Summer on the Convention Trail

Hey, looky there. It looks like I’ll actually post something here before the month runs out.

OK, so every now and then I get to pick the lock on my cage and escape into the wild for a few days before a refugee from Animal Planet comes and shoots me with a tranquilizer dark and hauls me back to the Freelancer Designers’ Home for the Mad. As summer creeps up, I know for certain I’ll be out and about and those of you interested in meeting me in the flesh can find me at certain venues. If history is any indicator, I suspect your second or third question for me will be “When’s Stonehell 2 coming out?”

As of right now, I’m scheduled to attend three conventions this summer, with a fourth a strong possibility. Here are the stops on my Summer Rampage Tour:

June 6^th-9^th: North Texas RPG Con—I’ll actually be arriving on the 5^th, so you’re sure to see me if you’re an early arrival at the hotel. I’ll be looking to play something because I’m a busy man that weekend once the con officially starts. I think all of my games are filled, but you’re always welcome to come by and see if there’s a no-show or two. I’m really very accommodating. My schedule is:

Thursday, June 6^th @ 6 PM in Trinity III at Table 4: DCC RPG—“Frozen in Time”
Friday, June 7^th @ 10 AM in Trinity III at Table 8: DCC RPG—“A Night on the Town”
Friday, June 7^th @ 6 PM in Trinity IV at Table 7: Shiverwhen Playtest—“The Perils of the Book Trade”
Saturday, June 8^th @ 10 AM: I’m actually playing! “Metamorphosis Alpha” with Jim Ward. I’m two for two in MA with Jim at the helm. This means I’m likely a casualty this time around.
Saturday, Jun 8^th @ 6 PM in Trinty IV at Table 7: Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future—“The Great Stonehell Laser Massacre”

July 3^rd-7^th: Dexcon in Morristown, NJ. This one is not 100% guaranteed yet, but do to its proximity to my base of operations and the good things I’ve heard about it, it’s likely I’ll be attending and running some DCC RPG. More details as they emerge.

July 12^th-14^th: Connecticon in Hartford, CT: Hey, look it me! I’m a Tradition Gaming Guest of Honor at Connecticon. I’ll be bringing DCC RPG and doing another Shiverwhen playtest. My schedule is:

Friday, July 12^th @ 8 PM: DCC RPG—“Frozen in Time”
Saturday, July 13^th @ 9 AM: DCC RPG—“In the Court of Chaos”
Saturday, July 13^th @ 8 PM: Shiverwhen Playtest
Sunday, July 14^th @ 9 AM:  DCC RPG—“A Night on the Town”

August 15^th-18^th: The mother of all conventions, GenCon! It’s my first GenCon ever. It’s taken more than 30 years, but I finally get to attend the biggest RPG convention in the U.S. if not the world. I’ve got a bunch of games schedule and it’s also likely I can be found at or around the Goodman Games booth in the exhibitor’s hall in between events. My schedule is:

Thursday, August 15^th @ 7 PM: DCC RPG—“The Croaking Fane”
Friday, August 16^th @ 9 AM: DCC RPG—“Frozen in Time (zero-level funnel)”
Friday, August 16^th @ 7 PM: DCC RPG—“The Croaking Fane”
Saturday, August 17^th @ 9 AM: DCC RPG—“Frozen in Time (1^st level heroes)”
Saturday, August 17^th @ 7 PM: DCC RPG—“A Night on the Town”

Crap. That's a lot on my plate this summer. I better get back to work.

The Obscure Octavo: Thuggee Bear

It’s amazing what a change of mental scenery will do for the creative process. Sometimes just changing genres for even a short period can result in unexpected mental leaps.

I mentioned last post that my character was adamant that the body count in the CoC game could be explained away as the actions of an angry bear. When we found a body that was suffering from both a massive bite wound AND signs of strangulation, that theory began to unravel (hence the “bear and boa constrictor working in tandem” alteration to the hypothesis). Another investigator proposed the counter-argument that we might be dealing with a bear armed with a garrote – a culprit I then dubbed “Thuggee Bear” after Antonio Fargas’ character on “Starsky and Hutch.”

