Numenera: the Scuttling Vivisctors and the Aquarium

For the last few months I've been running Numenera. It’s been a lot of fun, the system is light enough to grasp immediately but with enough hooks and crunchy bits to keep it all from feeling too samey. It’s setting drifts far enough from standard fantasy to let me go very weird early and often. The one rule my brain can never remember is GM Intrusion. Any time you would pixel bitch or whatever a player in another game you instead offer a GM Intrusion. If they accept they get XP and bad things happen to them. If not then nothing. All those times my players should have said “We search the room!” and instead walk into certain doom I must preface with “Would you like to be hosed?” I should give my players a little flag to wave when I screw them over to remind me about it. A session report follows:

Meanwhile, in the Ninth World, word had begun to spread that a cache of numenera had been discovered somewhere outside Jaston. Being of a parochial sort the locals wouldn't touch the stuff, so traders, thieves, and greedy folk of all sorts were descending on the town. This included the party, a dashing jack in a hat, a shady nano cobbled together from spare parts and meat, and a chilling glaive wielding a glass sword. After a short stop in Jaston, long enough to piss off an entire bar, punch their way out, and pick up a floating local nanokid, they set off in the direction of the crevasse where the numenera had been found. After a day’s travel they stopped at Genson’s farm. The place was deserted, with nothing but a half-mad, badly wounded aneen still alive. The discovery of a trapdoor in the main house led them into the basement, but not before releasing a pair of shadowy, flying things into the evening air. The remains of Genson and his family were found below with horrible weals and deep bites marring their forms.
Their paranoia raised, the party barricaded themselves inside the farmhouse and set watch for the night. Soon a tremendous banging began at the windows and doors as somethings tried to force its way inside. The black squamous things had returned with their brood, forcing up the door and windows and flying inside. The group repelled the creatures with esotery and bolt, and was nearly overwhelmed before a timely kitchen fire drove the things off, leaving one of their number oozing black ichor and sparking in its death throes. The party decided to sleep the rest of the night in the open air, protected by a roaring bonfire.
After an uneasy night in the open the group continued on to the crevasse. It cut a deep scar across the rolling plains, bisecting an ancient ruin. A long hallway lay open to the air, pale stone or synth gleaming at the bottom. After a short climb they reached the closest tunnel. Through it was a large round chamber filled with glowing symbols that made slow pirouettes around the room, while smaller gleaming discs scattered and wheeled like schools of fish. The discs were attracted the party, but gave painful shocks to whoever they touched. This distracted everyone from the scuttling vivisectors hidden behind the swirling holograms. These lobster-like synthetics had arrays of scalpels and surgical tools on long articulated arms with which they attempted to implant the discs into the group’s bodies. After a confusing melee the vivisectors and most of the discs lay in pieces on the dusty floor. We ended the session there.

JOESKY TAX

The Aquarium

This circular room is full of confusing holographic displays and a cloud of schooling AI. Hiding behind the displays are scuttling vivisectors.

Schooling AI are small discs that float freely in the air and deliver jolts to whatever they touch. They are controlled by simple processes that keep them moving in schools throughout a set area. These are level 1 foes, but they cannot be hit by normal weapons. PC’s in the area of a school of these things take a point of Might damage each round from electric shock, ignoring armor.

Scuttling Vivisectors are synthetic creatures that look similar to marine lobsters, but bristle with surgical tools. They are level 2 foes, but hide at Level 3. They will attempt to implant Schooling AI discs into PC’s on a successful attack. Implanted discs deal an extra point of damage each round. PC’s with 4 or more discs implanted will be lifted into the air and all actions will be one step more difficult.

This is part 1 of 3. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

From the Zones -- Brain Jelly

An entry for +John Till's From the Zones community project!

