[Samson Sunday] Notorious NPC: Oggar the Beastman

Oggar the Beastman: Init +6; Atk claw +6 melee (1d10) or bite +4 melee (1d8); AC 15; HD 4d8; hp 22; MV 40'; Act 1d20, 1d16; SP human form, domination; SV Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +3.

Oggar the Beastman was one of the strongest foes Samson ever faced. The powerful mutant was nearly Samson's equal in strength and reflexes, but its animalistic rage was the cause of its downfall.

The human scientist Vaxar was exposed to mists from a radioactive glow-geyser, causing his metamorphosis into a hulking beastman form. As Oggar, he possessed a lion's head and a body covered in reptilian scales with a crocodile's tail. His sharpened claws make for powerful weapons, as well as giving him an advantage when climbing. Oggar can also summon and control the wasteland beasts with the use of his powerful domination mutation. Several times, he summoned mutants to do his bidding and kill his foes for him.

Vaxar is aware of his beastlike mutant form, and he attempts to keep his dual nature hidden and his animalistic urges at bay. But Oggar is constantly struggling to get out to destroy humanity. Anytime Vaxar is exposed to radiation, Oggar will surface within 1d6 rounds -- and the beastman will slaughter any pure humans it encounters

NOTE: This NPC was inspired by the tale from Issue 5 of "Mighty Samson." Stay tuned each week for Samson Sunday!

Concept Pitch: The DCC/MCC Holiday Advent(ure) Calendar?

You ever have an idea for a project that just tickles the back of your brain for days and weeks and months and years upon end? This is that project for me.

For several years, I've thought about producing an RPG Holiday Advent(ure) Calendar. (See what I did there?) This would be a collection of 25 one-page adventures that would be released one each day from Dec. 1 through 25, much like an advent calendar. Each day of the holiday season - YAY - new adventure! And on the last day, all 25 would be bundled up into one compilation and made available to everyone. I always though this would be a neat little holiday "gift" that would be fun to produce and to have.

So why haven't I jumped on the horse and started this project? Several reasons:

1. I usually remember it around mid-November, when it's faaaar too late to try to get something like this written and in hands by Dec. 1.

2. I produced a similar project titled One Year in The Savage AfterWorld, which is a collection of 52 micro-adventures for Mutant Future and, honestly, it'd be tough from me to crank out 25 brand-new concepts that don't repeat a few within that tome.

3. Writing 25 one-pagers for one system would be overkill, because what if someone doesn't play that specific RPG? Or worse, what if I tried to write 25 one-pagers for 25 different systems? Then I'd have at least one of interest for everyone, but 24 other adventures they could care less about.

However, with the DCC/MCC system, there's enough similarity - yet variety - to make this work. There could be one-page encounters for DCC; some for MCC; some for the Shudder Mountains; some for Dark Frontiers; and Lahnkmar and Empire of the East and Dying Earth and Purple Planet and Umerica and I'm missing a TON of other settings. And all of these are compatible with each other, as mixing and matching is what it's all about.

I haven't decided yet whether this is the year or not, but what would be easiest for me would be to put out the clarion call for folks who wanted to contribute. I envision "drop-in" single encounters rather than multiple room dungeon crawls. (For what I envision, check out any of my Dangerous Encounter posts here at TSAW.) I hope that this post will both prompt me to put pen to paper and get started and/or that others who are interested in contributing might toss their hat into the ring.

[Samson Sunday] Savage Menagerie: Gulping Blob

Gulping Blob: Init +4; Atk bite +4 melee (1d20 plus swallowed whole); AC 15; HD 8d8; MV 20' swim; Act 1d20; SP camouflage, swallow whole; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +4.

The Gulping Blob is an aquatic creature that -- at first glance -- appears to be nothing more than a floating pile of flotsam drifting downstream. However, upon approaching the monster, its true nature is revealed.

The Gulping Blob is a limbless fur-covered beast that propels itself across the surface of rivers, lakes, and ponds using a series of tendrils that hang under the creature and in the water. Due to its slow movement and the accumulation of mud, twigs, and other debris on its surface, it is difficult to determine the dangerous nature of the beast (DC 17 Intelligence check to detect). When it nears its target, it suddenly opens its huge mouth, and the sudden rush of water will sweep its prey toward it. If the Gulping Blob makes a successful attack, it will swallow its prey whole if the bite damage exceeds the victim's hit points.