It turns out that a strangulating bear isn’t a bad idea for a Mutant Future beastie…

Thuggee Bear
No. Enc: 1 (1d4)
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 120’ (40’)
Armor Class: 6
Hit Dice: 7
Attacks: 3 (2 claws, bite) or 4 (tentacles)
Damage: 1d3+3/1d3+3/1d6+3 or 1d3 (per tentacle)
Save: F3
Morale: 8
Hoard Class: VI

Thuggee bears are mutated grizzly bears that have grown to prodigious size. In addition to their huge stature, two pairs of tentacles grow from their shoulders and their fur is a bright yellow. These massive ursine monsters are prone to anger and it is only their near-blindness that allows the occaisonal victim to escape a thuggee bear attack alive.

Thuggee bears attack first with their 10’ long tentacles. These tentacles constrict victims on a successful attack and deal 1d3 points of damage each successive round. For each tentacle constricting an opponent, the victim suffers a cumulative attack penalty of -1. A constricting tentacle can be cut off if a total of six or more points of damage are dealt with one blow. Once a victim is entwined by its tentacles, a thuggee bear will drag it close to unleash it deadly claw/claw/bite upon it. It gains a +2 bonus to attack any creature wrapped in its tentacles with its claws or bite (thus nullifying its vision impairment modifier).

Mutations: aberrant form (tentacles), gigantism (19’ feet tall), vision impairment

While many travelers claim that a thuggee bear is the worst example of altered bear stock roaming Ruint Ert, a recent tri-D photo taken along the shores of the ‘Cific seem to indicate something much worse stalks the lands of Gogun:

Picture from Cult youth

Death Machine (Mutant Future version)

Slowly, the guardian arose and coasted back toward the flaming ruins of the two invaders. Training its remaining guns and weapons on the wrecks, the robot began to pound the remains until they were molten.

It was not called a Death Machine for nothing.

- “Out of the Sun…” by James M. Ward and Roger Raupp, Dragon #101

Although Mutant Future has an icon in the guise of the spidergoat, this beastie pales in comparison to the most iconic figure in Mutant Future’s older brother, Gamma World – the Death Machine. That thing’s taken on gods, for crying out loud. When one of these aptly-named weapons platforms comes humming over the horizon, it’s time to find the nearest patch of purple flowers to duck behind and start praying to your tribe’s totem that it passes you by.

In order to share that terror with the residents of Mutant Future, I’ve converted the 1st edition Gamma World version of the Death Machine into one suitable for use in MF (and therefore Labyrinth Lord and most early versions of D&D). I’ve worked the conversion as close as I could using the Robot section of the MF rulebook and it’s about 99.8% true to the original – a hellishly nasty piece of business. Take it out for a spin.

Death Machine (Mutant Future version)

Hit Dice: 100 (750 hit points)
Frame: Armature (60’ long x 27’ wide x 12’ high)
Locomotion: Inductors (Top Speed: 100 MPH)
Manipulators: None
Armor: Force screen (AC: 1; can take 400 points of damage before collapsing), Megatanium (AC -1)
Sensors: Nerve Web (range: 6 miles)
Mental Programming: Programming
Accessories: Self-destruct system, self-repair unit (NOTE: These are optional. The Gamma World version of the Death Machine didn't possess these qualities, but they're sensible additions to it. For a more by-the-book version, remove these accessories.)
Weaponry:

• 2 blaster cannons (short range/damage: up to 2,250’/100 points of damage; medium range/damage: up to 4,500’/75 points of damage; long range/damage: up to 9,000’/50 points of damage)
• 6 exterminator cannons (normal range/maximum range: 450’/900’; instant death to living targets not protected by a force field, otherwise no effect)
• 16 batteries of 4 fusion rifles each
• 4 plasma guns (normal range/maximum range: 300’/600’; damage as plasma bomb)
• 8 laser batteries of 5 guns each (short range/damage: up to 2,250’/20d6; medium range/damage: up to 4,500’/15d6; long range/damage: up to 9,000’/10d6)
• 6 micro-missile tubes with 1d100 missiles each
• 1 mini-missile launcher with 5d10 missiles.
• Energy damping field (150’ radius; acts as a negation bomb)