Prepare For Armageddon With Free Civil Defense Pamphlets

I stumbled across the Digital Comic Museum archive over the weekend, and I'm really enjoying what they have there. Scans of hundreds upon hundreds of classic public domain Golden Age comics from the 40s and 50s, up to around 1959. Superheroes, horror, romance, westerns, combat, etc. Check this time sink out when you have a sec, and you'll never leave.

One section that caught my eye was the Government Pamphlets section. I poked around for some Civil Defense materials from the 1950, during the height of the Red Scare, and found three pieces that could be used as fodder for your End of Times game sessions. Don't forget to Duck and Cover, kids!

!3781637 ?335

Nope, we're not discussing leet speak today, but you could consider it a grandfather of sorts. Type in today's title into any handy LED/LCD calculator (ignore the punctuation):





Turn it over, insert the punctuation in its new position, and you'll get:





Ever since I got my first LED Texas Instruments calculator back in the '70s, I've loved "calculator spelling" (apparently called "beghilos"). I'd hammer out various number sequences, turn the screen over and see if I spelled a word on the screen. C'mon, how many times have you spelled out "HELLO" or "BOOBIES"? Thousands of times, I'll bet. Well, a simple calculator screen can spell more than those two words. In fact, when the numbers 0 through 9 are viewed on the upside-down calculator screen, you have access to a 9-letter alphabet:

1 = I
2 = Z
3 = E
4 = h (lower-case)
5 = S
6 = g (lower-case)
7 = L
8 = B
9 = G again (though I prefer the lower-case g)
0 = O

So what can you do with this trick in your Mutant Future games? Well...

1. Your robot/android/cyborg NPCs can have both serial numbers and formal names. I had a bodyguard android with the designation "Model #317537." "But you may call me 'Leslie'," he said. Other good model number/names can include 7718 (Bill), 808 (Bob), 37738 (Belle), 317718 (Billie), 173 (Eli), and 35173 (Elise). Other good ones are Ellis, Eloise, Elsie, Gibbs, Giselle, Hobbes, Isis, and Lee. (I'll leave it up to you to figure out the model numbers on those last ones.)

2. An Ancient password could actually point toward a numeric code instead. Let's assume the PCs are trying to access a blast door sealed with a numeric codepad. They've found a scrap of paper hinting that the code means "honey makers". With a little creativity (and some INT rolls), they may come upon the solution of "BEES" or a numeric code of "5338".

3. Clever characters and NPCs may use the system as a code of sorts. A message that reads "0715 @ 1600" could be a message to meet at the nearby abandoned missile SILO at 1600 hours (or 4 p.m.).

This Blog Is Rated "Red Dawn"

The first movie to be released in the U.S. with a PG-13 rating was Red Dawn, a movie depicting the onset of World War III. Seems somewhat apropos for this blog then, eh?

"I Think It Says, 'You Should Enter.' C'mon!" ZAP ZAP ZAP ARGH

One issue that pops up in games of Mutant Future or other post-apocalyptic RPGs is the reading of Ancient signs, manuscripts, books, computer monitors, and texts. It seems like everything is marked and labeled, and whether the adventurers survive an encounter will occasionally hinge on whether they can properly translate an Ancient bit of signage or a long-forgotten map or tome. In the Mutant Future, reading is not only fundamental, it can be life-saving. But the game system for translating and understanding these Ancient bits of text is lacking. So here are some ideas on how I play those "So what's it say?" events.

A character can be proficient in the languages of other races and creatures per the MF rules, pg. 15, but I'd like to think that the Language of the Ancients is a bit more complicated and esoteric. Without going into overly complicated explanations and detail, I imagine that the "common tongue" of the Mutant Future is descended from the Ancient language of the region your games take place in. For instance, my Ancient language is English; yours may vary. Ergo, for roleplaying purposes, Mutant Future survivors have a basic chance of understanding any Ancient texts as their own base language is derived from it. This way, it's not required that someone choose "Ancient" as a language as everyone has the ability to fumble through a translation.

My base chance for a character to attempt an Ancient translation is a d% roll versus triple their INT. Someone with an INT of 10 has a 30% chance of correctly translating a bit of Ancient text. Someone with an INT of 15 has a 45% chance. And so on. A generous ML could also add the character's Tech Roll Modifier, to increase their likelihood of a correct reading. If a roll succeeds, the character should be able to get the general "gist" of the text as well as the major words on the sign/page. (This should only be for a sentence or two. A successful roll doesn't mean the character can suddenly read their way through The Great Gatsby.)

However, what if a character fails? Ah, this is where it gets interesting, and where I take a cue from one of my other favorite RPGs: Toon. Yes, the cartoon game. You see, in Toon, if a character fails a Read roll, they aren't told "You can't make it out." Instead, the character is given a mistranslated bit of text to deal with. "Caution: Danger Ahead!" becomes "Crazy Dances Ahead!" Whenever a PC tries to Read something, I make a secret roll instead of one out in the open. The PC doesn't know if he succeeded, nor does he know if the text I provided is correct or not. The same technique can provide a bit of tense mystery to your Mutant Future games as well.

PC1: "So what's the sign on the steel door say?"
ML: (rolls behind screen) "It says, 'You should enter.'"
PC1: (to the party) "I think it says 'You should enter.' C'mon!"
The characters swing open the door with the "Do Not Enter" sign and are promptly fired upon by laser turrets in the ceiling.

And since everyone has a chance at reading Ancient texts, it's a simple matter to have someone else double-check.

PC1: "So what's the sign on the steel door say?"
ML: (rolls behind screen) "It says, 'You should enter.'"
PC2: "I look at the door's sign too."
ML: (rolls) "You're pretty sure it's a warning to stay out."

I've used this system for years in post-apocalyptic games where the translation of Ancient texts plays a vital role. If you have a similar system in place, I'd love to hear about it.