MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 2-4)

Area 2-3 Reactor Chamber

This is the facility's reactor chamber, the source of the radiation flooding the lower levels, and the "throne room" for the mole men's queen. As an environmental hazard this room is exceedingly dangerous, requiring a DC 16 Fortitude save against 1d8 damage PER ROUND unless the reactor has been at least partially deactivated.

Once through the access chamber the door opens into a massive chamber. Nearly 150 feet across and rising and unknown distance upward (at least 100 feet based on the stairwell). This chamber consists of metal catwalks over a steaming lake of water tinged with shimmering bluish-purple light. The center of the camber is dominated by a massive purple crystal that glows from within with a sickly light (or a large empty area of open water surrounded by catwalks. The mole men here are the largest of those you have seen and the 6 warriors are instantly at guard and ready to strike down an enemy at the slightest provocation. A grossly obese or perhaps greatly pregnant mole-woman presides over the room from a throne of crates and cushions. She wields a strange artifact in one hand and wears a suit of form hugging shimmering metal cloth.

The guards are always at the ready and fiercely protective of their queen/matron. They have 15, 16, 29, 20, 8, and 26 HP. The queen is armed with a laser pistol and wears plasteel mesh. All of the mole people have the ability to regenerate 1 HP per round unless the reactor has been completely shut down, so adapted to the radiation they have become.

Mole Men:

Init: +2; Atk +1 Spear (1d7) or +1 Bow (1d6); Act: 1d20; AC: 13 (hides); HD: 3d10 (15); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +3, R +1, W +2

Mole Woman Queen-Matriarch

Init: +0; Atk +1 Laser Pistol (3d6, ranged, 1d20 charges) or +4 Mind Control (pg 75); Act: 1d20+1d16; AC: 15 (plasteel mesh); HD: 5d10 (30); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +4, R +0, W +4

The queen is willing to talk to visitors (they have proven themselves strong and worthy of domination) but will attempt to Mind Control them as soon as she is able. The Queen will use her 1d20 action die for mind control until she loses it after which she will use both action dice to attack with the laser piston until it runs out of ammo.

Aside from the Laser Pistol and Plasteel Mesh the only loot of note within the reactor chamber is the large purple crystal. Characters wishing to take a sample of the crystal are free to do so, and judges are free to decide how good, or bad, of an idea that is.

Exits to:

• Area 2-3 Reactor Access

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 2-3)

Area 2-3 Reactor Access

A larger airlock style chamber that provides access into and out of the reactor. Only one door to this room can be open at a time. If a character enters the access chamber with the facility comm badge the doors will cycle automatically within 1 minute. Alternately a DC 12 check by a Rover will engage the cycle. If neither option is available a total of 50 damage must be done to the mechanisms to force the closed door open.

A chamber no bigger than three long paces on a side. The door into this room is heavier and thicker than those you have seen prior. The door opposite is the same way and remains closed. Within the chamber are a triplicate of lockers on one wall. 

The ambient radiation here is high, unless the reactor was turned off, and requires a DC 14 Fortitude save every turn to avoid 1d8 radiation damage.

The lockers contain 1 medishot (pg 178) and 1 radshot (pg 178).

Exits to:

• Area 2-2 Central Maintenance
• Area 2-4 Reactor Chamber

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 2-2)

Area 2-2 Central Maintenance

A large open room that has been mostly cleared out by the mole men, this area is the main hub of the lower level.

A large rectangular room occupied primarily but a large artifact of some kind taking up an entire wall, and three exits, one on each of the other three walls. Spaced around the remaining space are lockers shelves, and tool chests. The air here is hot and humid, and there is are a number of mushrooms similar to those found upstairs growing in the corners. 

The ambient radiation here is high, unless the reactor was turned off, and requires a DC 12 Fortitude save every turn to avoid 1d8 radiation damage.

Searching the shelves, lockers, and tool boxes will yield three Envirobelts (pg 175) in working order, these can be potent artifacts if the reactor is still functioning. With a successful luck check a fusion torch (pg 180) can also be found but it requires a power source to be functional.

The artifact control panel is the auxiliary control for the reactor and can execute the same tasks but does so with a more complicated control scheme for the purposes of maintenance. It uses the following results table and has a Complexity Modifier of -5:

• 1: Meltdown! Claxons wail as the controls fail and the reactor enters meltdown. Meltdown will occur within 3d24 hours creating a massive explosion. In the lead up to the meltdown radiation within the facility rises dramatically forcing a DC 20 Fortitude save per round vs 1d30 radiation damage. 
• 2-10: No effect. Such complexity boggles the mind and you simply fail to make any meaningful adjustments to the operation of this ancient device. 
• 11-15: Minor adjustments to the operation of the reactor reduce the radiation output from the strange core. Reduce all Radiation DCs by 2 and the damage from failed saves by -1d.
• 16-19: Partial Shutdown. The reactor is moved to standby power levels reducing all save DCs by 5 and damage by -2d.
• 20+: Complete Shutdown. The reactor is fully shutdown removing the ongoing threat of radiation within 1 turn but also turning off all power within the facility.

In addition to the stairs up to the first level (Area 1-7), a closed door exits to Area 2-1 Pump Control, and an open one leads to the small Reactor Access Area 2-3.

Exits to:

• Area 1-7 Stairs
• Area 2-1 Pump Control
• Area 2-3 Reactor Access
• 
  

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 2-1)

Area 2-1 Pump Control

One of two possible ways for the PCs to reach the lower level, this room acts as a sort of barracks and sauna for the mole men, who are immune to the radiation present in the air and water. The ruined equipment here used to circulate the cooling water from the core to the underground reservoir. Now that the pumps are broken the water is heavily irradiated and has caused the damage to the elevator shaft as described in Are 1-3.

