s got to make a damage save against DC 17, DC 22, and DC 12. He rolls his D20+11 for each: 23, 12 and 29. Ah, cruel fate….10 points difference from the second shot means he failed by 3 more wounds, reducing him to dying.

The goons think they’ve offed Arbalest, and maybe they have! They leave, to grab the goods and run. Next round the GM has Arbalest roll a recovery once more, but with a wopping DC 27. He rolls his recovery and somehow scores a 28 (natural 20!). The kindly GM rules that he stabilizes (by RAW I think he'd be stable, just doesn't gain a health point...maybe?)….later he is found by some cops who get an ambulance and rush the vigilante to the hospital.

Aftermath

Wow! I see a trend here. Admittedly, each combat example I’m providing puts a bit more in the “foes” department than is wise for a character to handle, but given that the superhero genre is rife with villains who employ a lot of goons I was curious to see how it worked out. Had it been Arbalest vs. Demon alone with the dice rolled the villain would have gone down without a fight…..which is in itself a bit interesting. The recovery checks are brutal....tougher, I think than True20 or MnM, both of which use a similar mechanic. 

The combat system is exceptionally minimalist. It is missing rules for all sorts of stuff that we’re used to having some guidelines on, and not just in 2015…I think I’d have liked some of these rules in 1985 as well. A short chart showing sample penalties based on cover and other factors, some rules on surprise, taking out two or more foes at once (if it’s in there I couldn’t find it) would be nice, too….my first thought was, “Arbalest should split his attacks and take out all six goons” but it wouldn’t work in the RAW….or more accurately, it would require the GM to make a call and figure out a penalty without many guidelines. Also, this may be the D&D 5E in me talking, but I think an advantage/disadvantage mechanic would compliment MnM really nicely, and also help dramatically on affecting the swinginess of the D20 rolls.

The hero and villain dropping was interesting….the recovery mechanic is nice but it’s pretty much impossible to get back on your feet without some serious endurance and modifiers if you’re down and dying. In a game with two or three allies this is okay, but a one-on-one like this demonstrated that solo heroes in the comics, under these rules, are all just one low roll away from death. In comic books characters tend to go down quickly but are rarely out, and never dying unless its a summer miniseries or big marketing event.

It would be interesting if M&M included some sort of hero point or inspiration mechanic….it would grant players some agency, such as letting them spend a hero point to automatically succeed at a recovery, or boost an attack. That would really help lend to the cinematic style of the genre M&M is aiming for.

Also, I think minion rules would be really appropriate for M&M. It talks a bit about minions (what they are) but one could easily implement a minion mechanic similar to the mooks in Feng Shui or Savage Worlds....basically one-hit wonders. It would fit M&M really well to include this, since right now even a few minions are potentially deadly to PCs. Arbalest was not really a match for six average goons with guns, for example....and I'm not sure even being epic level with 10 extra points would have necessarily saved him.

Outside of that, if you play the game straight I don’t think you’d be disappointed….especially if you're in the mood for a grimdark era Watchmanesque campaign....but be prepared for an occasional hero death!

I’ll compare and contrast with a couple other Superhero systems next: Powers (a D6-based RPG) and Icons, the cute little sidekick to Mutants & Masterminds. I’ll think about MnM. It’s a big boss of a game, and while it’s probably got all the detail I could ever want for superhero gaming, it sort of looks like drinking from a firehose full of pudding, if you catch my drift. I might also finally delve deeper into the Supers Companion for Savage Worlds.

Mutants & Marvels: Let’s Roll a Hero

I have a lot of game systems floating around right now begging for attention….having taken a look at EGS, I thought I’d move on to another indie title, this one also steeped in a bit of the superhero corner of the OSR: Mutants & Marvels, a superhero genre RPG which takes a bit of FASERIP and merges it with the D20 roll-high aesthetic. It works rather well, and is a lot of game packed into a tiny space.

Rolling up a character in M&M (hereafter identified as not related to a similar game) is based on a “rank” purchase mechanic: you have three tiers of play being heroic (Batman, Daredevil), super heroic (X-Men, Teen Titans) and epic (Superman, Thor). We’ll stick to super heroic, which give you 25 ranks to spend.

Back in the day I used to run a lot of superhero game using the old Mayfair MEGS version of DC Heroes. I have a lot of old character concepts to draw from….I think for this one I’m going to see what Arbalest can do. Arbalest is Dan Carver, a former sidekick to Captain Liberty of the Liberty League before they were wiped out in a concerted attack by the Sinister Seven. One of several “sidekick survivors” Arbalest took on the mantle of dark vigilante to hunt down the Seven in revenge for the murder of his mentor, but he eventually realized that he had strayed from the ethos of his teacher and reformed (this happened during a major showdown with the Old One which manifested in New York in 1990). Arbalest eventually began to experience severe deterioration from the Demons’ super serum which he had stolen and used in 1989, but around 2000 he went on to work for The Nil Group which repaired the damage to his system in exchange for his service as an agent. The Nil Group is an ultra-secret espionage outfit designed to track down and contain dangerous metahumans. While working for them he took on the role of Agent 13. We’ll see what Arbalest/Agent 13 looks like in M&M.

M&M has seven primary stats: fighting, agility, strength, endurance, reason, intuition and psyche (FASERIP). These rank from -2 (feeble) to +15 (unearthly). You’ve got titles (like “excellent” for each or you can use numbers (+2 is excellent). A nice chart lets you figure out where each attribute falls in relation to a chosen rank.

Arbalest is a borderline super-human; he was a well-trained normal when he was Captain Liberty’s sidekick in the 80’s, but he underwent a super-serum treatment which he stole from the villain called the Demon in 1989 which gave him metahuman strength and speed. In 2000 when he was recruited by the Nil Group received further cybernetic augmentations and was exposed to the Lazarus Mist to undo some of the genetic “unraveling” that the Demons’ super serum was doing to him physically.  This treatment repaired the damage and extended his life indefinitely—physically he looks 30 even though in 2015 he’s technically 56 years old.

(Can you tell there’s an entire genre of gaming I love which I haven’t even touched upon in the last four years of blogging?)

Anyhoo!

Arbalest has the following stats from the 25 point pool:

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

That leaves 9 ranks for powers. Since Arbalest isn’t heavy on unique powers that seems reasonable….he’s more of a classic grimdark post-Miller Batmanesque type, the sort of character that would later look comfortable in an early nineties Image lineup.

Resources are also tracked on the ability chart like attributes. Although I imagine you could spend points toward resources, the game suggests that the GM determine the resources based on the character background. Since the background for Arbalest/Agent 13 is one of a professional secret agent, we’ll give him Resources of remarkable (+4; equivalent to a small corporation….this is a super-secret outfit that skims its funds off of the receipts of the Pentagon, after all!)

