TEXT: wisdom
  Wastelands
  From
  The
  By Derek Holland and the Skirmisher Game Development Group
  Issue #34:
  Plant Mutants I
  This publication is dedicated to providing useful information, game content, and ideas to players of modern, science
  fiction, and post-apocalyptic table-top and role-playing games in general and to fans of Goblinoid Games’ Mutant
  Future RPG in particular. The material contained herein are compatible with it and any others that use the “Basic”
  system introduced in the most popular role-playing games of the early 1970s and are easily adaptable to many other
  games (especially successor systems, to include those covered by the Open Game License).
  Inside this issue
  Howling Birch/Knife Fly,
  Sea Elder/Sand Sprout ........................... 2
  Slime Wheat,
  Cliff Chickweed ....................................... 3
  Ice Lichen,
  Master Maple ........................................... 4
  New Mutations ........................................... 5
  To help address the disparity, this issue of Wisdom from the
  Wastelands presents eight new mutant plants and several new
  mutations. There will also be a detailed and expansive look
  at plant mutants featured in an upcoming issue of the d-
  Infinity multi-platform game supplement.
  First, for Mutant Lords interested in creating their own
  plant mutants, some useful real-world botany. Unlike most
  animals, which produce smaller copies of themselves as
  offspring, plants have different forms in alternating
  generations. Although it is difficult to generalize about them,
  given the wide variety of species, the life cycle of many plants
  contains three different organisms. The sporophyte makes
  spores, which grow into the gametophyte form. This
  produces the eggs and pollen, which fuse into embryonic
  plants and endosperm. The embryos grow into sporophytes,
  completing the cycle.
  As a very basic example of this, consider the maple tree.
  The dominant, tree form is the sporophyte. When this blooms,
  a part of each flower is the gametophyte (with eggs and
  “sperm” — allergy-triggering pollen). Like many other
  plants, the maple’s seed (those helicopter projectiles littering
  your lawn) contains two organisms: the embryonic plant and
  the endosperm. The latter protects and feeds the developing
  embryo, until the seed germinates and the endosperm dies.
  Living within the plant’s roots are mutualistic organisms
  N
  o matter what your choice of post-apocalyptic game, plants usually get the hind bud. And, unfortunately, Mutant
    Future is no exception. Although the rulebook has example mutant plants and many plant mutations, there just are
    not enough of either. This is especially true considering that our world has many more plants than animals.
  called mycorrhizae. These soil-dwelling fungi act as a second
  root system absolutely vital to many species. In return for a
  constant source of carbohydrates, the fungi help plants absorb
  nutrients and maintain local soil chemistry.
  For a Mutant Lord, these four biological structures
  provide an embarrassment of riches. By using the animate
  seed mutation, a ML can create larval plants on the run.
  Mutating the seed with aberrant form (xenomorphism) can
  produce two monsters (embryonic plant monster and
  monstrous endosperm), or a monster that protects a normal
  plant. An abnormal flowering plant or conifer could have
  parts of the flower or cone be separate, dangerous organisms.
  Using the same mutation on a flowering plant can create
  three monsters (endosperm, gametophyte, and sporophyte)
  — each with its own stat block. A single plant could have so
  many forms that no one could tell how things are related
  without a great deal of observation. Freaky, but potentially
  very useful in monster design.
  The plants below show these terms in practice, providing
  examples of what can be done. In the first pair, the howling
  
  2
  Wisdom from The Wastelands
  birch is a sporophyte and the knife fly is a gametophyte. The
  sea elder/sand sprout pair has a sporophyte and endosperm
  combination. The slime wheat demonstrates how mycorrhizae
  can go wrong in a big way. The remaining entries present a
  valuable plant, one with drones, and a vegetative kaiju —
  just when you thought it was safe to go back into the woods.
  Howling Birch
  No. Enc.:
  0 (1d4)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  0'
  Armor Class:
  4
  Hit Dice:
  25
  Attacks:
  1 (scream)
  Damage:
  3d8+8
  Save:
  L12
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  XII
  Mutations: animate seed (variant), natural armor
  (plants), shriek (plants).