One end of this room is flooded with about a foot radioactive water coming in from the degraded elevator shaft. The other is dry with a hatch leading into the central maintenance area. The room is full of broken machinery and sleeping pallets of the mole men. It's far cleaner than the upper den (the bathrooms) but still cluttered with all manner of items. Three of the sleeping pallets appear to be occupied by the large forms of mole men warriors. 

The warriors here (HP 14 / 5 / 22) work with their leader in the stairwell to protect the inner lair and their queen. The atmosphere here is highly polluted by radioactivity and for every turn spent within a DC 12 Fortitude save is required to avoid taking 1d6 radiation damage. This is affected by anything done to the reactor from the main control or the central maintenance areas.

Mole Men:

Init: +2; Atk +1 Spear (1d7) or +1 Bow (1d6); Act: 1d20; AC: 13 (hides); HD: 3d10 (15); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +3, R +1, W +2

The room is largely empty of useful items but a thorough search of at least 1 turn can reward the PCs with a Multitool (pg 181) and, with a successful Luck check, a Sonic Spanner (pg 181).

Exits to:

• Area 1-3 Elevator
• Area 2-2 Central Maintenance

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-7)

Area 1-7 Stairs

Cleverly hidden behind some easy to remove panels of the barricade that breaks up Area 1-2 is a doorway that the mole men use as entrance and egress. Characters can spot this if they specifically disassemble this portion of the barricade, or with a DC 10 Intelligence check.

You open the door into a chamber that was likely once bright white, but years of grime have rendered it a mottled grey. To the left there is a ladder to the ceiling and hatch. In front of you there is the start of a set of stairs down. 

If the reactor has been shut down there will be no lights in the complex and the stairs will be dark as the mole men can see in the dark. The stairs wind downward for nearly 100 feet and the area is usually under guard by a single mole man () who is armed with the usual weapons plus an artifact zapper glove (pg 175).

Mole Man:

Init: +2; Atk +1 Spear (1d7), +1 Zapper Glove (sp) or +1 Bow (1d6); Act: 1d20; AC: 13 (hides); HD: 3d10 (15); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +3, R +1, W +2

If the power is on the guard will not be alone and on low awareness, but if the power has been shut down he will go to the bottom of the stairs to gather the mole men from area 2-2 as reinforcements.

The hatch in the ceiling leads directly outside and is the way that the mole men typically enter and leave the complex, it is not locked, and may be a way to get some light into the stairs if the power is out.

Exits to:

• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office
• Area 2-3 Maintenance
• Exterior

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-6)

Area 1-6 Main Control Room

A complex artifact looking out onto the reactor chamber below. This room has a great deal of ambient radiation but also can enable the characters to shut down the reactor below.

A wall of hard air separates you from a room filled wall-to-wall with complex machinery and controls. Clearly an artifact of incredible complexity, it even has seats for two ancient ones to operate. Beyond the controls a window looks out onto a wide open space from which an intense purple glow emanates.   
The doors to the control room will automatically open for anybody with the comm badge from area 1-1, or with a DC 10 check by a Rover, a total of Str 20 applied, or 30 points of damage inflicted upon the hard air.

The hard air portal swooshes open and a wave of hot air rolls out and over you causing you skin to tingle and your nostrils to flare from the stale smell of aeons old air. You can now hear the quiet clicking and whirring of the great mechanism before you.

Any who enter the control room should make a DC 10 Fortitude save or take 1d6 radiation damage. Repeat this save for every turn (10 minutes) spent within the control room due to the in effective radiation shielding.

The artifact control panel uses the following results table:

• 1: Meltdown! Claxons wail as the controls fail and the reactor enters meltdown. Meltdown will occur within 3d24 hours creating a massive explosion. In the lead up to the meltdown radiation within the facility rises dramatically forcing a DC 20 Fortitude save per round vs 1d30 radiation damage. 
• 2-10: No effect. Such complexity boggles the mind and you simply fail to make any meaningful adjustments to the operation of this ancient device. 
• 11-15: Minor adjustments to the operation of the reactor reduce the radiation output from the strange core. Reduce all Radiation DCs by 2 and the damage from failed saves by -1d.
• 16-19: Partial Shutdown. The reactor is moved to standby power levels reducing all save DCs by 5 and damage by -2d.
• 20+: Complete Shutdown. The reactor is fully shutdown removing the ongoing threat of radiation within 1 turn but also turning off all power within the facility.

Exits to:

• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-5)

Area 1-5 The Den/Restrooms

Once on the other side of the debris barrier the PCs should notice a pair of doorways on the left side of the room. The closer of the two leads to the restrooms, now used as the den for the mole men. All is quiet within except on a truly exceptional roll or with a mutant power which may detect the 2-3 mole men sleeping within:

Through the opening you can see into a dimly lit room. The air within is a stinking miasma of body odor and fecal matter, apparently the mole men are not big on hygiene. You can dimly make out the shapes of several sleeping pallets of hides and furs at least 2 of which are occupied. Along on wall you can see a waist high shelf and the room double back into a section of metal walls. 

Stealthy PCs may be able to ambush and/or coup de gras the mole men within. Allow the PCs to roll d24s for initiative and/or the first round attacks if they maintain stealth. The first 2 mole men in the room have 20 & 17 hit points, roll 3d10 for any additional mole men you may need.

If the combat takes more than 3 rounds, or spills out into the main room (Area 1-2) the mole men from area 1-4 will ambush the PCs if they have not already been dealt with.

