[Thundarr Thursday] Savage Menagerie: Grizzly Snake

No. Enc.: 1d4 (1d6)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 2 (bite, constrict)
Damage: 1d6, 2d10
Save: L3
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: VI

The Grizzly Snake is a 20-foot-long snake-like creature that lives in desert and arid areas. The Grizzly Snake isn't a true reptile, however. It is a mutated legless bear that has evolved a lengthened snake-like body covered in a matted brown fur with a large bear's head at one end.

The Grizzly Snake is as aggressive as any angered bear. They do not live in caves though, preferring to use its hyperburrowing mutation to hollow out a large underground pit in which it lives. A Grizzly Snake has evolved a very acute vibration sense that gives it the ability to feel vibrations in the earth from up to 200 yards away. The Grizzly Snake can use this sense like a radar, "feeling" the approximate position of a nearby victim through vibrations from them walking or riding above. The Grizzly Snake will then burrow to a position under the victim, exploding out from under them and surprising them, gaining initiative in the attack.

A Grizzly Snake attacks by wrapping around and strangling a victim. If successful, it will crush a victim for 2d10 hit points of damage. The constriction continues on subsequent rounds. They can also bite for 1d6 hit points of damage, although the bite is not poisonous.

Mutations: hyperburrowing, vibration sense

NOTE: This creature is inspired the episode “Challenge of the Wizards” from the classic Ruby Spears post-apocalyptic cartoon “Thundarr the Barbarian.” Stay tuned each week for “Thundarr Thursday”!

Rock'N'Roll Those Dice With This Desktop Dice Roller

Tired of toting my dice around with me everywhere, I decided to look for an online number randomizer (other than the useful but bland RANDOM.ORG site). I was very surprised and very pleased to stumble across the Rock'N'Roll Dice Roller available for a free download at Mad Ogre Games. Some of the features in this nifty little app include:

• Features over 30 backgrounds by various artists
• 12 different dice textures to choose from
• Pick any kind of dice combination
• Dice results displayed in two different ways
• Realistic dice rolling physics
• Totally random number generation
• Dice thrown via Physics Engine

The dice clatter, tumble, and fall just like real dice and you can mix and match the styles and types with each roll. Need to roll 3d6 with 1d12? Go ahead and toss whatever you want. I can see this being a very useful tabletop computer app for Mutant Lords (or GMs or DMs or what have you). Free download available for Windows XP or better, as well as Mac OS X 10.4 and better. Go grab it here: Mad Ogre Games Rock'N'Roll Dice Roller!

New Character Race: The Time-Displaced

Hit Dice: 1d6 per point of CON
Mutations: none

The denizens of the Mutant Future live amongst the ruined flotsam of Those Who Came Before. Occasionally, one of these historical outcasts will somehow surface, finding him or herself in the post-apocalyptic hellscape.

The term "Time-Displaced" refers to any character or NPC who is ripped from the period prior to Final Wars that lead to the destruction of society. This does not mean, however, that the character comes from a time just prior to the apocalypse. A Roman Centurion, a 1950s suburban housewife, and a soldier plucked from the frontlines of the Final Wars would all fall into the category of "Time-Displaced." Obviously the skill sets and technical knowledge each possesses will be vastly different, so it will be up to the Mutant Lord to help guide the player in the development of the character's background and abilities. More on that later.

Rather than rolling up a character’s ability scores at the outset, it is more important to initially determine the time period the Time-Displaced arrived from. (It is more common to encounter a Time-Displaced character who hails from the recent past rather than from prehistory. However, the occasional "defrosted Viking" has been encountered in the wastelands.) To determine what time period the character hails from, roll 1d20 and refer to the table below:

1. Stone Age (pre-3500 BC)
2. Metal Ages (Copper, Bronze, Iron - 3500 BC to 1000 AD)
3. Middle Ages (1000 to 1500 AD)
4-6. Age of Discovery (1500 to 1800 AD)
7-13. Modern Age (1800 to 2000 AD)
14-20. Pre-Apocalyptic Age (2000 AD to The Final Wars)

If desired, now would be a good time to flesh out HOW the character ended up in the Mutant Future. Some of the more common ways include:

* Deliberate (or accidental) freezing via cryogenics or suspended animation device. This character would be automatically released due to a preset timelock or perhaps discovered by an adventuring party.
* A time-traveling experiment in the past went awry, hurling the hapless character forward in time. Or a still-running time-traveling device in the Mutant Future reaches back through time and pulls the character to the "present."
* The character drops into a state of hibernation when they are overcome by a harsh frozen environment, ie, “frozen caveman in a block of ice”. They revive once they thaw.
* The PC steps through a naturally occurring rift in the space-time continuum that promptly seals behind them after they are dropped into the Mutant Future.
* The character could have found a way to slow or stop the aging process, and they are actually thousands of years old.