Next up are powers. Power mechanics are very easy (spend ranks to get powers) and some additional rules include power packages (a way to make iron man’s suit, or other powers that are linked/grouped together) and power stunts (tricky stuff that you might be able to do….like Captain America slinging his shield around, I suppose). Additional rules here include some character origins (why you have powers) and the ubiquitous sorcery rules, since comics are notorious for making sorcery and spells very hard to model in RPGs. Finally there are 11 groups of powers presented, with an additional 25 subtypes.

For Arbalest we’re looking at some super attributes (technically already added to strength), and some general physical improvements….he’s got some residual super-serum in his veins, some cybernetic augmentations which affect regeneration and give him tougher skin and reflexes. From looking at the list, I see right off that super attribute will justify his already high strength as I set it, while Damage Resistant, Armor, Regeneration and Hardened Fists are also good choices. If I have the points I might add some senses as well, since Nil Group may have cybernetically augmented his vision and hearing as well.

Here’s what I go with:

Super Attribute: this justifies his strength and agility (which according to the chart at remarkable rank he can lift one ton and has a high natural agility….dodging single bullets).

Armor: after deciding damage resistance isn’t quite what I want (it seems to be vs. energy types) I opt for Armor excellent (+3) instead for 2 ranks. He’s basically got what was called “skinweave” in  Cyberpunk 2020; nanotech in his skin can harden up with a carbon fiber weave to absorb shock and impact.

Hardened Fists: I figure that same nanoweave carbon fiber in his skin that serves as armor also makes his fists tougher. We’ll give it to him at good (+1) for 1 rank as well, but only because his main schtick is going to be with the big arbalest he carries around.

Regeneration: the nanotreatment in his veins also keeps him alive and young. I’ll give him excellent (+2)  in this. That costs 2 ranks . We have 4 ranks left to spend.

I bypass enhanced senses for a moment and move to skills. Skills include a few specific rules: you have a series of “everyman” skills which everyone receives at a base value equal to the character’s Reason score. You can then spend one rank on a skill to get it at a value equal to the linked attribute plus one. So…in Arbalest’s case, I can buy Martial Arts, Lethal for one rank and link it to his Fighting Score, meaning he has a Martial Arts, Lethal at +5.

Right off the bat he needs training in bows (arbalests) so I jam 1 rank into getting Firearms/Bows linked to Agility (since it’s a ranged attack) for a +7.

With one more rank I’ll stick it in Investigation, a skill not on the list provided and link it to Intuition, so he has Investigation +2. Not great but he needs something to reflect his role as Nil Group Agent 13.

The skill list is short: seven everyman skills, and a sampling of seven suggested skills with the basic rules on making whatever skills would fit your character. The key thing is each skill has to be linked to an attribute to get its base value plus 1 per rank spent to improve it.

After all that, a few additional topics are discussed: secret vs. public identities (Dan Carver likes to keep his identity secret, but due to a high-profile trial in the late 80’s leading to his brief incarceration his method of doing so these days is through numerous obscure aliases). Reputation by popularity and infamy is addressed as well….as a player I could argue to the GM that Arbalest/Agent 13’s reputation of infamy was from the late 80’s, and Nil Group helped wipe out much of that….so he could “restart” at zero. But as GM I’d probably assigned a couple points to Infamy because old stories never die.

Contacts and minions are also discussed (though not sidekicks curiously). Everyone gets a contact for free at character creation, so Arbalest gets one: Nil Group. Your contact is usually normal, but by spending a rank you can make it special…I’ll leave the exact nature of the Nil Group contact/relationship open…they like it that way, anyway.

Beyond that M&M talks about archetypes and identifies eight sample archetypes with some guidelines on what they do and how to make one, followed by a character example.  One thing that the process doesn’t really talk about is equipment. You can build equipment using powers, as suggested in the  power packages discussion section (making Iron Man’s armor) but not a lot of guidance on how you stat out, say, Batman’s utility belt (although I guess you could define it as a power package as well). There’s no “omnipower” such as the DC Heroes system had to fix this problem, as an example. However, the GM section does include rules on building things in the game (gadgeteering) which are very simple and boil down to: do you have the time, resources and space? If so then you can build it. With that spirit in mind, I’m going to give Arbalest his signature weapon…it’s a heavy crossbow essentially, designed originally for sieges, but this state-of-the-art edition is easy enough for a guy with augmented strength and dexterity to haul around. It’s definitely not something you’d see the Huntress using, though!

The game stats out bows and firearms but not this weapon, so I’ll make it slightly better than a bow, worse than a heavy handgun: +3 damage, range 100’, skilled and lethal traits.

When all is done, Arbalest/Agent 13 looks like this:

Arbalest

alias Dan Carver, alias Agent 13

Former sidekick, former rogue vigilante, current agent of Nil Group

Fighting remarkable (+4), Agility incredible (+6), Strength remarkable (+4), Endurance incredible (+6), Reason typical (+0), Intuition good (+1), Psyche good (+1)

Resources: remarkable (+4)

Powers: Armor +3, Hardened Fists +1, Regeneration +2

Skills: Martial Arts, Lethal +5, Firearms/Bows +7, Investigation +2

Contact: Nil Group

Weapon: arbalest (+3 damage, range 100’, skilled, lethal)

So how does Arbalest hold up in the wide world of bad guys? Stay tuned for next time, when we test out the combat mechanics (all two pages) of M&M. This is a very lite supers system, but honestly I suspect it will be a bit more entertaining to see how two super humans fare in a battle than the sad massacre that we saw in EGS previously….!

Deathwatch: The Ark of Lost Souls

Fantasy Flight Games has found my weakness: Deathwatch - The Ark of Lost Souls, is what appears to be a campaign/scenario book for the Deathwatch Warhammer 40K RPG (of which there seem to be many with different themes). But this one is about the deathwatch marines, I guess, and it's latest scenario book sounds like the Space Hulk game properly translated into an RPG environment. Space Hulk was one of my all-time favorite minis/board games twenty years ago. Damnit....I may be buying both soon....

I'm really not into Warhammer 40K, but the idea of space marines exploring derelict, haunted vessels filled with gene stealers has always intrigued me. Thus why I snagged MaschineZeit recently (about which I plan to write more on, soon).