  Knife Fly
  No. Enc.:
  1d8 (1d8)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  Fly 240' (80')
  Armor Clas:
  5
  Hit Dice:
  1/2
  Attacks:
  1 (stab)
  Damage:
  1d4
  Save:
  L1
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Mutations: complete wing development, free movement,
  increased dexterity, natural vegetal weapon, reflective
  cellular structure (sonic).
  Reaching up 50'-80', howling birch are large trees with a
  simple defense — if they take more than 5 points of damage,
  they scream. A scream that can shatter bone. Years of this
  gradually erodes the surrounding soil and stone in the hilly
  and mountainous areas where they live, so it’s easy to tell
  where they grow. When the birch cut loose, everything within
  100' vulnerable to sonic attacks must save versus death. Those
  who save take half damage.
  This defense tends to scare people away, but in birch
  groves, the flowers are the real threat. Called knife flies, the
  flowers have wing-like petals that let them fly up to a mile.
  The flies are 6" long with a 3' wingspan, so they might look
  whimsical, but they constantly hunt for seed hosts. Any
  animal between 50 and 300 pounds, including humans, is a
  viable target. Those hit must save versus death or be injected
  with a seed, which germinates almost immediately and does
  1d3 points of Constitution damage to the host. The loss cannot
  be recovered until the seedling erupts in 6 weeks, when the
  host takes 3d6 hit points of damage. After this the host can
  start healing both types of damage at the normal rate.
  The resulting seedling has the same stats as a giant rat
  (but without disease), and tries to flee so it can find some
  place to root itself. It gains the standard shriek (plants)
  mutation within a few minutes of rooting.
  Sea Elder
  No. Enc.:
  0 (5d10)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  0'
  Armor Class:
  7
  Hit Dice:
  6
  Attacks:
  Special
  Damage:
  Special
  Save:
  L3
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  VI
  Mutations: animate seed, special.
  Sand Sprout
  No. Enc.:
  3d6 (0)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  90' (30')
  Armor Class:
  5
  Hit Dice:
  2
  Attacks:
  1 (root)
  Damage:
  1d6
  Save:
  L2
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class: None
  
  Issue #34: Plant MutaNts I
  3
  Mutations: free movement, full senses, natural armor
  (plant), natural vegetal weapon, unique sense.
  Drinking in the sunlight along temperate ocean shores, these
  dune grass descendants make a day at the beach into a
  hazardous experience. Above the sand, sea elders resemble
  8' tall, shrubby bamboo, with stalks up to 2" in diameter.
  Below the surface, the plants grow land mines for defense.
  The mines are an outgrowth of the elders’ extensive root
  system and lie 4"-6" deep, staggered around the plant up to
  30' from the stalk. Creatures weighing more than 50 pounds
  that step on one take 4d6 points of damage and get knocked
  prone. A save versus energy weapons halves the damage and
  allows a victim to remain standing. The mines have a 5'
  blast radius, making it unlikely anyone but the victim will
  be hurt, unless a group is packed tightly together.
  Some people have learned how to remove the mines for
  use elsewhere. The organic explosives have a unique odor
  that can be easily detected by those with increased smell or
  an appropriate artifact. Lacking these, mine hunters use small
  breeds of specially-trained dogs, pigs, or rats to find them
  safely. Once disconnected from their parent plants, the mines
  remain dangerous for several months before the explosive
  decays and becomes inert.
  Slithering about banks of sea elder seedlings, protecting
  them from herbivores, are the endosperm mutants called sand
  sprouts. These 12' long roots have a few leaves and a pointy
  end, used to stab any who would harm their defenseless
  charges. When the seedlings first emerge from their casings,
  the sprouts use rootlets to carry them away from the explosive
  elder roots (which they can detect even deep underground).
  The mutants then search for ground uncontaminated by
  pollution where they can plant the seedlings. Once these take
  root, the sprouts begin to die, a process taking 1d6+2 days.
  Slime Wheat
  No. Enc.:
  1 (0)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  90' (30')
  Armor Class:
  6
  Hit Dice:
  25
  Attacks:
  1 (slam)
  Damage:
  4d8
  Save:
  L15
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  None
  In the Mutant Future world, mycorrhizae can occasionally
  go bad, a condition some call slime wheat. When the fungus
  mutates, it merges with similar fungi beneath the stalks of
  an entire field, creating a 25-ton (or larger) tan blob monster
  spread over hundreds (or thousands) of square feet. Then it
  goes rampaging, consuming everything in its path, with
  wheat stalks poking out the top and victims sticking out the
  sides.