NOTE: This creature was inspired by the tale from Issue 5 of "Mighty Samson." Stay tuned each week for Samson Sunday!

[MCC RPG] Savage Menagerie: Crocotinae

Crocotinae: Init +3; Atk bite +2 melee (1d6); AC 12; HD 2d4; MV 20', fly 40’; Act 1d20; SP mental link amongst flock; SV Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +0; AL N; Crit M/d4.

The crocotinae (krow-KOT-in-ay) is a small duck-like creature with the head of an alligator or crocodile. Crocotinae (also called "snapping waddlers") make their nests in swampy or marshy areas, though they have been occasionally encountered in fresh water ponds and lakes. Brutally vicious and territorial, the crocotinay will attack anything it views as a threat to its nest or territory. It is also carnivorous, so a hungry crocotinae is a dangerous one. Crocotinae have developed a mental link amongst the flock. Whatever one snapping waddler sees, the entire flock sees and will react accordingly. One particular danger: As winter approaches, crocotinae will abandon their current nests and begin a southly migration. These V-shaped migratory flocks contain 2d10 crocotinae. During migration, the birds eat whatever they can find on route. Herd animals and wandering travelers spied by an overhead flock of crocotinae are often later discovered stripped to the bone. If a party spies a flock overhead, they had best find cover and hide while the crocotinae pass over. There is a 40% chance the party will be seen by the flock if they're out in the open or caught by surprise. And if they've been seen by one crocotinae, they've been seen by all of them, and the flock will swoop down to feed.  

(The Crocotinae originally appeared on this blog as a Mutant Future creature!) 

The Bunker Door Reopens: A Relaunch And A Reintroduction...

To those of you who are new to the bunker, welcome to The Savage AfterWorld. To those of you returning for the first time in years, welcome back.

By way of (re-)introduction, I'm Your Friendly Neighborhood Sniderman and host of this contaminated corner of the blogosphere. The Savage AfterWorld first opened back in June 2009 (13 years ago!) as a post-apocalyptic RPG-related blog focusing on Goblinoid Games' Mutant Future, which was the game that brought me back into the hobby after several decades of "grown-up stuff". After several years of producing material on this blog for that system - and a couple of supplements as well - I relaunched The Savage AfterWorld to cover a variety of my interests, like other RPGs (especially Pacesetter's Cryptworld!), boardgames, attending conventions, making new game pieces, etc. Although I enjoyed opening up TSAW to all of my other interests and writing about them, the lack of "theme" made the blog somewhat scattershot. Interest waned - both from me and this blog's readers - and TSAW languished. But it never truly ended, nor was it apparently forgotten...

While listening to a recent episode of Picks from the Print Mine, this blog was name-dropped as one of my contributions to post-apocalyptic RPG gaming. I was a bit taken aback as I really haven't breathed any radioactive life into the blog for close to 5 years. But I checked the stats and - sure enough - this blog and its content still gets a lot of hits. I mean, a LOT of hits. I can only assume that the desire for more mutated missives exists, ergo I've crawled back into the bunker and will start reaching out to the other survivors out there in the wastelands.

As some of you may know, I've taken a liking to Goodman Games' Mutant Crawl Classics RPG and produced a supplement or two for it. I've contributed to The Gongfarmer's Almanac over the years and have run dozens of MCC/DCC games online and at conventions. I've recently been working with Goodman Games as a freelance editor for some of their projects, and I've even written an adventure for their Mutant Crawl Classics line. (More on that in a future post.) So it stands to reason that the The Savage AfterWorld should be resurrected (or make that "mutated") to be true to its post-apocalyptic roots. So this blog will be refocused on post-apocalyptic RPGs (with occasional sojourns into non-Armageddon-related material and games I find, y'know, cool).

So hunker in your bunker, crack open an unlabelled can of foodstuffs, check the rad count outside, and settle back for more to come from The Savage AfterWorld!