TEXT: wisdom
  Wastelands
  From
  The
  By Derek Holland and the Skirmisher Game Development Group
  Issue #10: Monsters
  That Improve with Age 2
  Inside this issue
  Kaiju Age Charts (Sun Eater,
  Smoking Ruin) .................................... 2-3
  Plant Age Charts (Slick Vine,
  Tap Root) ................................................. 4
  Other Age Chart
  (Bad Juju Cow) ....................................... 5
  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).
  T
  he age chart is a powerful tool for Mutant Lords who want to scale monster encounters with the powers and artifacts
  of the player characters. These charts describe how a creature’s characteristics change over its lifespan, using three
  columns: the age of the creature, its hit dice, and notes. Notes might include damage, mutations, drawbacks, or
  anything else that affects the creature in and out of combat.
  Though the first Age Charts article (Wisdom from the Wastelands, issue #2) introduced the basic idea and structure, there
  are still plenty of other possibilities that go far beyond that starting point. This issue presents example charts for creatures
  that weaken during the last stages of life, giant creatures (kaiju), plants, and truly odd creatures that go through metamorphoses
  as they age.
  Elder Age Charts
  Gageling
  No. Enc.:
  1 (d6)
  Alignment:
  Variable
  Movement:
  120' (40')
  Armor Class:
  Armor
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  2 (weapons)
  Damage:
  By weapon
  Save:
  L (HD)
  Morale:
  9
  Hoard Class:
  VI, XII
  Gagelings are sapient creatures descended from humans who
  were somehow infected with rattlesnake genetic material soon
  after the cataclysm, and then mutated by hard radiation into
  several different species. Sometime during this process, the
  main Gageling species, described here, gained the ability to
  understand technology just by looking at it. They also
  developed a smaller pair of arms beneath their main arms,
  small scales, pointed teeth, and a carnivorous diet. Adult
  Gagelings also grow distinctive head crests containing
  organic wires, which allow telepathic contact. As they age,
  these wires expand throughout the crests, increasing
  communication range.
  Most members of this Gageling species are ruin
  scavengers who combine odd bits of junk into useful (if bulky
  and semi-unreliable) tools and other equipment. Gagelings
  will trade some gadgets for food and clothing, but most are
  for their own use and protection. Some people call them
  “ratters,” since the stench of rodent can be nearly
  overpowering in a Gageling home — the result of skinning
  and cooking these animals.
  Mutations: aberrant form (extra body parts,
  xenomorphism), increased sense (hearing), intellectual
  affinity (tinkerer).
  
  2
  Wisdom from The Wastelands
  Age (Years)
  Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-6
  1/2
  Non-combatant
  7-12
  2
  Weapon damage -4
  13-16
  4
  Weapon damage -2, gains increased sense (sight),
  gains variant of telepathy with range of 1/2 mile
  17-24
  6
  Gains natural armor mutation (AC 6)
  25-35
  8
  Weapon damage +2, increased telepathy range (1 mile)
  36-50
  10
  Increased telepathy range (2 miles)
  51-70
  7
  Loses natural armor mutation, weapon damage -2
  71+
  3
  Loses both increased senses, weapon damage -4, gains increased telepathy range (5 miles)
  Uplift Hunter
  No. Enc.:
  2d4 (4d4)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  180' (60')
  Armor Class:
  6
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  1 (bite)
  Damage:
  See chart
  Save:
  L (1/2 HD)
  Morale:
  6 (12 versus uplifts)
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Uplifts were animals modified by the Ancients to possess
  human-level intelligence and abilities. During the early years
  of those projects, precautionary regulations ensured the
  creatures were kept in strict quarantine. These rules were
  lifted after the uplifts had most of their atavistic behaviors
  removed, and proved themselves capable of safely entering
  human society. But, as with any great change, there were
  some who felt threatened by this—and created the Uplift
  Hunters as a safeguard. Two groups separately developed
  different, though mechanically identical, varieties of the
  creatures from large dogs, such as deerhounds. The
  government-created Hunters were intended to contain and
  police, rather than kill; those created by various ideological
  factions (racist, religious, luddite, and others) were meant to
  help wipe out uplifts completely.