Mole Men:

Init: +2; Atk +1 Spear (1d7) or +1 Bow (1d6); Act: 1d20; AC: 13 (hides); HD: 3d10 (15); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +3, R +1, W +2

Once the mole men are defeated the players will likely search the room. The metal walled area are the old bathroom stalls which no longer have active plumbing but the mole men still use for their business and are disgusting but otherwise unoccupied. The half wall is a row of sinks and one of them has a medishot (pg 178). The room is otherwise devoid of useful loot.

Exits to:

• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-4)

Area 1-4 The Break Room

Once on the other side of the debris barrier the PCs should notice a pair of doorways on the left side of the room. The farther of the two leads to the break room, and the Judge may opt to have the flickering light of a fire come from the doorway and/or the sound of high-pitched mole men voices. If the players sneak up to the entry they should definitely see and hear these. Should they look in describe the following:

Through the opening you can see into a small room, no more than 15 feet on a side. Two of the walls are occupied by storage compartments with a large metal storage box directly across from the opening. The center of the room is filled with a fire-pit over which a large pot or cauldron hangs and from which the sounds and smells of some kind of strange stew cooking can be experienced. Huddled around this meal-to-be are a group of mole men [1+1/2 PCs; typically 4] conversing in a strange chittering language.

The mole men will react hostilely to any intruders and a pitched battle is almost certain to happen. The first four mole men in the room have 14/14/12/11 hit points, roll 3d10 for any additional mole men you may need.

If the combat takes more than 3 rounds, or spills out into the main room (Area 1-2) the mole men from area 1-5 will ambush the PCs.

Mole Men:

Init: +2; Atk +1 Spear (1d7) or +1 Bow (1d6); Act: 1d20; AC: 13 (hides); HD: 3d10 (15); Mv: 20; SP Immune to Radiation; Sv. F +3, R +1, W +2

Once the mole men are defeated the players will likely search the room. The cabinets are largely empty except for old gnawed bones and rotting scraps of flesh. The large metal cabinet however contains a useful item:

When you open the large metal container a wave of cool air that reeks of rotting meat and stale blood wafts out. On the center shelf the de-fleshed skull of a human stares back at you. The grisly sight is tempered by the metal object residing within the right eye of the skull. An apparent artifact of the ancients it seems to have replaced the owners original eye. 

This is a cyber-eye artifact (pg 178 and when activated with any check result of 12+ by any character who is not a healer it will immediately and forcibly implant itself in their head, destroying and replacing one of their eyes if need be and dealing 1d3 damage. For a healer any result of 12+ will allow them to hold the eye in preparation for a less traumatic surgery at the time of their choosing.

The first player daring (or foolish) enough to sample the stew in the pot must make a DC 12 Fortitude save. If they fail they will lose 1d3 Stamina from a rather nasty case of food poisoning. If they succeed they will earn +1 Luck (replaces lost luck first).

Exits to:

• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-3)

Area 1-3 Elevator

The metal slab on the right of the shroom filled area is an elevator door that.

Set into the wall is a slab of polished metal with a seam down the middle filled with something black. To the right there is a small jewel set into the wall that glows with a dim whitish light. The slab is roughly 6 feet wide and 8 tall and seems fully untouched by the aeons. 

The door can be opened by pressing the glowing jewel in the wall, which turns the jewel green and produced a "ding" before the doors slide apart. Alternately they can be forced with a DC 18 Strength check. A rover can make a DC 5 check using their Artifact Doors check bonus.

The slabs of metal part opening into a dark shaft nearly 10 feet on a side. Below the shaft descends some hundred feet and looking down you can see a shimmer of water from which a strange blue glow emanates. Dangling from the darkness above a pair of metal ropes descend some 6 feet before terminating abruptly, clearly you can only descend so far before you need to provide your own rope, or simply drop into the pool below. 

A DC 8 Strength of Agility check is needed to jump out and grab the metal ropes. Climbing down (or up) them requires another DC 8 Strength of Agility check. Dropping the last 40 feet into the water deals 1d3 damage, falling from higher up requires a DC 10 reflex save; if made the damage is 1d8, if failed the damage is 3d6.

The pool of water below is highly radioactive and immersion in the water forces a DC 15 Fortitude save for half damage against 1d8 radiation damage.

The water is strangely warm, almost hot and immediately your skin feels hot and tingles. You can see that this shaft has deposited into a larger cavern, either natural, or eroded over time. There is the remains of one wall of the square shaft with a pair of sliding metal doors at the water level. They appear to be your own exit.

The characters will want to exit the pool as quickly as possible. Every minute spent in the water forces another DC 15 save for half against 1d8 radiation damage. Forcing the lower doors open requires a DC 8 Strength check.

Exits to:

• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office
• Area 2-1 Pump Control

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-2)

Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office

Having gained access from the entrance the players can proceed into the mushroom infested area they saw through  the hard air door.

The next area is infested with a multitude of mushrooms both large and small. All glow with a strange blue-purple bioluminescence, but in some spots where the mushrooms are especially dense a green glow can be seen as well. The area is some 30 feet wide and perhaps twenty deep. The depth appears to be false however, as there is an obvious makeshift barricade blocking you from the deeper portions of the room. To the left there is a large slab of shiny metal set into the wall with a glowing gem set into the wall beside it. 

The green glowing spotys are actually dormant screamers (MCC pg 196), 1 per character (HP 6/13/14/18/14/14) that will "wake" and attack if they are at all disturbed (usually by investigating the green glow). These are some of the dead ancients who once staffed this facility, corralled here by the mole men and then barricaded in.

Healers or other characters may want to investigate the mushrooms. There are 1d3 varieties and the judge should allow a luck check to see if any of them have restorative properties. If failed they are either safe but otherwise unremarkable, or potentially poisonous (or possibly all 3 ...).