Once the background is fleshed out, the character’s abilities can be rolled. Over the centuries, the abilities of the average human has changed as well. To reflect this, the player should roll their abilities as normal, with the following exceptions:

*** Stone Age characters were strong and hearty, necessary to carry them through the daily task of just trying to survive in the harsh environment of the prehistoric world. Stone Age characters receive a +3 bonus to their STR and CON rolls. They also receive a +4 damage bonus when they hit with any handheld weapon due to their brutishness in combat. However, they have a –15% to their Technology Roll Modifier having never before encountered anything more complex than a rabbit snare. They may even be frightened or overwhelmed by high-tech equipment, equating it with “magic.”

*** Metal Age characters were there for the invention and refining of metal weapons and have refined their abilities and fighting skills to reflect this. They receive a +3 bonus to their STR and DEX rolls. They also receive a +4 to hit bonus with any handheld weapon to reflect their fighting skills. They have a –5% to their Technology Roll Modifier, but they will not fear high-tech, knowing it to be simply machinery they do not understand.

*** Middle Age characters hail from the “Age of Enlightment,” when mankind was beginning to unravel the mysteries of the world around him using the scientific method. Art, civility, and exploring the human condition were most important. To reflect this, characters from the Middle Ages receive a +4 bonus to their CHA and WIL rolls. Middle Age characters were experimenting with ranged weapons like bows, crossbows, and some primitive firearms, so they receive a +2 to hit with ranged weapons. They also receive a +5% to their Technology Roll Modifier, as they have a basic understanding of some of the mechanical principles at work.

*** Age of Discovery characters have begin to spread out and explore their world. They are known for being nomads and travelers as they traversed the world, discovering new lands and new cultures. They have built up their endurance and dexterity to make these voyages, so they receive a +4 bonus to their CON and DEX rolls. Characters from this era have practiced extensively with ranged weapons in order to protect and feed themselves while in the wild. They receive a +2 damage bonus when using a ranged weapon. They also receive a +10% to their Technology Roll Modifier, as they are on the cusp of the modern age of invention.

*** Modern Age characters come from what would be the player’s actual time period – the real world “present.” Modern Age characters are headstrong in more ways than one, giving them a +4 bonus to their INT and WIL rolls. Modern Age characters have evolved with a knowledge of most forms of weaponry and thus receive a +1 bonus to hit and +1 to damage with all weapons, both handheld and ranged. They also receive a +15% to their Technology Roll Modifier, as they are very tech-savvy.

*** Pre-Apocalyptic Age characters come from our “future” - the period just before the bombs fell. They are responsible (or at least experienced with) the advanced tech of that period, inventing most of the high-tech devices, vehicles, and weaponry so coveted by the mutants of the Mutant Future. Because of their advanced knowledge and their personal savoir faire, Post-Modern Age characters receive a +4 to their INT and CHA rolls. They receive no bonuses on their combat/to hit rolls (they let their androids do their fighting, or they just dropped bombs from a distance). However, they receive a +25% to their Technology Roll Modifier, as they were responsible for the creation of many of those devices and would have first-hand experience or knowledge of them.

All Time-Displaced characters calculate their hit points by rolling 1d6 per point of CON. Since they were not raised in the harsh, bizarre environment of the Mutant Future, they receive a –2 saving throw adjustment when saving versus the effects of poisons or radiation. Also, no Time-Displaced PCs will be found with mutations of any kind and will not mutate if exposed to radiation (although they will take damage from the exposure).

[Thundarr Thursday] Savage Menagerie: Chatterer

No. Enc.: 1d4
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120' (40')
Armor Class: 4
Hit Dice: 9
Attacks: 3 (bite/claw/claw)
Damage: 1d8/1d10/1d10
Save: L5
Morale: 9
Hoard Class: VII

Getting its name from the clicking and clacking it makes with its claws and mandibles, the Chatterer is a giant mutant beetle with an incredibly heavy exoskeleton. They are normally found in caves and other underground caverns, preferring to leap out of the darkness to surprise a victim.

The Chatterer attacks with its two giant pincer claws, grabbing and crushing a victim for 1d10 hit points of damage. They may also lift a victim to its mouth, biting them for an additional 1d8 hit points. It is very difficult to successfully attack a Chatterer as their natural armor is nearly impenetrable. However, they are very adverse to fire and will take an extra 1d6 hit points of damage whenever they come into contact with it or are attacked with fire.

Chatterers have only an insectoid intelligence and cannot be trained or otherwise tamed. They attack by instinct only. Some wizards have been known to trap a Chatterer, letting it get nice and hungry before releasing it onto a foe to be dispatched. Chatterers have also wandered into villages, attacking and consuming the weak and the small before being driven out by the villagers. A rampaging Chatterer is a dangerous creature to contend with.

Mutations: natural armor, epidermal susceptibility

NOTE: This creature is inspired by the episode "Master of the Stolen Sunsword" from the classic Ruby Spears cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian." Stay tuned each week for Thundarr Thursday!