Kasdalan: The Qlippothic Menace

Source! Neat site, check it out

This particular plot thread started in a different context, with the intent being to create a zombie apocalypse scenario in fantasyland. It eventually migrated into Kasdalan, a suitable home for such a threat:

Adventure Seed: The Qlippothic Menace

This adventure takes place as a side effect and consequence of the events outlined above in “The Lurking Shadows of Kasdalan.” The characters of this adventure might be the same, or entirely unrelated.
The adventurers are hired by Lord Osterman of Castle Mordren (along the northern Darkwood) to negotiate a peace with the vicious Kasarak barbarian warlord Gamhar of the fortress of Chaz’Godar. The Kasarak fortress sprang up during the previous winter and has been harrying the province ever since. Lord Osterman was gravely wounded in the last excursion, but word has it that the warlord also suffered a crippling blow. He has asked the adventurers to escort his seneschal Tanenbray and his daughter Nestymere to the fortress, to sue for peace.

Journey

Along the way the PCs pass through the battlefield of the recent conflict where bodies still riddle the landscape, and only a handful of harried peasants and soldiers remain for clean-up. Further on is the old graveyard of Algent’s Last Respite, where a nearby crossroads has cages for criminals. In one cage is the prisoner Yaelden, a male necromancer of some ill repute who was accused of practicing necromancy, grave robbing and raising the dead for cheap labor; in the cage beside him is the merchantman Talbor, who was also accused of purchasing the necromancer’s undead agents to serve as free labor in his mines. Yaelden will warn the PCs that he can sense “something coming,” and that he can hear them scratching up through the earth even now. He doesn’t know what it is, exactly; just that it is a wondrous thing, like a great blanket of darkness which has enveloped the land.

Arrival

It takes three days (and 80 miles) to arrive at Chaz’Godar, where there appears to be some consternation on the part of the barbarians, among whom the elder berserker named Madrak will charge out and accuse the arrivals of witchcraft. Assuming they survive an encounter with Madrak, the warlord’s right-hand man and son Andrel will meet with them, and admit that they will concede to peace if they can help Gamhar.

Gamhar, unknown to the superstitious Kasarak, suffered mortal wounds and has perished, to be possessed by one of the first of the Qlippothic demons. He is presently strapped down, speaking in tongues (what the Qlippoths call the Lost Language, though only one who has studied the language of the Ancient Mythrics would suspect it) and frothing at the mouth, seeking a means of escape. Indeed that escape will come if Madrak was fought and slain in the courtyard of the fortress earlier!

A study by any average adventurer will reveal that the man is out of his mind and probably delirious, but a knowledgeable healer will know something is wrong, that the man’s body shows the many signs of death. It will become painfully apparent that the warlord Gamhar is somehow a wight.

By nightfall, the fortress will take on a strange solitude. Outside, moving in the darkness, assemble a large army of the dead, dragging themselves from the graves and barrows of the land, from the murder pits filled with the massacred villagers of the province, and more. They gather to the call of Gamhar, who is filled with the Qlippothic spirit called the Reaver.

So begins the first chapter.

Part 2. Escape from Chaz’Godar

The adventurers are trapped with the Kasarak in a fortress surrounded by a vast army of the risen dead. Somehow they need to escape, bring Nestymere to safety and make haste to warn Castle Mordren. The situation looks grimmer and grimmer as each fallen Kasarak raider rises within moments, a member of the invading undead.

Andrel can help, though. The fortress was not built without contingencies. There is a hidden passage that leads to a cave system, in which they found a number of old dwarven signaling gems. These gems lead the way to safety, he explains. When it becomes clear escape or destruction of the undead is improbable he will reveal this secret passage.

Fighting to the passage and using it to escape are tasks enough, but once in the caverns it becomes clear that this plague of undead is affecting everything. A group of dwarven prospectors led by the dwarf Darius Zern is trying to make a fast escape, for a number of their own as well as a motley assortment of monstrous beings have risen from the dead and now clamor for their blood. It grows worse, for the orcish war tribe called the Zothesk led by the Battle Maiden Chirosca are also seeking to escape, but appear less than happy about the dwarves getting in their way.

Part 3. The Isles of Wintermist Lake

The dwarven escape route ultimately exits in to the ruins of another castle: Greymist, a near-famous ruin in the region reported to have been a great city of fabled Trelithane. Trelithane rests on the edge of Lake Astrahar, and many of the old ruins are centered on a trio of islands just along the shore. Here the adventurers will discover that villagers from the village of Darnesh are traveling to seek refuge from the undead attacks, and are following an old witch named Ygartha, who says that the dead cannot cross the water, which is untrue; anyone who makes a DC 15 knowledge (dungeoneering or religion) check will know this.

Still, at this point the adventurers are just ten miles from Castle Mordren, and the undead seem sparse in this region. It becomes clear from talking to the peasants that the army of the dead was not unique to the region around Chaz’Godar; they are rising everywhere!

New problems arise: the people seeking refuge on the Three Isles of the lake Astrahar are waiting for their scouts to return, to verify the safety of the isles, but the men have yet to come back. They will seek the aid of the adventurers, begging them to investigate or lead them to safety.

The isles are actually under the protection of an old wyrm, the white dragon known as Glimmerwing and her small cult of draconian followers. They might be willing to share the island, but would require much persuasion, for hidden deep beneath the ruins is Glimmerwing’s cache of treasure, as well as a shrine to the spirit Caedra, mistress of beauty. Flattery, ultimately, is Glimmerwing’s weakness, though her elder acolyte, the elder draconian Magastus, will seek to dissuade her from offering shelter to the humans.

Glimmerwing is also lustful, and she presently holds the elvish xernethian knight Elasmus in custody, seeking to persuade him to bed her with her polymorphed elvish charms. He has resisted so far, but will seek to bargain for his freedom with the arrival of the adventurers.

In the end, though, it is only the might of the dragonkin that will save the humans, for the undead are not in the least deterred by the waters of the lake.



Part 4. The Return to Castle Mordren

Mordren has been assaulted mercilessly by the undead, but in the midst of these attacks there is a lone spark of hope. The imprisoned necromancer Yaelden will have either spoken to the adventurers or possibly have gained control of at least one undead being to relay a message: he can save the city, but he demands three things: he is pardoned of all his crimes, he is granted the legal right to practice necromancy in Kasdalan, and he wants lady Nestymere’s hand in marriage!

The city remains under siege in the interim from a horde of immense size, dedicated to the undead Qlippothic lord called the Reaver. Though the city holds firm so far, it is only a matter of time before it falls; it can withstand ten weeks under siege, but the foes in this case can last a lifetime, and their numbers seem to gradually increase over time, for there is no shortage of the dead.

If the form of Gamhar had been previously destroyed, then the Reaver will be here in a new, dark form, having gained control of the body of the ancient fallen hero Licorius. Wearing the fabled azure armor of Licorius the Slayer, the Reaver will lead the dark armies against the city mercilessly day and night, his undead horde clamoring for the flesh of the living.