  Although they are also genetically engineered like
  uplifts, the Hunters are not sapient (so, not uplifts themselves)
  and can be powerful pets for pure humans. The emphasis on
  “pure” humans is important, because mutants of all kinds,
  even those that are not uplifts, make Hunters tense and
  aggressive. As they age, the creatures learn new tricks for
  finding and killing uplifts, with the adults even able to strip
  mutations from their prey. It is for this reason that Hunters
  are feared, since otherwise they are fairly weak creatures,
  intended to assist their masters more by detecting mutants
  than killing them.
  Mutations: improved sense (smell), know direction,
  increased willpower.
  Kaiju Age Charts
  Sun Eater
  No. Enc.:
  1 (1)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  120' (40')
  Swim 300' (100')
  Armor Class:
  -2
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  1 or 1 (bite or energy ray)
  Damage:
  See chart
  Save:
  L (HD)
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Age (Years)
  Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-1
  1
  Bite does d4
  2-5
  2
  Bite does d6, gain unique sense (detect physical mutations, range 500') mutation
  6-10
  3
  Bite does d8, gain unique sense (detect mental mutations, range 500') mutation
  11+
  2
  Bite does d6, gain ancestral form mutation in all bite attacks
  
  Issue #10: Monsters that improve with age 2
  3
  Smoking Ruin
  No. Enc.:
  1 (1)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  180' (60')
  Armor Class:
  2
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  1 (bite)
  Damage:
  See chart
  Save:
  L (HD) -1
  Morale:
  11
  Hoard Class:
  XXII
  Smoking Ruins are massive serpents (4-5' long per hit die)
  that live in demolished cities and large complexes. They are
  named for the great clouds of smoke they produce, which
  are so dense they block most kinds of vision. However, this
  does not hamper the creatures, which are blind and rely on
  smell or hearing to find food. The smoke is also a breathing
  hazard: anything within the cloud without protective gear
  must save versus poison or suffocate to death within d6+4
  rounds. Those who leave the cloud before dying will survive,
  but will be unable to do anything but walk for d4 turns.
  Smoking Ruins are obvious, because they can be seen or
  smelled from as far away as the smoke travels, and cannot
  hide their presence like other kaiju, who often disguise
  themselves as hills. Although they eat mainly plants and trees,
  Smoking Ruins are omnivores, happy to track down and eat
  explorers attempting to scavenge the ruins the serpents claim
  as home. As parthenogenic females, they require no mate,
  and produce one young per decade. The offspring are allowed
  to live in another part of the ruin as long as there is enough
  food for both parent and spawn.
  Mutations: gigantism, increased sense (hearing, smell,
  touch), sensory deficiency (blind), special (smoke generation).
  Sun Eaters are the gigantic, intelligent descendants of
  loggerhead sea turtles, which now terrorize the planet’s warm
  waters, preying on ships as well as other large aquatic
  monsters and plants. Besides their great size (two feet in
  diameter per hit die) and strength (they can bite into a ship’s
  hull), these creatures are feared for the powerful beam weapon
  they can fire from a cranial horn.
  Although individual Sun Eaters have different forms of
  this energy ray mutation (see the New Mutations section
  below for suggestions), all use photosynthesis to charge it —
  and the more sun they get, the more powerful the heat ray
  becomes. For each hour of sunlight a Sun Eater is exposed
  to, double the damage from the beam for the initial attack
  only. For example, an Eater that has had three hours of light
  does eight times normal damage for its first beam attack;
  with four hours exposure, the damage is 16 times normal.
  Damage from the energy ray then decreases to normal until
  the Eater can rest and absorb more light. This energy storage
  is fleeting though: during darkness, or if a Sun Eater dives
  into deep water, the energy (and damage multiplier) dissipates
  at the same rate it was collected. The energy ray ranges listed
  in the chart below is for the heat ray fired through the air;
  halve these underwater.
  While finding the corpse of a Sun Eater could make a
  community very wealthy, since its shell could be adapted to
  recharge non-nuclear power cells, even creatures immune to
  the heat ray are extremely unlikely to hunt these turtles.