The metal slab on the right is an elevator door that leads to Area 1-3. The door can be opened by pressing the glowing jewel in the wall, a Dc 18 Strength check, or a DC 5 Rover check.

Inspecting the barricade reveals it to be made of stacked up office furniture.

The barricade is roughly 7 feet high and appears to be constructed primarily of large sections of a metal and hide wall. These sections are square metal with some kind of strange fuzzy hide stretched across the middle. Among these sections of wall you can also see old chairs and strange metal boxes. 

If the characters seek to deconstruct the wall ask them where along its length they want to do this (on the right there is a door hidden within the barricade to Area 1-7) and tell them that it is not difficult but will take time and may make noise. Beyond the barricade is a larger space that is scattered with debris and leads to areas 1-4, 1-5, and 1-6.

Beyond the barrier you see a larger space. Clutter about are large piles of debris and old furniture. On the left there are two openings in the wall that clearly lead into other spaces. At the back of this long space is a wall of entirely hard air beyond which a room containing machinery and controls with blinking lights. Through that room you can see a large window into a larger space from which the pervasive purple glow emanates.

Exits to:

• Area 1-1 Entrance 
• Area 1-3 Elevator
• Area 1-4 The Break Room
• Area 1-5 Restrooms
• Area 1-6 Main Control Room
• Area 1-7 Stairs

MCC - Purple Pit of the Mole Men (Area 1-1)

Welcome to the first a in series of weekly posts detailing my Mutant Crawl Classics adventure Purple Pit of the Mole Men. Each week I will provide an area of the map in complete detail and by the end of this series you will have a full adventure ready to be run. This adventure is based on Harley Stroh's The Sinister Secret of Whiterock, and I consider this an adaptation of the adventure to the MCC rules set. You can navigate using the links provided in this post or via the page in the header bar above. This is designed with 4-6 level 1 characters in mind, if you are running this with higher level characters increase hit dice and enemy numbers accordingly. 

Area 1-1 Entrance

The player characters can find this location while exploring or head directly to it if they were witness to the landslide that revealed this entrance after untold years buried.

You stand amid the rocks and earth of a recent landslide looking up at the shorn off earth above. A strange site greets your eyes; a wall of artificial stone of the ancients juts partway out from the rocks and fresh earth. A small ledge of similar material leaves a place where one could stand were they to climb the loose slope. A portion of the wall seems to be the strange "hard air" of the ancient ones, and may provide access to this newly uncovered ancient ruin. 

Climbing up to the ledge can be done with a DC 7 agility check. No check will be needed if there is a rope other aide. Atop the ledge the following additional detail can be seen.

Standing on the ledge you see that this structure's exposed wall is perhaps 15 feet across and ten feet high. Set into this wall is a section of "hard air" roughly 6 feet long and 7 feet high, which is grimy with age and dirt. Through the dirty "hard air" a strange purple glow can barely be made out within the ruin. Set into the wall on the left is a black square with a triangular depression. 

The "hard air" is a sliding glass door which serves as entry into this ruin. A rover can attempt to open the door with a DC 10 check to bypass Artifact Doors and Security Systems. The glass/hard air can be smashed with 10 points of damage, or it can be forced open with a DC 15 Strength check (or a combined strength of 25). The wall to the right of the door is cracked and with an hour of effort the broken stone can be pulled down enough to squeeze through.

Once inside the characters will find a room 15 feet long and 10 feet deep.

Inside you found a small chamber 15 feet long and 10 feet deep. Directly ahead is an opening barred by another "hard air" barrier, beyond which the purple glow is more obviously visible. To the left is a small wall, half the height of a man, and to the right an area of the room contains 4 upright pillars.

On the left is the security area. Behind the console is the corpse of an ancient one. Time has deteriorated the bones such than any disruption will crumble them to dust. The body has a security comm badge that will open all doors in the facility, and a gauzer pistol with 7 rounds.

The control unit is mostly broken, but a DC 15 Intelligence check can repair it enough to allow the door to activate and open into Area 1-2. A result of DC 20 will also reactivate the 4 decon-pillars in the room which will purge radioactive material from any who walk within the area they outline. The only effect of which would be to inactivate any materials useful for Glowburning.

If the characters do not fix the console they can open the inner glass door in the same way as the outer door (DC 10 check from a Rover, DC 15 Str check, 10 points of damage, or a combined 25 Str). Alternately if the Comm Badge is activated it will automatically open the door for the possessing character.

If the characters peer through the inner door into Area 1-2 they will see a larger area festooned with glowing mushrooms in various shades of purples, blues, and reds, as well as a number of areas where a different green-yellow glow leaks from between the mushrooms.

Exits to:

• Area 1-2

Coming Soon - Purple Pit of the Mole Men

I've been quiet lately due to various factors, mostly a busier than usual work schedule leaving me with less time to write, but also because the impending demise of Google+ really has me down. However as I am off to Gary Con to run Purple Pit of the Mole Men I can announce that I will be returning with regular blog posts on my return. I am going to break up Purple Pit of the Mole Men into a series of blog posts, one each per room, and providing the full details. There are approximately a dozen areas in the adventure so this project will take about as many weeks to complete, but in the end you will have a full adventure, or a bunch of possible drop in rooms to add to other adventures.

You may wonder why I don't publish, and the easy answer is this, I don't feel that this qualifies as an original adventure. It retains a great deal of DNA and inspiration with Harley Stroh's The Sinister Secret of Whiterock and, as a result, it feels more appropriate to post this for free for others to enjoy rather than simply holding it in my pocket for all time.