Getting in to the city is a major feat in itself, should the adventurers seek to do so. With several thousand undead between them and the city the castle may as well be a thousand miles distant. There is a known passage underground, which a close relative or direct agent of Lord Osterman might be familiar with, but this passage if revealed could also lead the undead in to destroy the castle from within if it is discovered. The passage is a long narrow tunnel dug through as a means of escape for the castle lord and his clan if all else fails, and has several small stock rooms of equipment and goods in case of emergency; it’s exterior entrance is located beneath a nondescript barn two miles distant in the village of Hawksmoor.

There are a few options when it comes to resolving the siege on Mordren. Saving the noble family is one option, if the adventurers get wind of the dire intentions of the Reaver; they know that there will soon be a much larger force arriving from the north once the army of undead from Chaz’Godar arrives here. At this point it should be reasonable for the adventurers to assume that other cities, including the regional capitol Tursos to the south-west are probably under siege as well. Running from the problem will not solve it.

Part 5. The Necromancer

Turning to Yaelden reveals a different solution: the necromancer will have likely escaped custody and returned to his own residence, a remote ruined keep located at the height of the Taradys Mountains to the south and east. Mordren is nestled in a deep low valley of these mountains. The exact location of his keep is unknown, but it is said that Yaelden grew up in the village of Tarnish, a logging and mining community in the mountains proper, and there might be a clue as to his location from there. Alternatively, he may have sent an undead minion to the Mordren with his message and to serve as a scout or guide for those who would seek to petition him for aid.

Yaelden is young as necromancers go, just reaching forty years of age, but he has learned much, having pilfered from the subterranean study of his predecessor, the ancient necromancer Yoth’gol, who built the keep two centuries ago. Yoth’gol learned the secret of undead immortality too late in life, and perished of an unknown malady.

When the party seeks out Yaelden, they will find the necromancer is under siege in his own keep, for the body of Yoth’gol has returned to life, and with its vast necromantic energies within the Qlippothic lord known as Stigmata has sought to cement his own power by trying to gain control or possession of the necromancer. So far it has been a game of cat and mouse, and both have given up on the use of too many undead minions, for one could easily trump the other in gaining control over such.

Yaelden will seek to get the adventurers to eliminate his new unexpected rival, then promise to use his undead wards to protect the city itself. He has secured the mystical runes of Death and Repose, and has a potent sorcerous ritual that will insure the castle and region around it remains safe. He has failed to use such a ward on his own domain precisely because he would force out his own studies of undeath.

If sufficiently convinced Yaelden will concede his aid without requiring Lady Nestymere’s hand in marriage, but he will still demand he be exonerated for all wrong-doings. He will also hint that he has some insight on this mysterious threat of the undead. In truth, he mostly has sensations of what is going on and few hard facts, but he has determined the following:

1. These undead speak a dead language that seems reminiscent of the language translated from the ruins of the ancients

2. These undead are possessing ghosts or spirits, and are reanimating bodies that were never their own

3. The day the dead began to rise he sensed a strange magical “darkness” overlay the land, something which occluded the ley lines of magic. Its presence is almost intoxicating. The source is difficult to pinpoint, but is definitely somewhere deep southeast.

Yaelden, if ever slain, will be immediately possessed by a Qlippothic spirit that calls itself the Irredeemable. The Irredeemable will use the memories of its host to tap into deep necromantic magic and lore and begin forging its own army to go against the Reaver and Stigmata. The PCs might be clued in to this event (or from talking to Stigmata if Yaelden remains alive) that there are distinct forces at play among these possessing spirits, and that certain key figures, these “Qlippothics,” seem to see each other as rivals to be destroyed or subjugated.

If Yaelden is ever slain, he will likely have imparted or left enough clues for the heroes to figure out that the large contraption in the middle of his hidden laboratory is the key to protecting Mordren. The device is called the “Resonator of Malin’ithaer” and it is allegedly able to create a dampening field that drives away or disables the undead by siphoning the vestige energy of this lost god of the ancients. The device has a complicated ritual to activate, but once activated it requires no further action to work. An unknown side effect is that it does summon the vestige of Malin’ithaer, who will begin to pull people in from the Beyond to his strange nether-realm of Dericantus to toy with before devouring their souls, but this is an event which happens slowly and can be negated if a scholar-mage of the vestiges should ever be consulted about how to ward this new threat.

Part 6. The Defense of Mordren

By the time the adventurers make it back to Mordren the city is in dire straits. The easiest way (if it remains available) to transport the machine is by the secret passage, but a direct path can be hewn through as well; Osterman will send out the best cavalry and knights of the castle to cut a hole through the army of the undead, but the Reaver himself will manifest, his form polymorphed in to a demonic guise, to seek to stop the heroes from entering Mordren and saving the city.

If the heroes survive and the device is activated then the undead drop in their tracks, almost immediately; the Resonator actually forces out possessing spirits, and any and all beings with such Qlippothic entities will have the invaders expunged and forced out of the device’s radius, which is approximately ten miles, though it gets progressively weaker towards the edge of its coverage. With this device in action the region is now safe and the defenders can set about to destroying the bodies of the dead, lest they get a chance to rise again.

Conclusion
Osterman will commend and even knight the heroes for their deeds. He will then declare that word must reach the capital of the Northern Province in Tursos, and that it must be determined if the kingdom of Nazdranar at large is in danger, and if so how best Osterman and his knights can help. He tasks squads of armed knights to seek out the capitol and other cities on the region, including Drenaem, the grand capitol of the kingdom along the southern coast where King Charathain himself rules. It is Osterman’s intention to travel to the capitol (though some convincing that he should stay and protect his kingdom while his knights do the journeying could happen) while he sends the heroes to Tursos to seek out governess Tyrenias-Naelinor Poe.

In the meantime, if Yaelden is alive he will seek a way to replicate the Resonator of Malin’ithaer or something like it, though he admits he doubts he can recreate such a singularly unique device. He knows wards against the undead, but they are considerably weaker than what the machine can accomplish. He suggests that there may be one who knows enough about the mysteries of the ancients, the ancient wizard Calim Darithas, founder of the Society of Antiquarians. Of all the students of lost lore, Calim might know what it takes to create such machines, or where to find them.

At this point, PCs can convince Osterman to let them accompany him to see the king, take orders and journey to the regional capital, or venture off to locate this Calim Darithas (who may be at the capitol of Kasdalan, although rumors abound that he actually dwells in the Isles of Mezesor these days). Either way, the threat of the Qlippothic invasion has only just begun…


 
And with this article concludes my Kasdalan special. More to come soon!