  Fungicides can kill the slime and return a field to normal,
  though if the slime were on a hillside when it died, the wheat
  may not continue to grow on a precise vertical. Should a
  well-intentioned group destroy the wheat riding around on
  top, thinking to starve the slime, they will be surprised to
  find the creature is not affected, as it feeds the wheat. Because
  a well-fed slime can boost grain production by at least tenfold,
  some communities will allow their fields to eat their enemies
  before harvest. This can be a risky tactic, though — unless
  the farming community is walled, since the slime does not
  climb well, or has access to electrical fences to control/direct
  the slime’s rampage.
  Mutations: special (blob form).
  Cliff Chickweed
  No. Enc.:
  0 (1d4)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  0'
  Armor Class:
  8
  Hit Dice:
  9
  Attacks:
  1 or 1 or 3 (lightning or touch or slivers)
  Damage:
  4d6 or 4d6 or d6/d6/d6
  Save:
  L4
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Originally descended from the small mouse-ear chickweed,
  these high-mountain vegetal terrors are now sprawling vine
  masses 150'-200' across. Within each plant’s centermost
  tissue hides the source of their threat: a huge metallic sphere,
  5'-10' in diameter and weighing at least a ton, which the
  
  4
  Wisdom from The Wastelands
  chickweed forms with minerals leeched from the ground.
  The core functions as a generator, letting the plant throw
  lighting up to 500' every three rounds and electrifying its
  leaves so any touch causes damage. In desperate times the
  plant can also fragment parts of the sphere, firing flechettes
  and spikes at targets 50' away (treat as the spiny growth
  mutation). In addition, the core allows the chickweed to detect
  pure metals within 500'. This helps the plant replenish and
  expand the sphere, but any moving metal draws a blast of
  electricity.
  To the right buyers (machines and high tech races), an
  intact core is worth up to 25,000 gold pieces, while fragments
  can fetch as much as 5000 gold pieces. The metal mixture is
  a unusual super-capacitor, one that does less damage to the
  parts of power cells. Robots and other mechanical entities
  using the material can extend their power cell life span by
  five times. But, those desperate enough to try for this fortune
  are among the many corpses strewn at the base of any cliff
  the chickweed claims.
  Mutations: abnormal size, energy ray, energy-retaining
  cell structure, spiny growth, unique sense, valuable (new).
  Ice Lichen
  No. Enc.:
  1 (0)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  10' (3')
  Armor Class:
  6
  Hit Dice:
  3 (and see description)
  Attacks:
  1 (shattered ice)
  Damage:
  2d6
  Save:
  L2
  Morale:
  10
  Hoard Class:
  Incidental
  Found almost exclusively above the tree line and mostly
  stationary, these 3'-8' diameter brown disks of algae and fungi
  are opportunistic predators, reacting to heat or sound and
  attacking any animal under 200 pounds. Ice lichen live at
  altitude because they cannot survive being shaded, but are
  otherwise hardy with several defenses. When threatened, they
  usually sit still and encase themselves in ice blocks tainted
  with chemicals drawn from the local groundwater. This gives
  every disk an extra 50 hit points and provides protection
  while they telekinetically throw and shatter chunks of ice,
  an attack similar to the grenade-like fruit mutation.
  The lichen can also split off small, animated sections,
  which scout or run interference. Each disk has 2d4+10 drones
  (see below), with larger patches having more. Once spawned,
  drones remain separate entities until dying; they cannot rejoin
  the parent. Although both are unintelligent and unable to
  communicate with other species, an ice lichen can interact
  with its drones using pheromones. Should it be badly
  damaged and fail a morale check, a lichen directs its drones
  to distract enemies while the parent mass blends into the
  landscape and effectively becomes invisible.
  Although ice lichen are dangerous, some cold-dwelling
  sapients have occasionally “domesticated” the plants. They
  clean water supplies, leeching out impurities, accumulating
  heavy metals or other toxins within their bodies. The lichen
  are carefully maintained to avoiding shading, and well fed
  because they attack when hungry.
