Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Mutant Mathematics

(A very excited Sniderman)

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TRANSLATION: I'll be playing in a Metamorphosis Alpha game run by James Ward himself at Gary Con in March. Mutant RPG mayhem run by the guy who invented mutant RPG mayhem? Yeah, I'm super-stoked.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

I'll Be Wearing This At Gary Con & Gen Con...

Planning on running a whole host of Mutant Future at both events this year. Decided to spring for a custom-made shirt to identify myself as "The Mutant Future Guy." Just arrived today (pictured at the right.)

I understand that there will be some official Mutant Future apparel in the near future, but I always had this version -- blue logo on sickly yellow -- in mind, so I had it whipped up. Pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Goblinoid Games Apparel Now Available

Goblinoid Games, home of Mutant Future (and that one game involving "lords and labyrinths," or something...) has opened a new Zazzle store with shirts, hoodies, and other apparel featuring the company's logo. Future plans include other items emblazoned with logos from the company's other products and games, so stay tuned for further announcements about potential Mutant Future products!

For more information or to order, click here to visit the Goblinoid Games Zazzle Store.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A Newly Refurbished Starship Warden Ready For Launch

Return once again to the Starship Warden! Just as we learned of a new reprint of the original edition of Metamorphosis Alpha, it sounds like they're getting ready to come out a new edition of the classic post-apocalyptic game!

Signal Fire Studios, in collaboration with James Ward, will release a new edition of Metamorphosis Alpha this summer. The reworked setting will feature an all new game system, and promos and demos will be seen at upcoming game shows. Details and info is sparse at this time, but they seem to be taking pre-orders now for the new release ($19.99 for print, $5.00 for PDF eBook).

We'll keep you posted on developments as we learn 'em! (And a tip o' the hat to Needles at Swords & Stitchery who clued me into this news! Thanks Needles!)

Friday, January 20, 2012

Lords of Light! Look Who's Coming To Gen Con!

Look who's stepping through The Moondial in August 2012...

(I don't plan on repeating last year's mistake.)

That's right, I'll be running a special Mutant Future adventure titled "Thundarr the Barbarian: Across the Dimensional Divide" at Gen Con 2012. (Plus at least three more Mutant Future games...) I even hope to run this on August 16, so The Savage AfterWorld can finally present "Thundarr Thursday: LIVE!"

Stay tuned for more info! Demon Dogs, it will be epic!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Metamorphosis Alpha First Edition Available In Print Again

The grand-mack-daddy of post-apocalyptic RPGs is available in print again!

Metamorphosis Alpha First Edition has just been posted to Lulu for folks who need a hardcopy version of this classic game in their hands. These reprint offers surface every so often (last time was in 2007, as I recall), so grab them while you can!

Obligatory descriptor:

Metamorphosis Alpha was the world's first sci-fi role-playing game. Metamorphosis Alpha was originally published in 1976, and has since been released in a total of four editions. This old game is the granddaddy of all Post Apocalyptic games and was the inspiration for TSR Hobbies' game Gamma World.

This booklet allows players to choose to play a human, mutant or mutated animal and provides descriptions of mutations and defects. It also provides rules for working out the mysterious and sometimes dangerous technological devices found throughout the Starship Warden.

There are descriptions of all 17 levels of the Starship Warden, a 50 mile long, damaged vessel with some real problems for it's inhabitants. Mutants galore! Weird and wonderful mutated animals, mutated plants and some things that still have a few strands of human DNA in them, somewhere...

This game was state-of-the-art in 1976, and will be of interest to enthusiasts and collectors alike. Forget having to lug half a dozen books around to play this game. Its all here in this little book, without the need for supplements. This is classic Old School gaming from before anyone even knew what "Old School" was.

This revised edition includes grammar and spelling corrections, additional errata, and a short adventure.

The reprint is available at Lulu for $15 (a bargain indeed!) The PDF version is also available at Drive Through RPG for $5.95.

23 Questions And 23 Answers

Zak Asks 23 Questions of GMs Throughout The Blogosphere.

And here are my answers:

1. If you had to pick a single invention in a game you were most proud of what would it be?

My Apocalyptic Stormfront MEGA-Table. I've heard from a lot of folks that have used in their games as well as basing adventures off it.

2. When was the last time you GMed?

At Gen Con last year. Dear Lord, has it been that long?

3. When was the last time you played?

Played in a pick-up 2e AD&D game about a month ago at my FLGS.

4. Give us a (three)-sentence pitch for an adventure you haven’t run but would like to.

A group of amnesiac PCs find themselves involved in a whirlwind adventure. As the game progresses, they realize they have similar powers and abilities. Eventually, they discover they're the same person, albeit different versions from alternate dimensions and times.

5. What do you do while you wait for players to do things?

Stack my polyhedrals one on top of another. For extra giggles, I start with the d4.

6. What, if anything, do you eat while you play?

I pound energy drinks and coffee.

7. Do you find GMing physically exhausting?

Hell yes. (See previous answer.) I do not sit down behind the screen as I'm usually acting out the NPCs, making updates to the battleboard, etc.

8. What was the last interesting (to you, anyway) thing you remember a PC you were running doing?

Playing a wimpy 2nd level illusionist. Was involved in a combat with a goblin army I had no business entering. Rolled a natural 20 to hit, and killed a goblin. Swung at another. Rolled another nat 20. And again. And with my fourth STRAIGHT natural 20, the DM decreed that my character had been possessed with a bloodlust-infused berzerker rage. When the smoke cleared, I had offed 20 or so goblins with nothing but a dagger and 3 HP remaining. Epic.