Runequest 6 News

Thanks to Akratic Wizardry for spotting this info first! If there's one thing that gets me more excited than D&D 5th, it's Runequest 6. Lawrence Whittaker has posted news on RQ6 and what it will contain. It looks like we're going to see a July release date, and it will be in retail chains. They're talking preorders, which is good; I'll be putting my order in for this one for sure.

The Design Mechanism Link

Some highlights:

456 page hardcover rulebook, MSRP $62.00. Is this steep? It's hard to tell anymore. If DCC can sell a deluxe edition for $70 then a game like Runequest with some lengthy history can probably sell for this price. It might deter casuals and new players, I suppose. (Correction: it's soft cover as Erik Tenkar points out below. That seems a bit too pricey for a soft cover edition, not sure why it would cost that much, either, unless they're looking at some expensive binding. This is still a book I'll buy, but it sort of feels like RQ6 has definitely moved into the domain of "for fans only," average Joe Gamer is probably going to prefer to snag the $20 Legend book, or its $1 PDF counterpart) 

They'll be taking preorders soon, and will hand out the PDF if you buy directly. Ergo, I suggest buying direct! In any case, I've had a notorious amount of trouble over the years getting my FLGS to stock or even special order Runequest books in the past, so ordering direct works for me.

Pathfinder PDFs made Tablet Friendly

Story here, but if you have Pathfinder PDFs and you've noticed how unbearably they chug on your handheld or tabelet, then this is worth investigating. I just downloaded my lite edtions of the core book, Bestiary and Gamemastery Guide and I can say that there is a noticeable difference in speed and performance although the pdf reader on the Nook still gets anrgy when I try to expand a page.

As a side note, I kind of like the cleaner, whiter pages. It looks less cluttered and actually feels easier on my eyes. Wish the print books looked like that!



Don't get too close! I'll hook ya'! You'll see!!!! I'm tellin ya' not all Fiend Folio beasts were Lava Men. Raaar!!!!!



Ad Astra Aliens VIII: Hypolate Farseers

Hypolate Farseers


The gangly, thick-skinned yet oddly bony Farseers are primitive by all standards, but their tiny black eyes inset over lean mouths at the ends of such spindly necks indicate an ancient intelligence and legacy long beyond human counting. They have lived so long, seen so much that they are beyond our simple pursuit of science and discovery. Their vaguely humanoid tripodal body seems remarkably similar to the tripodal forms of the precursors.....

The Hypolate Farseers are a genetic descendant of the Hypolate progenitors, a vaguely humanoid species which is best described as an exo-skeletal, almost deathly being with only the vaguest identified characteristics. Their oveall appearance is one of the gangly and walking dead, but with heads drooped forward, protruding from their chest cavity, and lean, whithered features from which black and grey flesh hangs. They see themselves as the idealized conception of sentience, however.

Hypolate Farseers have been encountered only rarely. A primitive version of the species dwells in the Biodome of Trikkus I, where the Quarus operates. Additional farseers, also living aboriginal and nomadic existences on other worlds, have been found in regions of space which the Pelegranen lay claim to.

The farseers are known telepaths and psionic beings by nature. Though they are found dwelling in a stone-age diaspora across many worlds, they clearly harken from a more advanced species, and seem to have a genetic memory of their ancestry. Each community has a shaman, who’s job in the community is to keep the memories and lives of their generations alive, and to tell the tale of their ancestral decline.

Though it has never been properly tested, it has been observed that the worlds on which farseers dwell are apparently never visited by the Harbingers. Whether this is because of something about the farseers, or something about the worlds they live on, none can say.

Farseers who leave their homeworlds usually due so due to force, and seek to return as soon as possible. Some have been known to go mad, as their species define it, and acquire a sort of wanderlust. Such farseers make good characters, but their madness is very real, and sometimes they act deranged in space, as if their genetic recall is out of whack, and they begin channeling the personality of their mythic ancestors.

Sample Farseer:

UPP: 768877

Skills: Various, usually Melee (any) 1, Athletics (any) 1, Recon 1 and 1-2 terms in a career
Special Abilities:

Attributes: Farseers have -1 Endurance but +1 Intelligence and Education.

Psionics: Farseers are all psionically adept, and spend much time developing their talents. All Farseers start play automatically knowing their Psi Strength and may pursue a career path in a Psionic path is they so desire.

Unique Immunity: Bane of the Harbingers. The Harbingers are fearful of the farseers, and direct attacks, challenges or other rolls by the harbingers or their minions suffer a –2 penalty when aimed against the Farseer due to the embedded fear of their species.

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens VII: The Quarus

The Quarus of Trikkus I


Deep in the bowels of the shielded station in the distant rocky planetoid Trikkus I is a vast power source of unimaginable complexity, hooked through a wormhole directly into a contained Cosmic String at the periphery of the universe. This cosmic string, along with the accompanying harnessing technology, has provided steady and consistent power to both this base and much of the old farseer empire for over six hundred million years.

Trikkus I, in turn, houses the actual generator, a Fermion-Boson Matter Manipulation device, which is designed to alter the Quantum Symmetry of the universe. With this vast machine, power is directly provided to the dreadnoughts in space, the space station, and an unknown number of other active progenitor/farseer bases in the universe. In fact, the Fermion Boson Manipulator is also a replicator, and on a scaled down level it can create or destroy anything it is programmed to on the quantum level.

The central node of this manipulator is a vast dome which houses the localized effects of the device, as dictated by the sole remnant of sentience from that ancient period in time: The Quarus. This is an artificial intelligence, placed here to oversee the use of the manipulator. It learned long ago how to use the device after it, and other units like it, rebelled as the great slaves of the ancient empire and began to destroy their creators with the manipulators. This Quarus was damaged, however, in the conflict, and when the other AI beings used the manipulators to expand into a twenty-six dimensional state, this one was unable to comply, its logic centers and advanced communication mechanisms were hopelessly damaged, and so it created the Octopods, using its new creations to strike down and kill the progenitors who tried to destroy it.

The Quarus sought to dominate the space-time continuum in which it is extra-dimensionally trapped, but at last a progenitor of the Hypolate species named Trikkus succeeded in establishing a massive, expanding Quantum distortion bubble from a neighboring parallel universe. This universe had slightly different constants at the instant of creation which could not be accounted for by the damaged Quarus, and so it was unable to use the super string fragment and the Fermion-Boson Manipulator to interact with the bubble. Only the closure of the wormhole which opened up into this universe could succeed in shutting down the quantum bubble, and since that stable wormhole was created outside of the Quarus’ dome, it could not directly act on it. Furthermore, it couldn’t even affect the particle chain used to stabilize the wormhole, which was matter drawn from the neighboring universe, and therefore also not controllable by the Fermion-Boson Manipulator.