  Hunting for Sun Eater eggs and domesticating the young is
  possible, if the problem of providing huge amounts of food
  can be overcome. And, since typical control mutations will
  not work (the animals are simply too large and powerful),
  training must be done by hand.
  Mutations: aberrant form (xenomorphism), energy ray,
  epidermal photosynthesis, gigantism.
  Age (Years)
  Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-15
  25
  Bite does 5d6, energy ray does 4d10, range 250'
  16-50
  50
  Bite does 5d8, energy ray does 5d12, range 500'
  51-100
  100
  Bite does 6d10, energy ray does 8d12, range 1,000'
  101-250
  200
  Bite does 8d12, energy ray does 10d12, range 1,500', armor class decreases to -6
  251+
  500
  Bite does 10d10, energy ray does 15d12, range 2,500'
  Age (Years)
  Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-25
  10
  Bite does 3d6, cloud is 50' in diameter
  26-75
  25
  Bite does 5d6, cloud is 150' in diameter, armor class decreases to 0
  76-150
  50
  Bite does 7d6, cloud is 250' in diameter
  151-250
  75
  Bite does 9d6, cloud is 500' in diameter
  251+
  100
  Bite does 12d6, cloud is 750' in diameter
  
  4
  Wisdom from The Wastelands
  Plant Age Charts
  Slick Vine
  No. Enc.:
  d4 (d4)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  Swim 90' (30')
  Armor Class:
  5
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  1 (slam)
  Damage:
  See chart
  Save:
  L (1/2 HD)
  Morale:
  8
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Before the final wars, the Ancients designed intelligent
  machines to take over conservation work. After the
  apocalypse, the survivors forgot this failed mission to protect
  the planet, but the machines soldiered on and began acting
  on their own initiative. Slick Vines were one ironic result,
  an engineered plant species created by the unsupervised
  machines to feed and maintain other, dying, engineered
  species: pollution-eating fish, birds, and oozes that had begun
  to starve in the cleaner environment.
  The Vines are marine plants and reproduce through
  division as bits break off, float away, and start to regrow into
  masses up to 50' long and weighing 75 pounds. They work
  by capturing other organisms, both plant and animal, and
  turning them into oil, with the resulting slicks’ diameter equal
  to 10' per consumed hit die (e.g., a 2-hit die creature provides
  a 20-foot diameter slick). Smaller Vines are forced to make
  smaller slicks because they do not have the organ capacity to
  convert all the prey into oil. The oil is a class 1 poison that is
  difficult to remove, requiring lots of soap or EP technology,
  and causes damage every round until cleaned off. Some
  communities “farm” Slick Vines, using the oil for fuel or
  flamethrower ammunition, or keep floating Vine masses in
  place to “mine” nearby waters, driving off pirates with fire.
  Mutations: chemical gland (new), natural armor (plant).
  Age (Months) Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-1
  2
  Damage is d4, slick is up to 50' in diameter
  2-5
  3
  Damage is d6, slick is up to 100' in diameter
  6-10
  4
  Damage is d8, slick is up to 250' in diameter
  11-15
  5
  Damage is d10, slick is up to 500' in diameter
  16+
  6
  Damage is d12, slick is up to 1,000' in diameter
  Tap Root
  No. Enc.:
  0 (1)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  0'
  Armor Class:
  5
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  2 per trunk (branches)
  Damage:
  d6 to 2d6 (see description)
  Save:
  L (1/2 HD +1)
  Morale:
  11
  Hoard Class:
  XII
  Tap Roots are mutant aspen trees that grow multiple trunks
  from the same root system. An aspen forest could result from
  one huge Tap Root, or several smaller ones. The plants are
  fairly docile and will not attack unless they suffer damage.
  Trunks grow up to 80' tall and each has 5-25 hit dice of its
  own. Those with 5-10 hit dice do d6/d6 points of damage.
  Those with 11-20 hit dice do d10/d10 points of damage. Those
  with 21-25 hit dice do 2d6/2d6 points of damage. To
  permanently destroy a Tap Root requires a class 15 or better
  poison (herbicide), or ripping up and burning all the roots
  (which could take months for a huge Root system). Should
  just the trunks be destroyed, the Root simply grows more.