• Area 1-1 Entrance
• Area 1-2 Shrooms and Screamers/Main Office
• Area 1-3 Elevator
• Area 1-4 The Break Room
• Area 1-5 The Den/Restrooms
• Area 1-6 Main Control Room
• Area 1-7 Stairs
• Area 2-1 Pump Control
• Area 2-2 Central Maintenance
• Area 2-3 Reactor Access
• Area 2-4 Reactor Chamber

Nuts & Bolts #155 - MCC Genotype table

I have been playing MCC for over a year now, and as a group we've lost a lot of PCs. So much so that I finally took the game off the rails. I wanted to take a look at how compatible MCC really is with the other "DCC family" products and see if classes from Lankhmar, Umerica, fanzines, etc. could roll along with the DCC & MCC classes. I realized that there was need for a larger table for generating Genotype under these circumstances. So I created this with the intent of using it for my "MCC Unchained" campaign rolling forward.

Genotype Table (roll 1d10)

• 1-2: Homo Sapiens - The legacy of the ancients. The homo sapiens has been one of the dominant species on Terra since well before the Great Disaster. Homo Sapiens is split into 2 sub-species. Roll 1d6.
• 1-3: Homo Sapiens Firmum - These are an offshoot of the ancient who have evolved a robust genetic code that resists mutation due to environmental factors. Use MCC Pure Strain Human classes.
• 4-6: Home Sapiens Sapiens - These genetic throwbacks are born to mutants (homo mutaris) infrequently (roughly 1% of births).  These humans are lacking the genetic hard coding of Firmum, and can develop mutations over time. Use human classes from DCC, DCC Lankhmar, & The Umerican Survival Guide.
• 3-4: Homo Mutaris - Many are the descendants of humanity who have gained mutations both grotesque and wonderful. Though homo mutaris is a separate species it is fully capable of interbreeding with homo sapiens. Roll 1d6.
• 1-3: Homo Mutaris Multis - The common mutant, these genetically unstable offshoots of humanity exhibit any number of strange defects and amazing powers. Use the MCC or Umerican Survival Guide mutant classes.
• 4: Homo Mutaris Dryadalis - Also occasionally known as Elfs, these mutants breed mostly true with a delicate visage, a painful allergy for iron, and a natural affinity for manipulating strange energies that even the ancients did not fully understand. Use the DCC Elf class, or other derivations.
• 5: Homo Mutaris Pumilus - Sometimes called Dwarfs, these mutants mostly breed true with a short stocky visage and a strange ability to smell precious metals and other minerals. Dwarfs have a seemingly racial talent for martial endeavours. See the DCC Dwarf class and its derivatives. 
• 6: Homo Mutaris Nanus - These tiny mutations are occasionally called Halflings. They exhibit the a form of Darwinian Luck similar to the Homo Sapiens Firmum. Use the DCC halfling class and its derivatives.
• 5-6: Animalis Sapiens - The animal kingdom saw its fair share of mutations after the Great Disaster, and many of those mutants gained sentience. Some even evolved humanoid form. Roll 1d6.
• 1-3: Animalis Sapiens Multis - The common manimal. This represents not a true species but instead a broad category of mutant animals with human form and extraordinary abilities that are similar to those of the Homo Mutaris Multis. Use the MCC manimal class.
• 4-6: Animalis Sapiens Primalis - Another broad characterization of mutated animals. The Primals have a more stable genetic structure compared to manimals, and some among them even have an innate connection to the strange forces of magic. See Primal Tales #1.
• 7-8: Planta Sapiens - Though less common among the plant kingdom, mutations that resulted in a strange sort of sentience and some form of human-adjacent body structure have occurred. All such plantients exhibit varying physical mutations and powers as well as an odd ability to affect themselves and others via olfactory detectible secretions. Use the MCC plantient. 
• 9: Boletus Sapiens - Commonly known as Shroomers these highly intelligent fungi are rare and all seem to share a devotion to some higher intelligence. Gifted with immense mental powers the shroomers are one of the more physically stable mutants of Terra A.D. (find the class here)
• 10: Xenos - Aliens from other worlds visit Terra A.D. on occasion. Though rare, these alien species occasionally find themselves stranded, or take up a long term goal that requires they interact with the locals. Use the Gray class from The Umerican Survival Guide, or see Star Crawl for a multitude of Xenos options.

Review: MCC #9: Evil of the Ancients (Mutant Crawl Classics)

Find it at the Goodman Games store!

Having finally plumbed the depths of an ancient complex the resident shaman forced the local AI to submit to its will by calling on ACHROMA to display its secrets the seekers found a hidden installation deep within the lower level.

The Setup

Evil of the Ancients is a self contained adventure, but it can also serve as a direct follow up to MCC #2: Incursion of the Ultradimension. I didn't use it as such, and in fact changed the entire approach to suit my campaign, with the locale of the adventure moved from a stand-alone base to a hidden portion of a different facility. As written the adventure starts when the players find an intact structure above ground and investigate. As such a Judge can insert this adventure into nearly any locale or region of the world that they want.

***Spoilers***



***Last warning, spoilers ahead***



The adventure is about a facility that is "haunted" by extra dimensional creatures accidentally pulled into the world in the closing days of the ancients before the great disaster. These creatures are trying to get home, and in order to do so need to sacrifice a powerful psychic mutant. The adventure is meant to be creepy and atmospheric as the mental influence of these aliens slowly wears away at the PCs and influences increasingly bizarre and dangerous behavior.