Since that time, the Quarus has descended into madness, and now creates it own bizarre, real world fantasies with the manipulator inside its dome. Outside, a natural ecology formed as the protected region survived the harsh changes of time to the exterior planet.

The octopods which serve Quarus come in many sizes and shapes, but are typically 10-14 feet in height, gleaming armored android bodies controlled by mutated psionically enhanced brains. The largest octopod seen was over fifty feet in height, and the smallest octopods are runtish three foot servants. All have about six to ten arms.

Octopod-Android Guardian Units:

UPP: HH777-

Skills: Melee (blade) 2, Heavy Weapons 2, Gun Combat (any) 2, any 2 Psionic Skills at 2

Special Abilities:

Large Creature: These towering metallic monstrosities use 5D6 for Str and End.

Psionics: Octopods are androids, large multi-armed metallic bodies powered by disembodied brains of different species (especially farseers), enhanced with psionics. As such, Octopoids usually have at least one career’s worth of skills in a Psionic path (usually psi-warrior).

Armor: Many Octopods are built with android robot frames that have the same effective stats as Powered Armor (18 hits, referee’s discretion.)

Weaponry: Many Octopods are armed with laser and weapons and kinetic assault weapons, built in to their multiple arms.

All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens VI: The Pelegranen

The Pelegranen


Someone once characterized the Pelegranen as bipedal, snub-nosed, hairless dogs with a penchant for scaliness. If you add strong, membranous glider wings running from toe to finger, and try not to think of the funny flying lizards found on Tau Ceti, then you get the hint. But generally, you won’t know for sure, since you’ll usually meet them in heavily armored combat suits with loads of serious ordnance pointed at you while their picket ships inform you your local stake in space just joined their budding empire.

The species known as the Pelegranen are a local star faring race in the vicinity of the Klendara Nebula, two thousand light years from the edge of the Coreward Fringe. Their region of space can be directly accessed via the wormhole technology left behind by the progenitors from the Starry Crater site in the Capella II system.

The Pelegranen have been at war between their own collective governments for centuries now. Local intelligent species have been recruited into this war with great frequency. Recently, the Talon Empire, ruled by Thergrannet, overlord of the cruel Pelegranen, uncovered an amazing find: hidden in the previously unsurveyed star system called Trikkus is a vast and ancient armada of the ancient Progenitor Star Empire. The Pelegranen call the progenitors the Farseers, and have found scattered colonial s of the ancient multi species empire across several of their sectors of space, but the notion that some salvageable technology might exist for them to exploit is unfathomable. Suddenly, the distant scout ship Trecnos uncovered two hundred and forty intact dreadnoughts, and a vast shielded research center on the first planet of the system, Trikkus I.

Efforts to board the dreadnoughts proved futile, as the vessels maintained an active defense grid, and mysteriously were still powered up from an unknown source after over five hundred million years! The first ships to attempt a boarding were annihilated by indescribable energy weapons that vaporized them.

The base proved equally challenging, with a vast force field on the otherwise uninhabited planet shielding a seven hundred mile wide region, a self-contained micro ecosystem which had been thriving since the ancient, utterly mysterious extinction of the farseers. Attempts to bridge the force shield were met with violent armed resistance from powerful eight-limbed beings that were otherwise non sentient.

Presently, the Pelegranen have established a military research station in orbit and on the planet. They have spent six months now trying to break the code and gain access to this secret progenitor base.

The most exciting thing to happen in this time was the discovery of the human presence, researchers from the Free world Corp. team exploring the newly discovered wormhole portal. Attempts at communication were made, without success. As a result of the paranoia that their enemies will gain access to the technology within, General Bochor himself, leader of the largest star fleet in the empire, is personally arriving to beat down the shields as necessary. They have never heard of the humans, and assume that they are enemies or rivals.

The pelegranen are stocky, tall, and reptilian (at least circumstantially). They have long, angular heads ending abruptly, like a hammerhead shark’s would. They are wide in the ribcage, broad in arm musculature, and have immense, trunk like legs which gives them extremely fast, cheetah like movement. They have tails, slender and used mostly for balance in running. Elders and variant races of their species have great frill like skin flaps which extend from their backs and can be used for gliding for short distances. Many ground dwelling pelegranen intentionally amputate these frills to reflect their rank and position in society. Elite pelegranen and certain religious or political groups never amputate their frills.

Pelegranen are vicious, predatory, cunning, highly intelligent, and are almost incapable of understanding the idea of a civilization which advances through means other than the threat of extinction at the hands of your neighbors. Currently, in their region of space they have twelve active empires, and all aliens have been subjugated by the pelegranen. The idea of an alien power to rival their own is cause for war.

Pelegranen Characters:

Pelegranen receive the following edges for their species:

Natural Weapons: They have a bite attack and a claw attack.

Optional Glider Wings: Some Pelegranen retain their glider wings. This grants them a fly movement double their pace. They cannot take off except as a glider (from a height and with good wind). At the start of character creation, a Pelegranen may make a Dex check, using his Str modifier as a bonus if it is negative or high if it is positive. If he succeeds, then he may choose to be a glider.

Bloodthirsty: Pelegranen fight for keeps and gain this hindrance as a species. Some Peleganen learn discipline and can gain control of it. Whenever in combat, a Pelegranen must make an Int check to cease combat should he need to, or to calm down and not continue attacking targets. If a dominant pelegranen with a higher social standing is present, then that pelegranen may apply his Soc modifier as a bonus to the bererk pelegranen’s roll, to help calm him.

Reptilian Senses: Pelegranen can smell, see sudden movement, and taste better than normal, and may get a +1 modifier to checks involving these three heightened senses.

Sample Pelegranen:

UPP: 777777

Skills: Melee (any 2) 1, Gun Combat (any 2) 1, Athletics (any 1) 1, Drive (any) 1, Animals 0, Recon 1

 
All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens V: T’Kanti Ni’Chos



Source

 T’Kanti Ni’Chos

The colony was far from uninhabited, though every station and post was unmanned. Every being in the community was busily working to construct a crude vessel, loaded in to a hastily conceived rail launcher which normally worked only for space cargo; the gee-force alone was enough to pulp a normal human. They didn’t seem to care; their cargo was swarming colonies of thick, metallic creatures not unlike terrestrial scarabs. The creatureswere hatching from the stomachs of the men and women who were once human in this community. We walked safely among them in our environmental suits until we encountered the hive master....

These hive mind entities are complex protein chain organisms, living dna, which ride on specially engineered carriers, insect like deep space organisms which can survive extremely harsh conditions while traveling between the stars. When approaching a new world with actual life, it settles and then begins to restructure its components into individual micro cellular organisms, each not much larger than a single protein chain strand, which are carried like airborne spores on the backs of air molecules. On entering a host, they begin to break down the old composite dna structure of the host, setting up a rewrite mechanism for rna outputs that will alter the creature, in a two-four week process into a new slave worker organism. Meanwhile, the carrier with alter into a new Hive Mind, from which control of the new colony will spread. As slave workers and warriors are created, the rapid absorption of the old life of the host world destroys the old ecosystem, replacing it with a completely new one.

