Sunday, May 18, 2014

The 'Angels' Of The Wasteland - An Encounter For Mutant Future Or Any Post Apocalyptic Campaign

This encounter takes place in the Pennsylvania wastes,where the salvage and recovery of relics as well as technology is rich and yet few return from the heart of this once great state. 
Out in the middle of the Pennsylvania wastes  mile after mile of abandon homes, houses, and buildings forever echo with the silences of the wasteland. The PC's will come across the corpse of a purple scaled mutant dressed in a gray garment and cloak clutching a strange stone like book. This object is only six inches wide when open and seven inches tall. The artifact is made of some weird strangely fake stone or weird plastic like material. Yet it seems to radiate power and there is an undefinable presence about it. It is an air of power and domination that seems to hang about anyone handling this object. File:Diptych (PSF).png
Any psychic powers used to divine its original function and origin will reveal nothing about the thing except an air of sadness and desperation that clings to the actual object. Face after face will be viewed by the mutant using psionics gifts to probe the origin of this object. Within 1d4 rounds after the initial contact there will be a shadowy presence just over the party's shoulder. It will dog the party and not engage them. A shadowy presence that only seems to move by night and always seems two steps behind them.
Within 1d6 days the book will call down an effect upon the party. This is not supernatural but a technological effect of the book itself.

1d10 Weird Effects Of 'The Book' Table 


  1. Sound will not work right and the sky seems to turn strange colours. The PC's may be stunned for 1d6 rounds as the effect builds to an apex and then nothing! 
  2. The party loses 1d4 hours and any time pieces stop for 1d4 rounds as anything metal adheres to the PC's. The effect will not damage anything but it will be disconcerting.
  3. A strange smell of decaying flesh fills the nostrils of everyone present and the PC's may feel sick to their stomachs but it will pass within moments.
  4. Shadows grow long on the ground and there is an air of menace. Birds and animals will panic and go into a fight or flight and suddenly it will pass. The shadows seem longer now. 
  5.  Sunlight grows in intensity and suddenly everything becomes hot as if the world suddenly got closer to the sun.The effect passes before it becomes to dangerous. 
  6. A murder of crows tracks the party and follows behind them for 1d8 days. They keep their distance and will scatter with moments if noticed. 
  7. The PC's will see the ghosts of NPC's they have killed in the recent past. These hallucinations will always dart around a corner. Be just out of sight when they get to them. Smile at them from out the corner of their eyes. 
  8. All of the party's electronic or energy weapons charges will run down and not work only to come back 1d6 rounds later. They will work too well causing +3 damage and scaring the hell out of the party. 
  9. The PC's will feel an overwhelming presence of malevolence and violence nearby! They may be overtaken by feelings of rage and anger toward objects or places unless saves are rolled. And they may have feelings to attack them should they fail but they can not explain why. 
  10. The sky cracks with thunder and a red rain of blood like liquid falls from the sky. The stuff is 98 degrees and looks, smells, as well as tastes like blood. But it is isn't. Yet mutant predators will be drawn to them even if they wash the stuff off. 
Pennsylvania wastes are a no man's land and rich with pickings. There will be 1d8 minor ruins to loot but there will also be weird mutant encounters to go along with these. Here the DM can choose his favorite minor mutant menace for the party.
File:Shelby County, Iowa. Abandonment is not common in this region. Apparently the house shown here was n . . . - NARA - 522334.jpg
The party can not lose the book. They may think that they have disposed of it but it will appear in backpacks, pockets, jackets,etc.
 As if by magic but in actuality it isn't.

The Thing That Follows
Finally the party will be confronted by the Hound of Resurrection. The beasts of Nergal which will cause all kinds of problems unless properly dealt with. It has many names and titles but these monsters are actually bio weapons grown and created by the Followers of Nergal. One of their super science objects (the book) uses two mind matrices to study the PC's, cause hallucinations, and lead the Hound to the party. Early in the war that started the Holocaust. The group experimented in Pennsylvania with using the beasts of Nergal. The result of which was a bio experimental plague run amok. The hounds killed, ate, and exterminated everyone. Then these horrors turned upon each other. Ever since then the Followers have been trying to find out what the key was that their ancestors used to turn these horrors off. 
Each time they allow one of their slaves (sacrifices) to escape and the Hound is drawn to the holders of the 'book'. Anyone who can figure out the truth could use the book's psionic matrix to backtrack to the Followers super science base someplace within one of the major cities within the Pennsylvania wastes.
Meanwhile the party has to contend with a Hound of Nergal and its attendants. 
File:Abandon building and new condo.JPG

The Followers of Nergal's Base will have a hoard class of at least XI and possibly a portal to a Labyrinth Lord like world where the this group of super science renegades holds court. 
The base should be over  ten levels and have some of the best relic technology that PC's have seen. The choice will become clear. Save their own world or journey to another and free it from the yoke of the Followers. The choice will be a difficult one. 
It may suddenly dawn on the PC's who the real angels of the wasteland are??! 

Chris Van Deelen's Blog has a more details on these horrors right 


The Hound Of Resurrection 


No. Enc: 1 (special)
Alignment:  Neutral

Movement: 180’ (60’)
                     150’ (50’) Swim
AC: 2
HD: 18
Attacks: 6 (bite, bite, claw x4)
Damage: 1d8 / 1d8 / 2d10 / 2d10/ 2d10/ 2d10
Save: L18
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: None

Mutations: Aberrant form (multiple body parts: eyes; xenomorphism: Chimera, amphibious lungs), clinging, increased senses (hearing, sight, smell), natural armour, quickness.
Source: Hellboy (2004)

4 comments:

  1. You are knocking it out of the PARK with your recent encounters!

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  2. I was pretty nervous with this encounter with such an iconic and beloved monster actually. I've used Chris's conversion of this one before but its been almost a year since that game. I've got to play catch up with some of his monsters and there's another one coming up tonight! That log monster you posted on the Savage Afterworld was really nasty and I'm going to work up something for it tonight as well.
    Cheers and I'm glad your liking my efforts.

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  3. This is a great encounter/scenario seed! Wish there was a Mutant Future game around here..

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  4. I've got more coming up and I'm glad you like it Garrison James. The next one features a favorite monster of mine! So more to come! Hope all is well and I don't have a Mutant Future game right at the moment. A few of my players are having medical issues and so one of my larger games is on hiatus at the moment. I've been contending myself writing and designing a bit more. Thanks for the comment and more to come!

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