Monday, March 29, 2010

Notorius NPCs: Darius Clawspawn

Darius Clawspawn
4th Level Insectaur

STR: 13 --- INT: 8
DEX: 13 --- WIL: 16
CON: 12 --- CHA: 7
HPs: 43 --- AC: 3
Mutations: venomous stinger, hard outer shell, echolocation, atrophied cerebellum

Darius Clawspawn is an Insectaur outcast who has become a bandit in the Mutant Future. Born into a colony of scorpion Insectaurs, he felt his nest could easily overtake and enslave the other puny humans and mutants in his region. The rest of his colony, however, are a peaceful race, wanting nothing to do with his plans of conquest and domination. Darius left his colony years ago and he has travelled the wastelands, attacking and destroying those he feels are weak and purposeless in the Mutant Future.

Darius has a misshapen, mutated torso of a human mutant and the lower body of a scorpion. He has two large claws where his hands would be, giving him 3d6 of crushing damage when he grasps an enemy with them. As an Insectaur, Darius has developed other insect-like mutations his species are known for. Taking after the pre-war species of scorpion, Darius has developed a hard outer shell which improves his AC to 3. He can attack with a large venomous stinger as well. If successfully hit, a PC will take 5d6 of poison damage unless a save vs. poison is made (then it's half-damage). Darius' INT score is low due to his atrophied cerebellum, so he can be easily out-thought and out-maneuvered. But his level, DEX score , and echolocation mutation all give him a +4 to hit and +1 to damage, making him a formidable opponent in a fight.

Darus is a good local enemy to place into any Mutant Future campaign. He can be the leader of a bandit raider group who is terrorizing the local villagers. (Darius has recruited a local band of mants and cockroachoids to assist him in his goals.) He may also be found ambushing trader caravans or trying to set himself up as a local warlord. Darius has grand plans to taking over the world, but his low INT and rash nature makes that unlikely. But his strength and natural weaponry makes him just as dangerous when faced head-to-head.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

One Page Dungeon Contest 2010 Meets The Apocalypse

I'm a big fan of the One Page Dungeon Contest (though I've never entered - Bad Sniderman, bad!). I love how the entries can cram an entire evening's worth of adventure and action onto one page. This year, most of the entries encompass the fantasy genre. There are a smattering of sci fi, deep space scenarios too. And this year, there appear to be two entries in the post-apoacalyptic genre, which make my mutated radioactive heart beat just a bit faster! These two mutated entries are:



This year's entries are now undergoing judging, and a winner will be announced on April 18. I wish all 63 entrants the best of luck!

(PS: Last year's OPDC had one post-apocalyptic entry as well - specifically for Mutant Future! Check out last year's MineCo 3000 Uranium Ore Extraction Complex!)

Thursday, March 25, 2010

[Thundarr Thursday] World Of Thundarr Sourcebook Updated

No new entries today, but I did have time to update The World of Thundarr the Barbarian Sourcebook with all of the recent new material posted here. This month's updates include:
  • Sarott's Gauntlet
  • Desert People
  • Sheriff Korb
  • Death Flowers

As always, my plans are to update the sourcebook once a month with any new material added so this will always be up-to-date. Announcements (like this one) will be made whenever an updated file is posted. The full sourcebook will always remain free and available for download over there in the right-hand column.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Savage Menagerie: Parascreech

No. Enc.: 1
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: Fly: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 9
Hit Dice: 1 hp
Attacks: None
Damage: None
Save: L0
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: None

The Parascreech is a small yellow harmless bird. A descendant of the Ancient housepet, Parascreeches are usually tamed and kept as Mutant Future pets as well. However, the Parascreech has evolved with a very powerful set of vocal cords giving it the shriek mutation.

If a Parascreech is disturbed or agitated, it will let loose with a deafening scream affecting all within 10 foot radius. Those who fail a save versus stun attacks will take 1d4 points of sonic damage and be deafened for 1d6+4 rounds. Those who successfully save are unaffected.

Parascreeches are obviously useful as nonaggressive guardians. An NPC may set one in a cage near some valuables he hopes to protect. Or the PCs may find a Parascreech in a cage hanging outside of the entrance to a bandit hideout. When the Parascreech lets loose, you can bet its owner will come running to see what the commotion's all about.
Some Parascreeches have been trained to remain silent when a password is said to them. The password is usually something innocent like "Pretty bird!" or "Kiss kiss kiss!" If someone approaches without saying the password though, the trained Parascreech will begin screaming.

Mutations: shriek