Moo Goo Gai Con: Michigan's "Gaming Convention/Chinese Buffet" Event In April

D&D meets General Tso -- what a great idea! Moo Goo Gai Con combines an all-day gaming convention with an all-you-can eat Chinese lunch/dinner buffet. Held on April 9 in Redford, Michigan, Moo Goo Gai Con (love the name, BTW) invites gamers to help themselves to an all-day smorgasbord of Chinese food while playing board games, RPGs, and miniature wargames. There's apparently going to be a "dealer's showcase" as well. I've made plans to attend and I just may run a game or two while munching egg rolls and crab rangoons. So who else is hungry?

Click here for attendee registration!

Click here for GM registration!

[Cryptworld] New Thing: Murdermatronic

After a few games of Five Nights at Freddy's, I felt compelled to created this nightmarish THING...

++++++++++++++++++++

A Robotic Reaper  for Cryptworld

MURDERMATRONIC
STR: 5 (75) --- WPR: 1 (15)
DEX: 3 (45) --- PER: 2 (30)
AGL: 3 (45) --- PCN: 3 (45)
STA: 5 (75) --- PWR: NA
ATT: 1/60% --- WND: 15
MV:  L 75†

Experience: 500

Murdermatronics are manmade robots that have been reprogrammed to kill. These murderous automatons -- also called "killbots" -- have no intelligence of their own. They are mindless killing machines set forth to slaughter all they encounter. A murdermatronic never spontaneously comes to "life"; rather the creature is created by the machinations of some THING behind the scenes.

Any man-made, human-sized robot can be reprogrammed to become a murdermatronic -- holiday display mannequins, life-sized children's toys, and theme park dark ride characters, for example. The most frightening ones encountered are those used as audio-animatronic entertainment at themed restaurants. Their wide-eyed glare and rictus grins are childhood nightmare fuel.

A murdermatronic attacks by grappling with its opponent, attempting to crush them with its mechanical strength. (Treat as unarmed combat damage.) If the murdermatronic succeeds with an "H" result or better, the killer robot has successfully grabbed hold of the victim in a crushing hug. (The defender can do nothing when pinned except try to free himself. (See Wrestling skill, Cryptworld rulebook page 18). On the next attack round, the murdermatronic's jaws will open, revealing razor-sharp metallic teeth which it will use to bite the pinned victim for armed combat damage with a 20% bonus modifier.

Murdermatronics are not true "THINGs", but rather reprogrammed minions of more dangerous THINGs that are using these devices to terrorize and spread mayhem. For example:

• A murdermatronic can be created by a gremlin through the use of its deadly device power (Cryptworld rulebook, page 61).
• A demon can take possession of the robot, causing the machine to go on a killing rampage (Cryptworld rulebook, page 57).
• The robot could be haunted by a ghost (Cryptworld rulebook, page 60) or controlled by a puppet master (Cryptworld rulebook, page 66), who is using it as a vessel for its revenge.
• A mad scientist may use its master of life and inventor's spark powers to animate the killing machine (Monsters Macabre, page 24).

Regardless of how the murdermatronic came to "life," the PCs should be aware that -- once defeated -- there is a bigger threat lurking somewhere in the shadows.

Please Help Support Ryan Denison, Mutant Future Coauthor

In November, Ryan Denison -- coauthor of Mutant Future -- lost his wife very suddenly to a tragic unexpected medical condition. Her passing left Ryan and their two-year-old son reeling from the loss.

To help support Ryan and his family, Dan Proctor of Goblinoid Games has assembled a "donation bundle" available through GoFundMe. With a donation of $30, you will receive links for the following Goblinoid Games products through RPG Now/Drive Through RPG:

Goblinoid Games
Labyrinth Lord
Advanced Edition Companion
Original Edition Characters
Realms of Crawling Chaos
Idol of the Orcs
Mutant Future
Starships & Spacemen, Second Edition
Wizards’ World

Dan has also lined up several other publishers -- myself included -- who have donated their products for this effort. A $60 donation will net you the products listed above as well as:

Barrel Rider Games
Class Compendium

Faster Monkey Games
The Gyre
Re-Energizers
Realm of the Technomancer

James Mishler Games
JMG First Three Years Bundle (all of their products)

Lesser Gnome
Whisper & Venom

The Savage AfterWorld
Deviant Database
Deviant Database 2.0
One Year In The Savage AfterWorld

The Knotty-Works
Going Postal - Tech Bites (Microbots)
Going Postal - Tech Bites (Vehicles)
Table Scraps Issue 1
Table Scraps Issue 2
Table Scraps Issue 3
Table Scraps Issue 4

Mithgarthr Entertainment
The Mines of Valdhum (for Labyrinth Lord)
The Mines of Valdhum (for Fifth Edition)
 Campaigns in Cairnvarthi (campaign setting is system neutral, included adventure is for Fifth Edition)

Taskboy Games
Manse on Murder Hill
Tranzar's Redoubt

The Savage AfterWorld  was originally founded as Mutant Future resource and, in fact, that game what was got me back into role-playing after a lengthy absence. So, in a way, I owe Ryan a bit of a debt for refueling my interest in this hobby of ours as well as this blog's existence. So please take a moment and support one of the guys who gave us a great "science-fantasy role-playing game of mutants, ruins, and radiation."