9. Do your players take your serious setting and make it unserious? Vice versa? Neither?

I'm all about the gonzo. I don't do "serious," but I do play it straight. But it always gets wacky. Prefer it that way.

10. What do you do with goblins?

Slaughter them by the dozens. (See previous answer.)

11. What was the last non-RPG thing you saw that you converted into game material (background, setting, trap, etc.)?

Been reading a lot of historical trivia as I'm been getting reacquainted with Timemaster. Amazing how one small event could affect major historical occurances. Anyway, I discovered that a purchase at a produce stand saved the lives of millions of people and changed the course of WWII. Will be using that moment in time as a Timemaster adventure base for a game at Gen Con.

12. What’s the funniest table moment you can remember right now?

Friend was playing a kender thief named Willie armed with only a dagger. We met an ogre who swiftly trounced everyone but Willie. As the only one left conscious, he knew he was the only thing standing between us and a TPK.

"I run between the ogre's legs and stab him as I dart through!"

The guy playing Willie meant to say he was stabbing at the ogre's LEG when he ran through, hoping the ogre would drop to the ground where he could fight it better. Instead the DM assumed Willie was stabbing UPWARD as he ran through. The DM rolled the dice.

"OK, you run through his legs and stab up and under his loincloth as you do so. His groin takes 4 points of damage."

Howls of laughter erupt. Willie's player smiles.

"OK, I do it again!"

The ogre takes a swipe at Willie, missing handily, and Willie darts through its legs again with a called shot to the ogre's plumsack.

"You stab it in the nuts again, and it takes double damage. The orge screams, and staggers a bit, but it's still on it feetgr

Half of us are on the floor, laughing ourselves sick due to the absurdity of the fight.

By the time the fight ended, Willie was successful and the ogre was dead due to multiple called shots to its junk. That day, Willie changed his name to "Nadstabber."

13. What was the last game book you looked at–aside from things you referenced in a game–why were you looking at it?

Just nabbed Metamorphosis Alpha 1st edition today, in fact. Primarily to throw some support to James Ward, but also because I hope to play in a game at Gary Con

14. Who’s your idea of the perfect RPG illustrator?

Erol Otus and Jeff Dee.

15. Does your game ever make your players genuinely afraid?

No, I don't think so. Ran a few games of CoC and Chill back in Ye Olde Dayes that were "unnerving," but I'm not really a fearmonger. I like the "overwhelming odds" scenario, so that can be tension-inducing.

16. What was the best time you ever had running an adventure you didn’t write? (If ever)

Games of Paranoia always rock. The canned adventures, specifically Alpha Complexities, are always a hoot to run.

17. What would be the ideal physical set up to run a game in?

Any finished rec room basement with plenty of Funyuns and Mountain Dew, just as we had back in Ye olden Dayes. Nothing wrong with the classics.

18. If you had to think of the two most disparate games or game products that you like what would they be?

Toon and Kult

19. If you had to think of the most disparate influences overall on your game, what would they be?

Saturday morning cartoons (ala Hanna Barbera) and anything directed by Lucio Fulci.

20. As a GM, what kind of player do you want at your table?

Attentive. Contributing. Great improv skills.

21. What’s a real life experience you’ve translated into game terms?

Eeep. I can't think of anything here.

22. Is there an RPG product that you wish existed but doesn’t?

I'm writing it right now, so I'll keep this one private.

23. Is there anyone you know who you talk about RPGs with who doesn’t play? How do those conversations go?

My wife doesn't get RPGs at ALL. But she listens attentively and with feigned interest. I do the same whenever she goes on and on (and ON) about last night's episode of Army Wives.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Post No Bills

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Mutant Future Begins In 5 Minutes...


'Doomsday Clock' moves 1 minute closer to midnight

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of scientists that tracks the likelihood of a global cataclysm says the world is moving closer to doomsday.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that it has moved its "Doomsday Clock" to five minutes to midnight.

The group says inadequate progress on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and continuing inaction on climate change are the reasons for the change.

The clock had been set at six minutes to midnight for the past two years. It was previously set at five minutes to midnight from 2007-2010.

The group says in a statement that two years ago, there was reason for optimism "that world leaders might address the truly global threats we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed."

Monday, January 9, 2012

Savage Menagerie: Maircan Iggle

No. Enc.: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement:450' (150')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 4
Attacks: 2 or 1 (claw/bite or slash)

Damage: 1d6/1d8 or 1d12
Save: F2
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: None

The Maircan Iggle (MAIR-cuhn IGG-gull) is a large predatory bird (4 feet long with a 12-foot wing span) descended from the national symbolic avian of an Ancient culture. They can be identified by the white feathers on its head, along with a crest along the top.

The Iggle has developed a set of extremely sharp teeth which it uses to rend its victims. When attacking, the Iggle swoops down and claws and bites its victim for 1d6/1d8 hit points of damage. An Iggle also has developed feathers which have a razor-sharp edge to them. An Iggle may also swoop down and pass next to a victim, slashing them with their wings as they fly by. This slash attack does 1d12 hit points of damage.

An Iggle can also carry up to 300 pounds, and will sometimes grab a victim and take them aloft (to either drop them from a dizzying height, or just to take back to the nest to feed). Smaller animals (and PCs) should be cautious when an Iggle is seen circling overhead.

Complicating things is that some denizens of the Mutant Future view the Iggle as a creature to be protected and respected. Some even feel that the Iggle is the key that will one day lead them back from the Wastelands and into a Land of Prosperity. These zealots will defend the creature to the death as it represents What Once Was.

Mutations: gigantism, aberrant form (natural weapon)