***End Spoiler***

The Good

The first thing that I want to praise is the ease of insertion into campaign play. It's easy to grab any old adventure and run it as a stand alone, a one-shot, or in a campaign that is only loosely defined, but the way I run my game I find a lot of adventures require extra work to make them fit into my world and narrative. This adventure is very much "drag and drop" and really helps in that regards

Secondly this adventure really oozes with atmosphere, and a Judge who takes the time to build that atmosphere and mood up will reap the rewards of a table full of paranoid players. The adventure really hinges on this as well, with very little in the way of traditional conflict. Instead it plays out like a haunted house scenario until the characters themselves begin to fall prey to the aliens' mind games and turn on each other. As a result this "level 3" adventure could be run with almost any level of characters with just a few tweaks.

The Bad

Honestly, I have no complaints. The adventure is pretty great, with a lot of the role play elements that drive the plot forward to keep things going. The story is a creepy one, and perhaps a better means for that larger story to out itself might have been nice, but I don't think that all that information needs to be made clear to the players anyways; mystery and suspense are easier to maintain when the players don't know what's going on. The adventure even gives you a couple of different outs depending on player actions and the Judge's preference. Talk about accommodating.

The Ugly

This isn't an adventure that will slam dunk with every group. It's very role play heavy and fairly light on combat. It worked for mygroup because they took the role-play and ran with it, especially as the *ahem* mental influences began to rack up. If your group just wants to do beer and pretzels and slay some freaks this may be a hard sell.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed Evil of the Ancients immensely. My group had fun, and even though some of the role play aspects were played open due to the nature of an online session my group ran with them anyway and had a ton of fun with this one. The story is interesting and maybe a little tragic, and the growing tension plays out very well at the table if your players are the type to roll with it. I'm going to rate this 4 rads out of 4!

MCC - Shroomer Character Class

Much like animals and plants mushrooms and other fungi were heavily affected by the mutative effects of the great disaster. Though rare, intelligent humanoid(ish) mushrooms and fungi have evolved and mutated into being in the unknown years since the great disaster. Unlike manimals and plantients the unique physiology of mushrooms and fungus, specifically the presence of the interconnective mycelium has meant that the Shroomers have evolved such that they display very few physical mutation but a heightened presence of mental mutations. Likewise they retain their native ability to connect to the great fungal colonies of Terra AD with various benefits.

Hit Dice: Shroomers gain d4 hit points at each level.

Mutations: Upon achieving 1st level, a shroomer gains 1d3 random mental mutations (see Table 3-2: Mutations).

Artifacts: Shroomers have no natural affinity for artifacts but due to their highly evolved mental capacity they do gain greater understanding as they progress to higher levels.

Summon Spores: All shroomers are servants of the Great Fungal Intelligence, a world spanning intelligence that resides within a global network of mycelium. This allows the shroomer to summon spores of the Great Fungal Intelligence for various effects equivalent to the Nanogram wetware ability (page 255). This power can be used once per day per character level. The Shroomer rolls 1d20+CL+Per and gains defects instead of patron taint when a "1" is rolled. The Judge to adjust the descriptions of these effects to suit the spore and fungus based source of the power.

Mycelium Nutrient Transport Healing: A shroomer may, in natural areas, make contact with the global network of mycelium and spend 1 turn absorbing nutrients from the mycelium to enhance their healing. Doing so heals the shroomer of 1d6+CL damage.

Radburn: Shroomers exposed to radiation or other mutagens may develop - or sometimes even lose – mutations (see Chapter 3: Mutations). Shroomers that lose all of their mutations devolve to into a non-sentient fungal or mushroom organism. If this happens in an area where they are able to connect to the mycelium, or if they are carefully transported to such an area, they may regain a single mutations at the will of the Great Fungal Intelligence. The shroomer makes a standard luck check, using the luck score they had at the time of their de-mutation, and if successful immediately gains 1 random mental mutation as well as their former ability scores, language, upright locomotion, and prehensile appendages.

Glowburn: Shroomers may elect to use glowburn when activating a mutant power or summoning  spores (see Chapter 3: Mutations).

AI Recognition: Shroomers are not recognized by AIs. They are simply too alien for an A.I. to mistake them for an ancient one.

Archaic Alignment: Shroomers player characters automatically begin as servants of The Great Fungal Intelligence and may not join any archaic alignments unless their master allows it.

Shroomer Titles (level/title)

1. Spore
2. Hyphae
3. Pinhead
4. Primordia
5. Shroom
6. Great Cap 

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Feedback and comments are welcome, so long as they are constructive.

MCC - Expanded and Customized Manimal Sub-type Table (Glowburn Episode 17)

Since there was a lot of discussion about manimals and the manimal feel in MCC vs TMNT & After the Bomb I decided to split the difference and stay somewhat true to MCCs old school roots but also leverage in some species/genus consistency. This table replaces table 1-7 on page 20 of the MCC core rules.

Table 1-7: Manimal Sub-Type (roll 1d30)