Zones are places where the laws of reality roll up like hot linoleum. One of the stranger anomalies are what has come to be known as 'brain jelly.' No physical vector has been been found but the Institutes postulate that it is the side effect of an unknown form of radiation. It has no dramatic effect, stalkers who find themselves in an area of brain jelly rarely discover so until it is far too late. The process begins slowly, a stalker might notice a blue stain on ground beside him, or a pool of azure liquid, but more likely nothing. His mind will begin to spin. This first seems natural, the highly tuned senses stalkers need to survive are especially sensitive today, but the stalker's thoughts come faster and faster. This is the first and final warning that he is in incredible danger. If he can get away from the area then he might survive. A moment later and a blue liquid will begin to slowly sweat from his head. This goes unnoticed until it begins to fill his mask or goggles, but by then it is too late. The stalker panics, blue sweat becomes rivulets as his mind races. It quickly coalesces into a jelly. This jelly is incredibly slippery, as it covers the stalker's body he becomes helpless. This slippery state is what kills most stalkers, they fall off ledges or into other anomalies, but those who rest gently have it worst, they're slowly entombed by brain jelly, suffocated by their own thoughts. By the next morning their bodies are gone, leaving only a blue stain where they lay.

I once heard of a team of scientists who ran afoul of brain jelly, it devoured even faster them as they tried to think up an escape from the clammy blue surrounding them. Only a single half-witted bodyguard made it out alive.

A PC can safely stay in an area affected by Brain Jelly up to (20-Intelligence) rounds. After that the brain jelly will begin to form. Save vs Petrify or the PC will be trapped in the blue gel and permanently lost.

Beast Kings

The Nemean lion, Jaws, the White Hart, all exemplar animals of extreme rarity and potency. These kind of singular creatures are common in story and myth. Outside of dire whatevers D&D doesn't have a lot of monsters like this, and that just makes a critter grouchy and cro magnon. We need more weirdness! When your players go into the deepest, darkest part of the forest in pursuit of something Old King Boar lies ready to repel invaders in his kingdom, and he needs more heft! This requires tables. When you create a legendary monster, beast king, ornery old thing, or what have you, roll on the Legendary Features table.

Legendary Features (roll 1d12)

1. 
   This creature is enormous for its breed, up to double the size of a normal specimen. Roll an extra 1d4 hit dice. How did it get that way? Roll 1d6, 1 Cannibalism, 2 Divine Parentage, 3 Extreme Age, 4 Eating Children, 5 Worship, 6 The King’s Sin
2. Blood-colored eyes roll madly in protruding sockets seeking life to rend and tear. +2 to hit.
3. Slavering jaws curl back from a maw packed with needle-sharp teeth. Increase bite damage by one die type (1d4 becomes 1d6, etc) or gain a bite attack at 1d4 damage
4. Baroque and terrible horns crown this animal’s brow, far larger and more ornate than its mundane kin. Increase horn damage by one die type or gain a horn attack at 1d4 damage.
5. This creature leads a group of similar animals and is always found with 1d6+1 who act as guards and concubines.
6. Many have tried to slay this beast, all have failed. Embedded in its hide are spears and arrows from ancient battles like a grim mantle. Add 1d4 to armor class
7. The flesh of this beast has turned toxic from strange sustenance or hate. Save versus poison on each blow or take an extra 1d6 damage.
8. After being wounded in battle this animal will inexorably follow its attackers. Nothing will sway the creature from its task until it has killed its targets. Whether it acts with restraint in its hunt or cuts a gruesome path depends entirely on the animal in question.
9. Sprouting from this beast's neck are 1d10 extra heads. Each two heads gives the creature an extra bite attack.
10. This creature has 1d6 extra pairs of limbs. Each pair adds an extra 5’ to its movement. Each two pairs gives the beast an extra +1 to hit.
11. When slain there is a 75% chance the creature will rise again immediately at half its original hit points. It also grows new heads and limbs if any were dismembered.
12. This creature has a strange weakness, a bane that will drive it away or destroy it utterly.