  Mutations: abnormal size, chameleon epidermis, drone
  (new), free movement, grenade-like fruit, special (ice
  creation).
  Master Maple
  No. Enc.:
  1 (1)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  90' (30')
  Armor Class:
  -1
  Hit Dice:
  600
  Attacks:
  1 or 20 (mental attack or roots)
  Damage:
  Special or 2d12 X20
  Save:
  L21
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  XXII
  Although these hill-like monsters do not seem like individual
  creatures, master maples are 200' tall, 1,000' wide single
  masses of interconnected roots, trunks, and leaves. They have
  an intelligence, but are focused on hunger, consuming almost
  all life they encounter and any infrastructure made from stone
  or metal (not plastic).
  To find the best food, each master uses a more potent
  form of the familiar mutation to take over some intelligent
  being or creature that can act as a scout. When the master
  begins to attack a community, the familiar tries to sabotage
  the most obvious escape routes, allowing its master to eat
  the most people possible. Many familiars hate being enslaved
  but cannot rebel against the mental commands they receive,
  and the master’s control ranges out to 500 miles. Most of
  these kaiju have only the one familiar, but there are special,
  more powerful or older masters who control several.
  These creatures terrorize temperate and tropical lands,
  8 million pound gorillas that eat everything possible and go
  where they want. Except for when they run into another
  master. Then they fight to the death. In these contests, the
  masters use their roots for direct combat, but their familiars
  
  Issue #34: Plant Mutants I
  5
  usually tip the balance — so the plants enslave the most
  powerful creatures possible. Then the master induces a
  mutation (perhaps something like psionic flight and/or energy
  ray) to give its slave more power.
  Mutations: abnormal size, familiar (new), free
  movement, full senses, increased intelligence, induce
  mutation (new), natural vegetal weapon.
  NEW MUTATIONS
  Drone
  The mutant can bud small monsters from its flesh. One can
  be produced per week and up to four can be controlled at one
  time. The parent and all controlled drones within a mile of
  one another are linked telepathically (so the creator could
  set up a relay chain 4 miles long if needed).
  When created, the drone’s appearance depends on the
  parent’s wishes and intelligence level. If the creator is
  intelligent, then he can choose what the drone looks like,
  with a little bleed from his personality. If the parent is not
  sapient, then the drone is a small copy of the parent. The
  drone also develops one mutation the parent possesses. See
  the drone stats below for more information.
  Drone
  No. Enc.:
  1d4 (1d4)
  Alignment:As creator
  Movement: 90' (30')
  Armor Class: 6
  Hit Dice:
  2
  Attacks: 1 (variable)
  Damage:
  1d4
  Save:
  L1
  Morale: N/A
  Hoard Class: None
  This entity is created by the drone mutation. Its appearance
  depends its creator’s desire, species, and personality. The
  drone has one mutation that its creator possesses (selected at
  the time of budding), and can be controlled telepathically
  with a range up to 1 mile. Drones are living beings, but
  extensions of their creator: they do not grow or make their
  own buds, and their death stuns the parent for 1d4 minutes.
  See the drone mutation for more information.
  Mutations: special.
  Familiar
  The mutant has a specialized, mental form of parasitic
  control. It only works on non-sapient animals (or plants, if
  the mutant is a plant), has a range of 30', and is permanent.
  The affected creature, which can be anything with fewer hit
  dice than the mutant (though the ML may limit this), acts
  like an obedient pet and will even die for the mutant if things
  become grim.
  Induce Mutation
  With a touch, the mutant can cause a mutation or drawback
  in others, the effect lasting one day. The mutation is selected
  during character creation.
  Valuable (D)
  The plant is desired for its flowers, coloration, or some other
  reason. Bounty hunters will follow it, attempting to capture
  the plant alive so they can sell it.
  
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  Wisdom from The Wastelands
  All contents of this publication, regard-
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  2012 Skirmisher Publishing LLC, all
  rights reserved.
  Mutant FutureTM is copyright 2008,
  Daniel Proctor and Ryan Denison. Mu-
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  Authors: Derek Holland, Chris Van Deelen
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