Here’s a little artifact that I came up with for my Mutant Crawl Classics game. Yeah, I came up with a few others but this one the players just can’t help themselves from using.
The Sooper Dooper Ball: A small red rubbery ball made by the Ancients (for an unknown reason) from a mysterious compound that gains kinetic energy.
First, a character throws the Sooper Dooper Ball at a target (makes a Ranged Attack roll). If successful, the ball does 1d3 then bounces randomly at another target. The second target must make a DC:12 Reflex save or get hit by the ball but this time it does 1d4 damage. Of course, if the second target does get hit, the ball ricochets at another target. Here’s the low down, each target makes the DC: 12 Reflex save or takes damage and the ball continues to bounce around. Each target hit increases the damage by one die step. So far my merry band of mutants has gotten the ball up to doing a d10 damage. If the target makes the save then the ball bounces harmlessly somewhere. Since we’ve playing theater of the mind, I’ve had the thrower make a Luck check to see if the ball is nearby.
The group loves this little item so much that I’m probably going to reskin it for the upcoming DCC game with them and there will be a couple little changes to it. But more on that later.
This is part adventure and part session notes from my Mutant Crawl Classics game. I ran this a while ago while we (Kickstarter backers) were waiting on the PDF’s of the adventures to be released. So take it as you will.
Background:
King Roma is crazed plantient set on revenge against the murderous meatbags of the world. He had discovered a data cube of the Ancients and learned (misinterpreted) the dark secrets of the Ancients. They had kept plantients as food; raising them in things called farms or gardens. There were some Ancients who were so vile that they ate only plantients. These atrocities must be avenged.
The Set Up:
I ran this after the PC’s were returning to their village after going through their 0-level funnel. They found the village had been attacked and ransacked and that all of the villagers were missing. It was pretty easy for them to find the trail and start tracking the raiders.
The Monsters: Here’s the stat’s for the main monsters for this whole thing.
Cherry Tomato Concubines: Init: +1; AC: 11; Atk: None (See Special); DMG: None Action Die: 1d20; HP: 6; Saves: Fort: +1, Ref: +2, Will: +1; Special: Aura of Misfortune: When a character attacks or uses a Mutant Power against a Concubine or King Roma, the character must roll under their current Luck score on a d20. If successful then the action proceeds as normal. If the character fails the Luck check then it is assumed that the character rolled a Natural 1 on their attack/Mutation Check. Run with it.
Heirloom Shaman: Init: +1; AC: 14; Atk: +0; DMG: 1d4 Action Die: 1d20; HP: 6; Saves: Fort: +0, Ref: +2, Will: +2; Special: “Spells”: Poison Dart, 2d4 damage, DC:14 Fort Save for half damage; Ketchup Slick: DC:12 Ref Save or fall prone and needed to move; Tangle Vines: DC: 10 Ref Save to avoid, DC: 12 STR check to break free.
The Village: I just drew the map as I needed during play. There are four building in the village. I also kind of just made up the numbers of opponents based on the party.
The Green House: Divided into two sections. One is the common room. Here are Goons, Brutes and at least one Shaman. The Nursery section contains a Nursery Bot: Init: +2; AC: 14; Atk: +0; DMG: 1d5 Action Die: 1d20; HP: 36; Saves: Fort: +4, Ref: +0, Will: +2; Special: AI Recog: 19. and a Control Panel. If the PC’s mess with the Control Panel, they release the super fertilizer toxic goo. The goo has the following effects: Any Plantients roll as if they had suffered Radburn. All others must make a DC: 14 Fort Save or suffer 1d5 damage. The toxic goo acts as Cortexin (See Museum at the End of Time) but only on plants. This animates the Baby Tomato Swarms: Each Swarm has: AC: 11; HP: 8; Saves: Fort: +0, Ref: +0, Will: +0; Special: Non Area Effect Weapons do 1 HP of damage. When a character is “attacked” by a swarm, attempt DC: 11 Ref save or take 1d3 damage.