1. The touch of a virgin

2. A willow switch

3. Silver

4. Being bound in red string

5. Fresh cucumber

6. The sound of bells

7. The beast’s heart is hidden in a strange part of its body

8. Flute playing puts the beast to sleep

9. Mesmerized by an object of beauty

10. Burned by smooth river stones

Star Fails III -- Payday in the Frozen City

The Crew
Jason Slade, big damn hero
Gold-Gold-Mauve, gun-amoeba
Squishy, nee-"Greenie," eukaryote bullet-sponge
Grug-Ugh-ng, turret puncher
Private Kipley, man of action
Skrillix, squid misanthrope

by Steve Burg

Deep beneath the ice of Iota Cancri VIIIc lies a nameless, dead city. The crew crouched in the dark, a third of them blissed out on alien chemicals. Grug-Ugh-ng took the lead once again, and decided they would wait out the effects on their compatriots. After a few hours nervously watching the dark tunnels Jason and Kipley shook off the effects and the crew set off again. The ancient complex was eerily silent and heavily damaged, collapsed tunnels stymied their progress. The team might have given up were it not for the heroic leadership of the captain ordering Kipley to dig his way through. Progress went much faster from there, and the party was able to ambush a pair of harmless spacecats before being ambushed themselves by rogue defense turrets at the bottom of a stairwell. The automated defenses nearly killed Squishy, but the crew was able to pull him out of range and patch him up with Science! They both exploded a few seconds later under a barrage of bear and laser fire. Those sentries proved to be the last active defenders of the ruins, with only unstable ceilings, ancient diseases, and poison gas standing between the crew and a cache of ancient artifacts. The crew made off with an ancient statuette, a hologram, a mysterious hollow cylinder, some drugs, platinum coins, and a parachute.

Kipley, by the inestimable +Ron Power 

Stellar Piracy

The Hulks & Horrors rules mention pirates as a relatively common occurrence while surveying systems, but outside of the "Sentient Crew" encounter at the top of every table leaves the specifics up to the DM to adjudicate. I say why adjudicate when you can roll on a sweet table during system generation! Append this to your system generation process and roll out the six-inch mass drivers. And dice.

Step 3a: Determine Pirates in System
Roll 1d4, on a 1 pirates have a large presence in the system.

Roll 1d6 for each orbit, on a 1 pirates have a base at this location. Terrestrial/Dwarf: 1-2 on surface, 3-4: on moon, 5-6: space station. Gas Giant: 1-2 cloud city, 3-4 on moon, 5-6 space station. Belt: 1-2 hollow asteroid, 3-4 space station, 5-6 repurposed hulk. Deep Space Station: inside station. Artificial World: 1-5 inside construct, 6 space station.

Check for pirate encounters each time a PC vessel moves to a new orbit. Roll 1d6, on a 1 pirates have detected your vessel. If this orbit contains a pirate base an encounters occurs on a 1 to 3. The lead vessel of the crew will hail the PCs, roll on the Pirate Reaction table to determine their attitude.

Pirate Reactions (1d6)
1-2: Attack, the pirates make dire threats and engage.
3-4: Extortion, the pirates demand 1d6x1000 credits to ensure safe passage, parties unable to pay will be attacked.
5: Neutral, the pirates are kind of bored and looking to chat.
6: Friendly, the pirates are willing to impart the PCs with some system data or an item if they have the cash.

Pirate Encounters
Roll 1d3 for the number of vessels in the encounter. Roll 1d5 for the Hull Class of each pirate vessel. The total value of each should be no more than (1d4 + Hull Class) x 100,000 credits. That number is entirely arbitrary and possibly terrible, I ain't got time to stat those ships for you.

Star Fails II

I had two new players for this session of my Hulks & Horrors campaign for a total of three new characters after the rout last time. After getting the new players up to speed (and troubleshooting the mic on our Hangout bro) we picked up where we had left off, in system Iota Cancri mourning the loss of captain Keith Slade.