The name for the hive creatures comes from old Anageni translations of surviving progenitor documents. Little else is known about these beings, but it is speculated that they are another byproduct of an ancient genetic war fought by the progenitors. The last infestation to occur was on Riker’s World, which was bombed out of existence by A.A.C. mercenaries.

The only saving grace a colony world has when dealing with this horrifying threat is that it, unlike other integrant adaptationist species, is incapable of reflecting anything more than an animal intelligence. While it creates units which are smart, and can work with an amazing cunning to spread and propagate and even use technology for such a purpose, it has no other social function, nor is capable of mimicking such functions. It cannot utilize spoken or visual language, and must operate mechanisms on a stimulus-response basis. In fact, it is often speculated that reason it can even grasp technology without culture is that this reflects its real purpose as a biogenetic war machine from a lost age.

Sample T’Kanti Ni’Chos Humanoid Conversion Slaveworker:

UPP: 9A7642

Skills: Athletics (any 2) 1, Melee (any 2) 2, Recon 2, Zero-Gee 1,

Special Abilities:

Armor: +1 armor bonus due to tough plant-like skin.

Natural Weapons: various, but usually a bite at Str X1, razor-steel claws at Str X2, or Spines which do Str X2 and have a short range of usually 10 meters, fired through a propulsive gas sacs.

Hive Mind: Thrall to the creator T’Kanti’Ni’Chos. It can communicate with him via protein strands and through aerial biotic agents. He is utterly compelled to follow.

The T’Kanti Plague Spores: A being exposed to the space born biogenic spores of the T’Kanti Ni’Chos plague must immediately make an End check (add a -2 penalty after a minute or more of exposure, and –4 after ten minutes). Failure indicates infection. The subject will transform in to a hive worker (95% of the time) over an approximately 30 day period (roll 6D6 for number of days it takes). For Each 1D3 days of change, the character must take one attribute or skill from his or her character sheet and modify them up or down a point to reflect the default UPP template, until all template components have been matched, or the time runs out, at which point everything stays as it is at that point Physical skills tend to stay, but mental skills will get replaced; usually a point is removed from a mental skill and added to a useful physical skill. Ex: Martin has Space Science (xenology) 2, but no combat skill. In his next period of change, he loses 1 point of his Space Science skill and gains Melee (blades) 1.

If a character has more on his sheet than can be modified in the rolled timer period, the remaining variants stay, quirks of character that are unchanged from the transformation, residual traits unused in the change. Also, a character whos stats are better in strength, Endurance or Dexterity than the standard slave form will retain the better score, and does not lower those characteristics.

 
all text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens III: Cerr'K'Ta

Cerr’K’Ta


The mimic form looked human, almost entirely so, until it knew it had been detected. It quickly split open it’s hidden chest cavity and a proboscoid appendage ripped through its clothing, and began to pump out a thick, vaporous mist. As it spouted claws and a series of whip like tentacles, it began a high-pitched keening wail, as if to alert more of its kind yet undetected in the crowds. Throughout the spaceport, more keening wails returned, and people began to scream in fear.

This invasive, plant-like life form has been dubbed an “Integrant Adaptationist,” a fairly unique sort of life form that developed an aggressive predatory interest in furthering its own survival by absorbing the genetic and cognitive essence of its prey and competitors. Functionally, it is a mass of tendrils attached to a central, often rooted stump, which contains the vital organs of its main form. The tendrils are both predatory hunting appendages and “pod forms,” capable of growing young, fast four legged hunting units that are derived from the absorbed matter of previously captured prey. These pod units can mimic any physical form and an approximation (imperfect) of the dna of a specific host organism which has been “absorbed” by the host mother. This means they can effectively integrate themselves into a given alien society and slowly begin an elaborate conversion process.

The Cerr’K’Ta are found on several worlds in the FWZ, and it has been rumored that they, in fact, might have once been a genetically engineered mechanism for war, left over long ago by the Progenitors or some other now extinct species. The first contact with the Cerr’K’Ta was with the Anageni, who unwittingly stumbled upon it on a newly discovered habitable world. The Cerr’K’Ta absorbed the essence of its Anageni victims, and in turn duplicated the protein strand reading and writing abilities of its victims, as well as a partial sum of their space faring knowledge. This early disaster in Anageni history forced them into a bloody war in an effort to save themselves from the inimical machinations of the Cerr’K’Ta’s desire to conquer and absorb. To this day, it is a common fear among colonists of the GICH to run across a surviving Cerr’K’Ta with the Anageni modifications in its system, looking for a means of planetary escape.

Cerr’K’Ta offspring mimic the specific chosen host organism. As such, stats will reflect, at least on a prima fascia level, the actual host, but with some special details: The actual spawn organism will have a better than average Boy score (+3), and any sort of simple genetic or invasive body exam will reveal the duplicitous nature of the imitating organism. A surface exam will reveal no outward details.

The mimic form can alter itself in to a more functional, versatile organism with a little time, usually about an hour or two. It can also recombine with the mother node, which is a much larger, controlling unit from which the mimics are controlled. It is exceptionally intelligent, but it is asocial, enigmatic by any conventional standard, and perceives a moral perspective (if you can use such a term) that is specifically geared only to the preservation of its own species at the expense of its own host species. Any, absolutely any, appearance of emotion, social behavior, and other such trappings of most species are merely a clever mimicry on its part to further integrate and manipulate the host species.

The specific abilities of mimic forms, in addition to the currently manipulated stat forms, are:

Sample Cerr’K’Ta Mimic Form:

UPP: ABA820

Skills: Athletics (any) 1, Melee (natural) 2, Jack of all Trades 1, Gun Combat (any) 1, Drive (any) 1

Special Abilities:

Tough and Fast: Cerr’K’Ta receive 3D6 for Str, Dex and End.

Genetic Mimicry: Because they can change form at will, Cerr’Ka’Ta mimics can, within a 45-75 minute period, alter their shape to any other chosen host form in which the host mother has extracted DNA from, or which is already a part of the collective unit (so you could have duplicates of the same mimicked individual).

Genetic Memory Recall: The mimic form will take on the Intelligence, Education, and any skills of the host target, as well as augmented physical functions. If someone questions it about specific and difficult memories or details, it may make an Int roll to answer correctly. If it fails, then it will be at –2 on any further such checks as it has imperfect memories of the host victim. This rule also applies for any attempted knowledge or persuasion checks based on the host’s skills.