The Garden Shed: Here be artifacts. Vibro-Plasma Chainsaw: does 2d8 damage; uses 1d16 for initiative; increase wielder’s Fumble Die by one die step. Wonder-Gro Fertilizer: Heals Plantients of 2d4 damage; all others DC:14 Fort Save or take 2d5 damage. Golpher Grenades (crude plastic figurines of a common burrowing rodent): 3d6 damage in 20 foot radius; DC: 12 Ref Save for half damage. 3 C-Cells.
The Smoke House: Filled with hanging smoked meat. Player A: Nope the villagers aren’t here. Player B: Uh, I think we just found the villagers. Player C: Oooh BACON! Rest of the Party: Ewww. Manimals…
King Roma’s Hot House: This is the boss fight. King Roma, Concubines, Shaman and some Brute Bodyguards.
If you aren’t listening to the Glowburn Podcast, you should. Any last episode had mention of doing a random Wasteland Weather table. I left things like duration and some of the specific effects up to the individual judges. I know you’re smart and you can deal with it. Oh and it uses one of those funky d30’s. Wasteland Weather
A little slow on getting this one posted but here’s what I gave the player characters for mounts. They had to earn them thought. Psychic Riding Cockroaches These large beast scurry about the wastelands in small herds of 3d6 creatures. They are generally non-aggressive and tend to flee at the first sign of any danger. Legends say that the strong willed can tame the beasts and use them as mounts. Init: +2; AC: 11; Atk: +1; DMG: 1d3 Action Die: 1d20; HP: 20; Saves: Fort: +4, Ref: +2, Will: +2 Special: For their action, a character may attempt to form a psychic bond with a cockroach and turn it into a loyal (as loyal as a cockroach can get) mount. The character must be within 3 feet of the roach and succeed on a DC: 14 Will Save. On a failure, the roach gets a free attack on the player. If the player rolls a Natural 1 then interesting things happen then a psychic resonance effect occurs. The cockroach squeals and it’s head explodes causing 1d6 damage to the character (DC 10 Reflex Save for Half Damage) Also, the character must make a DC 10 Fort Save. If the successful then the character has a splitting headache (-2 to all rolls) for the next 2d6 hours. If the Fort Save fails the following happens. If the character is a Mutant, Plantient, or Manimal then they immediately gain the Taller and Carapace mutations. If the character is a Pure Strain Human then the character is transformed into a Manimal, Subtype Cockroach.
A gang of monsters inspired by Museum at the End of Time and a few other things. First, I grabbed up a pack of cheap dinosaur skeletons on Amazon. Because you can always use dinosaur skeletons. Looking ahead to Tomb of Annihilation. But any way, here’s some of them with regular mini’s for scale.
Now here’s the stats. Common Stats:
Init: +2; ATK: +2; AC: 12; HP: 16; Saves: Fort: +2, Ref: +0, Will:+2 Specific Stats: Laser Rex:
Bite: 1d20; DMG: 2d5; SP: Severs Limb on a Crit.
or
Laser Eyes: 1d20; DMG: 2d6; Range: 100 feet
Mega-Stega-Spiny-osaurus:
Bite: 1d16; DMG: 1d6; and Tail Sweep: 1d16; DMG: 1d8 plus make a DC: 12 REF Save or be knocked 2d6 feet in a random direction and knocked prone.
or
Bone Spikes: 1d20; DMG: 1d6; Range: 60 feet
Tundrotops (Bonus points if you get where I was inspired for this one.):
Gore: 1d20; Damage: 2d8
or
Stone Bullets: 1d20; Damage 1d8; Range: 60 feet
Stiletto-Dactyl:
Stiletto Wings (2x): 1d16 (each); DMG: 1d6
or
Sonic Screech: DMG: 1d6 in a 30 foot line. Make DC 10 Fort Save for Half Damage.
So yeah. I’m really having a great time with Mutant Crawl Classics. The party is almost done with Museum at the End of Time. That means it’s time to start brainstorming at what to throw at them after that. Oh, I have some ideas. Stay Tuned for those.
They Might Be Gazebos! 