  Mutations: natural armor (plant), natural vegetable
  weapon, regenerative capacity.
  Age (Years)
  Hit Dice of Root
  Notes
  0-5
  5
  One trunk
  10-25
  10
  Three trunks
  26-50
  25
  10 trunks
  51-100
  50
  25 trunks
  101-150
  100
  100 trunks
  151-200
  250
  500 trunks
  201-250
  500
  1,000 trunks
  250+
  1,000
  5,000 trunks
  
  Issue #10: Monsters that improve with age 2
  5
  New Mutations
  Chemical Gland
  The mutant has a new organ allowing it to produce one
  substance. This material could be industrial (like glue),
  medicinal (like stim-shot A), or a toxin, etc. The GM and
  player must work together to decide which substance is
  created. The number of doses produced per day equals three
  plus the mutant’s power score modifier, with a minimum of
  one dose.
  Energy Ray Variants
  Coherence Beam: A form of energy ray that uses visible
  light. The target takes 3d6 points of heat damage and must
  save versus poison or be blinded for d6 minutes.
  Energy Helix: The mutant produces an energy ray that
  moves like a corkscrew. If used correctly, it can bypass cover.
  Any use requires a to hit roll and does only 2d6 points of
  damage. Attacking someone behind cover, which must be no
  wider than 10', induces a -4 penalty to the roll. Otherwise,
  this is identical to energy ray.
  Oscillating Ray: The mutant produces an energy ray
  that goes up and down the electromagnetic spectrum. When
  the wavelength most damaging to the target is reached, it
  stays there. In game terms, this means the mutant must hit
  the target d4+1 times, doing d6 points of damage each time.
  Once that number of hits is reached, the damage becomes
  6d6 points. Unlike the normal energy ray, the oscillating ray
  can be used every round.
  X-Ray Beam: This energy ray can pass through some
  objects without harming them. Though this applies mostly
  to stone, concrete, and other mineral-based objects, the ML
  may decide others are also unaffected.
  Loss of Trait (D)
  The mutant has lost a mutation or species trait that is not
  vital to survival.
  Other Age Chart
  Bad Juju Cow
  No. Enc.:
  3d6 (0)
  Alignment:
  Neutral
  Movement:
  120' (40')
  Armor Class:
  6
  Hit Dice:
  See chart
  Attacks:
  1 (gore)
  Damage:
  See chart
  Save:
  L (1/2 HD)
  Morale:
  12
  Hoard Class:
  None
  Despite adults weighing over a thousand pounds and having
  large horns, these herbivores do not seem very physically
  threatening. But, Bad Juju Cattle are able to affect probability,
  so anything foolish enough to attack them will suffer for
  their efforts. Young Cattle are not especially dangerous, but
  those over a year old can cause catastrophes. In addition to
  being larger and more powerful, bulls are even more likely
  to cause serious trouble (+25% on effects chance roll).
  Minor effects are things like falling prone, or dropping
  a weapon. Moderate effects include a power cell becoming
  drained, falling and suffering d6 points of damage, or
  breaking a melee weapon. Major effects include falling and
  suffering 3d6 points of damage, ranged weapons breaking,
  or attracting a large predator. Catastrophic effects include
  everything from a laser rifle exploding to the natural armor
  mutation failing (i.e. the mutant’s shell falls off). A save
  versus death negates or halves the effects (ML’s decision).
  Mutations: special.
  Age (Months) Hit Dice
  Notes
  0-4
  1
  Gore damage is d6 (d8 bull), there is a 15% chance of minor effects per attack on the cow
  5-8
  2
  Gore damage is d8 (d10 bull), there is a 25% chance of moderate effects
  per attack on the cow
  9-12
  3
  Gore damage is d10 (2d6 bull), there is a 50% chance of major effects
  per attack on the cow
  13+
  4
  Gore damage is d12 (4d4 bull), there is a 65% chance of catastrophic effects
  per attack on the cow.
  
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  Wisdom from The Wastelands
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  rights reserved.
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