• 1-2 Primate: Roll 1d4 (1) gorilla; (2) chimpanzee; (3) orangutan; (4) gibbon. 
• All Primates receive Heightened Intelligence instead of a random Mental mutation
• 3-5 Canine: Roll 1d4 (1) dog; (2) wolf; (3) coyote; (4) fox. 
• All Canines receive Extra Senses in place of their first Physical mutation
• 6-8 Feline: Roll 1d4 (1) lion; (2) tiger; (3) cheetah; (4) panther. 
• All Felines receive Heightened Agility in place of their first Physical mutation
• 9-10 Ursine: Roll 1d4 (1) brown bear; (2) grizzly bear; (3) polar bear; (4) panda bear. 
• All Ursines receive Heightened Strength in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 11-12 Bovine: Roll 1d5 (1) cow; (2) bison; (3) buffalo; (4) antelope, (5) yak. 
• All Bovines receive Gas Generation in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 13-14 Suidae: Roll 1d3 (1) pig; (2) hog; (3) warthog. 
• All Suidaes receive Heightened Stamina in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 15-17 Rodentia: Roll 1d6 (1) mouse; (2) rat; (3) squirrel; (4) porcupine; (5) beaver; (6) rabbit. 
• All Rodents receive Shorter in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 18-19 Amphibia: Roll 1d3 (1) frog; (2) toad; (3) salamander. 
• Frogs & Toads receive Domination instead of a random Mental mutation;
• Salamanders receive Pyrokinesis instead of a random Mental mutation.
• 20-22 Avian: Roll 1d6 (1) hawk; (2) eagle; (3) crow; (4) owl; (5) vulture; (6) seagull. 
• All Avians receive Wings in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 23-25 Insecta: Roll 1d6 (1) roach; (2) ant; (3) fly; (4) grasshopper; (5) beetle; (6) moth. 
• All Insectas receive either Wings or Carapace in place of their first Physical Mutation, appropriate to their species type. (i.e. Ants = Carapace, Moth = Wings)
• 26-27 Serpents: Roll 1d4 (1) king cobra; (2) python; (3) boa constrictor; (4) rattlesnake.
• All Serpents receive Plasticity in place of their first Physical Mutation 
• 28-29 Lizards: Roll 1d6 (1) chameleon; (2) gecko; (3) komodo dragon; (4) gila monster; (5) iguana; (6) turtle or tortoise. 
• Chameleons receive Holographic Skin in place of their first Physical Mutation;
• Turtles/tortoises receive Carapace in place of their first Physical Mutation;
• All other Lizards receive Regeneration in place of their first Physical Mutation.
• 30 Roll again on this table, then roll on Table 1-6 Mutant Appearance.

MCC - New Mutation - Kawaii

Kawaii

You have evolved the ability to retain a juvenile appearance even into adulthood. As a result other mammalian sentients find you extremely cute, a fact which you have learned to take advantage of. From social situations to catching enemies off guard in combat, your overwhelming cuteness has given you the ability to gain a leg up on many other denizens of Terra A.D.

Type: Passive
Range: N/A
Duration: Permanent
Save: None

General:  The mutant is unnaturally cute.

Manifestation Roll 1d4: (1) The mutant’s eyes are unusually large; (2) The mutant’s body is covered by a fuzzy coat of fur/hair/feathers, as appropriate; (3) The mutant’s head is large for their body and their face is round and cherubic; (4) The mutant’s body is slightly rotund in such as way that is adorable.

Check Results

• 1 Failure, mutation replaced by defect.
• 2-11 Failure, mutation results in cosmetic change only; you're cute, but not that cute.
• 12-13 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +1.
• 14-17 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +2.
• 18-19 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +3.
• 20-23 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +4; when the mutant is in social situations with other sentient mammalians they never have a disposition toward the mutant worse than neutral.  
• 24-27 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +6; when the mutant is in social situations with other sentient mammalians they never have a disposition toward the mutant worse than friendly; when in combat against other sentient mammalians the mutant is never the first target.
• 28-29 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +7; when the mutant is in social situations with other sentient mammalians they never have a disposition toward the mutant worse than friendly and the mutant receives a +1d for interaction rolls; when in combat against other sentient mammalians the mutant is never targeted until they have attacked.
• 30-31 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +8; when the mutant is in social situations with other sentient mammalians they never have a disposition toward the mutant worse than helpful and the mutant receives a +2d for interaction rolls; when in combat against other sentient mammalians the mutant is never targeted until they have attacked.
• 32+ The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +9; when the mutant is in social situations with other sentient mammalians they never have a disposition toward the mutant worse than helpful and the mutant receives a +2d for interaction rolls; when in combat against other sentient mammalians the mutant is never targeted until they have attacked and their first attack is always considered a surprise attack.

MCC Recap - You're in Rubble

Last Wednesday I ran the another session of my monthly(ish) MCC game.

Meet the Seekers:

• Sinclair, the Mutant (Chitinous armor) (level 2)
• Played by Andrew Lyon
• Bo Goodboy, the Yorkie Manimal (level 1) and Ricki the Dog Manimal
• Played by Jon Hook
• Winona, the Beaver Manimal
• Played by William Keller
• Ratfinkle, the Rat Manimal (level 1) and Flic-Flak the Sentinel (level 2)
• Played by Alex Perucchini 

Prior Session Reports:

• A Branch to the Head for All
• A Door Too Far
• Things Get Blue
• Hot hot hot!
• Purple Pit of the Mole Men
• On the Trail of Tibbar
• Entering The Ruined Citadel
• Wabbit Season

Have you gotten a tetanus shot recently?

The tibbar were now dead, and the ruins quiet. The seekers took a moment to assess their situation and decide on next steps. Ratfinkle, proud owner of one of the tibbar's strange weapons, decided to put some time into figuring out just how to make use of it. Unfortunately the manimal was not well prepared for such introspective tasks and in the process of attempting to figure out the workings of the cadmium rifle he loaded a shell into the wrong end of the barrel and then fired the weapon. The resulting explosion killed the manimal and when his companions tried to roll the body the found there was little enough left to even bury.

Deciding to open the door at the back of the room the seekers found it locked and the only apparent means of unlocking, a small square of ancient material. They attempted hands and faces, both their own and those of the fallen tibbar, but to no avail.

Bo Goodboy, bored of the repetitive testing of the lock, moved out to investigate the courtyard area alone. As he approached the ruins of one of the fallen towers he spied the fallen form of another tibbar, one that they had not killed. Cautiously approaching Bo was at least partially prepared when a giant mutant mantis sprang up from the rubble near the corpse and slashed him with it's wicked serrated claws. His flesh rent in a nearly fatal first attack he swung his stone axe up and over his head and cleaved the creature's head from its body. After taking a moment to collect himself he looted the tibbar and found a fully charged c-cell! Almost a worthy reward for the damage incurred.