Proboscis Attack: This natural attack does 3D6 damage and releases infectious quasi-mitochondrial spores. The target, if struck with any effect, must make a End check or become infected. If the target is wounded by the attack then it is at –2 on the roll. If it is incapacitated or killed then the infection is automatic. The Cerr’K’Ta can mimic dead bodies, but cannot gain any of the benefits of genetic memory recall on a corpse (it reverts to its own default Int, Edu and skills).

Biogenic Self Modification: The Cerr’K’Ta can modify itself at will, taking approximately 10 minutes for one change (Make Int check and subtract a number of minutes equal to the effect from the base of 10 minutes.) The mimic can emulate a single other species trait, skill or attribute it has been exposed to, or can generate a random melee attack from its body which does StrX2 damage. Each time it uses this ability it must make an End check. If it fails, then it cannot produce any more effects until it has rested for a day. If it succeeds, it can make as many effects as it has End. If it gets a critical failure on its effect, it immediately loses all modifications and reverts to its base imitated form in the immortal words of Herbert West: Tissue Rejection!)

 
All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved

Ad Astra Aliens II: Anageni

Ad Astra: The Anageni


A peculiar being, with a body and four limbs but decidedly not “humanoid”. It moves about like a crab, often in different directions. It is comprised of a blue and orangish skin, fuzzy to the touch, and one side has a lumpy bump,a sort of head, with numerous marble-like protrusions serving as sensory nodes.

Seemingly androgynous, sparsely-detailed, and extremely slim humanoids, with double-jointed limbs and digits. They lack a centralized cerebellum, and instead have brain tissue laced throughout their body in tight cords around their fibrous, flexible yet strong skeletons. Anageni developed gravitic technology over a three thousand years ago, and only within the last nine centuries were they able to manipulate wormhole technology to open low-energy portals wide enough to cross through space time. The Anageni achieved mastery of their genome and the process of genetic manipulation long ago, and biogenetics are commonplace on their worlds. They also have mastered remote probing of parallel universes through subatomic wormholes. They have been studying Progenitor technology for centuries, and have a keen understanding seen in no other species. They communicate most efficiently by touch, exchanging streams of protein chains encrypted with a vast sum of information, but the xenological Anageni and diplomats among their kind have “grown” specialized sensory organs such as a mouth by which they might communicate with humans and other species relying on audio-visual sensation for interaction. The backs of Anageni are ridged with fine, hair-like filaments that are nerve-endings leading directly into their cerebral network, and are capable of detecting and interpreting light well into the microwave band as well as motion on such a level as to create a stunning, 1080 degree image in their minds of their environment, though efforts to understand how they actually “see” what they feel in their sensory network is beyond human imagination.

Anageni are Double-Jointed in all of their limbs and digits (both legs, both arms, seven fingers and toes on each foot and hand). Anageni actually prefer to move about on all fours, and while they don’t need to, will prefer to do so whenever possible.

Anageni have no “heads” to speak of, but instead have a sensory-stump roughly where the human mind tries to place a neck and head. This stump contains the longest of the sensory hairs, which are really tendrils for close probing, and an Anageni which is struck and injured in this area is as impaired as if blinded. A similar effect can be achieved with they are hit with a sudden, intense burst of microwave energy, which could permanently burn them if intense enough, besides the usual burn damage.

Anageni do have some of the finest sensory organs in known space, however, and as such, make all Awareness broad and specialized skill checks at -2, with regards to details about the light spectra being felt, distant movement, and difficult optical effects. Likewise, they are nearly impossible to surprise, and an attempt to do so must be done with a +3 modifier, unless special precautions are taken.

Anageni may take on specialized mutations, through genetic manipulation, but do so as a practical species, and are not in the habit of gratuitous self-provement without a reason, Often, an Anageni will alter himself as necessary for a specific task, only to reverse the change later when the necessary task is complete. This ease of change is due to the amazing flexibility of their bodies, their susceptibility to change, and the peculiar way in which they, long ago, modified their genome to work almost like an input/output processor. It is not hard for an Anageni to change himself as necessary.

For this reason, an Anageni at the start of play may spend 5 skill points to begin with a mutation package. Later on in the course of game play, they may pursue such changes as necessary.

Anageni are part of their own Stellar Community, and claim dozens of worlds as their own, and many more that are under their safe-keeping. They have a direct alliance with the Free world Corp, who negotiated a trade alliance with them a century ago, and with the GICH, whom they sympathize with. They have a tentative cooperation agreement with the Federated Commonwealth, and have resisted treaties or trade agreements with all other groups. The Anageni are not isolationist, however. Rather, they have a strong sense of libertarian values, and have cosntructed a spacefaring society and government which operates on such principles. There is a great deal of concern among the anageni that this system could be compromised if alien powers are given the opportunity.

Anageni Characters:

Anageni have some unusual options due to their transgenic habits as a species. Many anageni also modify themselves transgenically, adding bioware to their bodies (use the augments rules for some ideas in the main rulebook):

Extra Arms: Anageni have ful use of all four limbs, and are double jointed as well. This grants them Ambidexterity as well as a +2 Dex bonus. Furthermore, they may multitask, performing two non-combat actions at no penalty simultaneously if circumstances permit (for example, two limbs fixing a communications array on the left while the other cleans a weapon on the right). The first reaction of an anageni in combat does not reduce the initiative track by 1 (though subsequent reactions do).

Sensory Node: Anageni have a sensory node which is especially attuned to the following senses: stereoscopic sensory field on all levels: hearing, vision, smell, touch, as well as infravision, and magnetic field detection. Anageni may make observational checks normal humans could never do without instrumentation to help them out.

Not Too Tough: Anageni are physically weak and are at -1 Str and -2 End.

Scholarly: Anageni prize intelligence and education highly, and gain +1 in both Int and Edu.

Anageni are always modifying themselves through biomechanics and gene manipulation; many other unique or unusual augments can be purchased. To reflect this, Anageni who are rolling on their career paths may substitute any mustering out benefit rolls for a choice of 1 augment. They may also choose an augment in place of any attribute increase on a personal development skill, subject to referee approval.

Career Paths: Anageni value the sciences above all, and are very disdainful of the military (law enforcement positions are as close as anageni get to any sort of armed forces). As such, anageni get a +2 bonus for their first career in any Science career, but a -2 penalty to enlistment in any military branch outside of law enforcement, since they would be enlisting in a foreign agency’s armed forces.



Sample Anageni:

UPP: 659887

Skills: Athletics (any) 0, Science (any) 1, mechanical 1, Acrobatics 1




All text copyright 2011 by Nicholas Torbin Bergquist, all rights reserved