The Crew
Keith Slade, heroic captain (eaten by spiders)
Grug-Ugh-ng, bearman first mate
Private Kipley, space marine
Skrillix, floating squid reprobate
Newcomers
Jason Slade, acting captain
Gold-Gold-Mauve, gun-amoeba
"Greenie,"

by Axelinde

Unwilling to tarnish their leader's reputation by failing the mission Grug-Ugh-Ng took command, setting a course for the gas giant deeper in-system. Dozens of moons orbited it, but only a few held anything of value. The Daedalus detected up a Galactic Surveyor emergency beacon from a forest moon. Breaking orbit in their shuttle the group came across the wreck of a crashed ship. A trio of occupied emergency cryo-pods were found within the torn fuselage, functioning on a trickle of remaining battery power. Within the pods lay a human and two omega reticulans. After revival they introduced themselves as Jason Slade, time-traveling brother of the ex-captain on a rescue mission to save Keith (arriving too late!) Gold-Gold-Mauve ("GolGol"), and "Greenie." The crew was also able to scavenge survey data from the crashed ship's computer. That left only a two planetoids for study, a stone planet of blood-red rivers (which the group deemed "too metal") or an ice world. They set course for the winter wonderland, and once in orbit discovered that ancient cities covered the small moon, buried beneath almost unbroken glaciers.

Landing their shuttle on a ridge above a large crevasse, the crew clambered into a tunnel leading into the frozen city. The architecture was unfamiliar, reminiscent of ceramic with a tendency toward organic curves and peaked ceilings. The tunnels were full of jellyfish-like creatures, which seemed harmless enough until Jason caught a face-full of soporific powder released from creatures, rendering him helpless but very happy. In retaliation the crew reduced the creatures to bubbling heaps on the floor. The team tied him to the shoulders of Kipley cyberpod heavy armor, where he'd be least likely to harm himself or anyone else. Things went downhill from there. Every room seemed to include more of the floaters, and they soon lost Kipley to the creatures' mind-effecting compound as well.

Will the crew fight something other than pitiful 1HD jellyfish monsters?

Will they find anything worth looting??

Will the time travel thread ever be revisited???

Who is the man in black????

Jacking In

Hulks and Horrors is a scifi retroclone combining the human-scale ruleset of D&D with a stripped down Traveller stellar model. It comes equipped with some amazing tables for generating adventuring locations, from the macro game of sector exploration to the smallest underground bunker or space station. You can be a bearman or a floating squid and pilot a Winnebago bristling with nuclear missiles. It is the best, and I've just started running it! H&H paints its universe with a broad brush, so when I see at the bottom of Complex room table an entry for "VR Access Node" and nothing more it demands I make a table for what terrible misfortune befalls whoever jacks in!

Accessing VR Nodes

The Ancients left behind technological wonders of infinite variety, some of the more common pieces of tech are virtual reality systems. These sophisticated systems were used for education, simulation, entertainment, even basic maintenance of the facilities they were part of.

Node Technology (1d6) 

1. Headset and Gloves
2. Holographic Interface
3. Cranial Jacks (1 damage/use)
4. Psychic Mechanism
5. Cybernetic Cocoon
6. Memetics

Figuring out the Ancient technology and successfully accessing a node requires a INT check.

VR Effects (1D12)

1. All doors on this floor unlock.
2. All doors on this floor open.
3. All doors on this floor lock.
4. Knowledge floods your brain. +2 to all checks to use technology in this complex.
5. Alarm sounds, attracting nearby monsters. They arrive in 1d3 turns.
6. Location of the nearest loot.
7. Psychedelic mimetics fry your psyche for 1d6 damage.
8. Simulation of infinite space populated by Precursor ghosts.
9. Defense protocol summons 1d4+1 Servicebots to repel intruders. They arrive in 1d4 turns.
10. A map of this level is downloaded into your brain.
11. The defense system activates. Roll a hazard for this room.
12. The node temporarily overwrites your language centers, you speak only a forgotten Precursor dialect for 1d6 hours.