Meanwhile Sinclair was frustrated by the lock, and swing his massive club into the square of strange material destroying it and receiving a nasty shock. Annoyed the group decided to see in there was a way in from outside the ruin, and moved out to search for a window. They found that the tower did have windows but that the closest was two dozen feet above the ground. Using their skills as gatherers two of the team made rope using the local vines and tied them to a section of rubble. Wenona used her teleportation mutation to place the rubble beyond the window to act as a grapnel and Sinclair climbed up the rope and into the tower.

Within he found that there was a hole in the roof and that time and water had destroyed all the tower's floors except a small section he now stood on. Looking down into the tower he spied the other side of the door they could not open and beside it a long desiccated and decayed corpse. Searching the corpse Sinclair found a small hexagonal badge in silver with a white bird, five shiny discs, and, searching the remains specifically, a strange mechanical implant in the skull of the body.

Sinclair fiddled with the hexagonal badge enough to get it to stick to his clothing and unlock the door allowing him to exit the tower's ruins back into the room of the tibbar slaughter. The seekers then decided search the last room within the ruin, a largely collapsed pile of rubble that quickly collapsed as they searched. Sinclair was pulled in and Bo grabbed his arm but was unable to prevent himself from being pulled inward as well. Wenona was quick to grab Bo but likewise fell into the collapsing rubble. Flik-flac reached out to try and help his friends but failed to grab hold of Wenona and then followed the other seekers into the mess. In the end they all fell into the pit created by the collapsed rubble, taking many cuts from the shattered glass and twisted metal. As they pulled themselves out the found that Bo, already weakened by his encounter with the mantis had bled out from all the cuts he took from the glass. They could not rouse their freind and had to mourn his loss.

At last the seekers had had enough, they took the rest of the day and rested, using the tents the tibbar had left behind, and regrouped in the morning. They decided to check the small ruin at the overlook before pushing deeper into the ruin. Investigating the nearly destroyed structure the group found a ring of gold and red stone and another hexagonal badge, this one in gold and white, but only after defeating a quartet of giant centipedes that ambushed them from the rubble. Flik-flac quickly used the remains of one of the centipedes to fashion a manica for his arm out of the segemented chitin while Riki gather the remaining plates up with the intent of getting the village craftsman to fashion it into a suit of armor.

With all the external ruins explored the group turned their eyes on the passage into the mountain, and the ruins within ....

In Memoriam: 

• Ratfinkle, blown to smithereens by his own cadmium rifle
• Bo Goodboy, falling into a pit of glass

MCC - New Mutation - Machiavellian Mind

Machiavellian Mind

You see other residents of the world as pawns and possess the ability to convince, cajole, or intimidate them into doing what you want.

Type: Passive
Range: N/A
Duration: Permanent
Save: None

General:  The mutant is unnaturally persuasive.

Manifestation Roll 1d4: (1) The mutant’s eyes are deep set and piercing; (2) The mutant’s body tall and thin allowing them to look down on their peers; (3) The mutant’s hair is strangely wispy and looks like a dead animal sitting atop their head; (4) The mutant’s skin is a strange orange tone.

Check Results

• 1 Failure, mutation replaced by defect.
• 2-11 Failure, mutation results in cosmetic change only; the mutant steeples their fingers when they think.
• 12-13 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +1.
• 14-17 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +2.
• 18-19 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +3.
• 20-23 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +4; the mutant may roll an additional 1d3 when attempting to convince or persuade another sentient, including non-Patron Artificial Intelligences (includes AI Recognition rolls).  
• 24-27 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +6; the mutant may roll an additional 1d5 when attempting to convince or persuade another sentient, including non-Patron Artificial Intelligences (includes AI Recognition rolls).  
• 28-29 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +7; the mutant may roll an additional 1d6 when attempting to convince or persuade another sentient, including non-Patron Artificial Intelligences (includes AI Recognition rolls).  
• 30-31 The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +8; the mutant may roll an additional 1d7 when attempting to convince or persuade another sentient, including all Artificial Intelligences and Patron AI (includes AI Recognition rolls).  
• 32+ The mutant’s Personality score is increased by +9; the mutant may roll an additional 1d8 when attempting to convince or persuade another sentient, including all Artificial Intelligences and Patron AI (includes AI Recognition rolls).  

MCC Mighty Deeds of Artifacts (Glowburn Episode 16)

For my 2nd episode of Glowburn as an official co-host I proposed a rules modification. For completeness sake I present it here for those who may want to review.

Might Deeds of Artifacts

• Yes, that’s right, Mighty Deeds … of Artifacts! I think I’m actually going to test bed this in my monthly game, but the idea is that a Sentinel using an artifact already gets a bonus die, I’m not seeing any downside to allowing them to declare a Mighty Deed that uses that artifact (e.g. a ricochet shot with a gauzer pistol, or trying to melt a lock with a laser rifle). Just like in DCC a 3+ result on the Sentinel’s artifact die would declare success of the deed in some degree. 
• It’s simple enough I think, and will help Sentinel’s shine so long as they are using artifacts (which also will incentivize them to use artifacts).
• So the basics here are:
• The deed must be related to an artifact weapon or armor used by the sentinel!
• The Sentinel's Artifact die must come up a 3+ for the deed to happen!
• The attack (or other action) must also succeed!
• The Artifact die does not add to damage (unlike a Warrior's deed die) this is expected to be offset by the higher damage output of artifact weapons.

That's about that. I'm going to try this in my monthly campaign and we'll see how well it works.