RPG Campaign Tour: Day 22 - Tell Us About Any Notable Flora and Fauna

Day 22 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and we're in Monster Manual territory with "Tell us about any notable flora and fauna."

Qualifer: A lot the "creatures" listed in Gamma World 4th Edition are humanoids with some level of civilization.  Hissers, Hoppers, Orleans, Gren, etc are playable races, but they will interact with the player-characters, so we'll bring them up under other questions.

The group hasn't encountered a whole lot of post-apocalyptic wildlife that worried them. 

They encountered a patch of wilderness run rampant by the Terleens, or "Tree Fish" their feathers are valuable and fashionable.   Their bites are what best to be avoided.   

Terleens

Podogs can make great steeds, but there are a number of roving packs of the beasts, and if you're caught outside without defenses, you best climb a tree (and pray no Terleen are residing in it. 

Podogs

While many fear the Living Metal that fly amongst the clouds, belching smoke, most quickly forget of the Giant Golden Eagles that soar in the stratosphere.  Almost everyone knows of a person, or a person's livestock, that have been subject the terror of these birds.

The most unique critter they've encountered, isn't even a mutated creature.  It's Chambray, the loyal peacock of Lathar Bracken. 

That most interesting flora is usually somewhat sentient plants that have just infiltrated certain areas you wouldn't expect.    The De Facto Explorers dread any space in an Ancients facility that could be a closet... or a bathroom for that very reason.

Happy Birthday George Washington

 I've really tried not to reshare or repurpose every blog post that catches my eye, but Jim Purky (Der Alte Fritze) painted up a new George Washington from his own Fife and Drum figures, and it's worthy enough to wish our first president a happy 294th birthday.  

I'm not much of a SYW or AWI fan, but I've followed Jim since he was pushing colonial teddy bears and capturing peanut M&Ms with his little girl.  That little girl is now old and in college, I believe.  Time waits for no man, so buy some figures, paint some more, and play a game. That's what we should be doing on Presidents' Day anyway.

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 21 - What Are the Major Organizations of the Campaign?

Day 21 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and we're finally back to questions that I can answer better as the GM:  "What are the major organizations of the campaign"

Covering only the organizations/secret societies our party, the De Facto Explorers known about. 

Restorationists: The dominant group of Restorationists is, of course, the large collective in Riverbend. They tend to keep the regular rhetoric the restoring the world to the way it was... before mutantkind, to a minimum, so they've recruited a much larger base of altered humans, plants, and animals.  Their focus is so much the town of Riverbend but the caches of Ancient artifacts on the other side of the Big River.

Restorationists 

The Iron Society:  The society of altered humans had a significant enclave across the Big River from Fair-Town.  The town of Jainus and the facilities of their leader, the "Mutant Master" by Koto Dam focused on altered human superiority.  It was destroyed by the help of devasting Ancient artifacts which may have poisoned the air and water 

Brotherhood of Thought:  There was a time awhile back that the Brotherhood of Thought, the mental mutants who wandered the wastelands keeping their own form of justice, stretched far behind the known borders.  When the Iron Society fell in Jainus, their group took over to rebuild.  But the poisoning of the air and water has devastated Jainus, and many in the Brotherhood have fled to the four winds.  

The Knights of Genetic Purity - These Pure Strain humans who believe in the superiority of the unspoiled man and not hard to miss and usually don't last long in an area.  Most Knight believe that mutants of all kinds will eventually die out and some are not adverse to enslaving them to getting all use out of them before they die.   The Traditional KOGP?  They will actively hunt altered humans  to slaughter, and there are whispers that there are cities downriver run by the Knights. 

KIA Academy:  KIA should be a powerhouse, with their depth of knowledge of the ancients.  but it's all about transportation, and spreading their roads and services simply invites more trouble.  They are having their own issues keeping their populace in check, with the limited technology everyone is relying on day after day.  

Brotherhood of the Magi:  Rumors of actual wizards are whispered up and down the Big River.  They seem to perform fabulous deeds, and have battled the Pharoah to a standstill.

The Pharoah:  Rumored to be further downriver, the Pharoah's forces, bedecked in ancients power armor have attempted to make inroads .  They can't seem to make a foothold beyond the river, but they are working their way up. 

The Ranks of the Fit:  A Zoopremicist group focusing on animals controlling everything.   The actively engaged in might makes right, and a well organized military.  Their kind populate the ranks of the Parr. 

Next: Day 22 -  Tell us about any notable Flora or Fauna.

(Kickstarter) Monsters and Hunters by Macrocosm Miniatures

Another quick and fun Kickstarter by Macrocosm, Monsters and Hunters is a small collection of monsters and some sci-fi hunters to track them down.

Monsters

I went with the complete bundle with 2 monsters, 2 hunters, and a swarm, with shipping across the pond, it will be roughly US$35 with shipping across the pond.  

Hunters

With delivery scheduled for April (and Macrocosm is great on their delivery dates), these might kick-off a continuation of our Death Planet Iota Fistful of Lead game.

Swarm

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 20 - Are There Any Mysteries As Yet Unsolved?

Day 20 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test"  and I continue asking my players their interpretation of the question.  They have a very good memory in remembering "Are there any mysteries as yet unsolved."

Squiggles the mutant earthworm was first, blurting out.  "Finding out who [redacted] Squiggles!"

Our furry six-foot earthworm was hooking up with his former partner, Ubenda, when they were attacked and kidnapped.  Their bodies were discarded outside the downriver gate of Fair-Town and there were no witnesses.   Squiggles had considerable fluids removed from him, and barely made it through.  Ubenda was not so lucky.  There were rumor and nightmares of scary dogs and evil scientists.  There has been little resolution 20 episodes later.

Sonny, the mutant sunflower:  The aftermath of the destruction of the Mutant Master  and the town of Jainus.....  

The De Facto Explorers' first adventure culminated in the destruction of the "Mutant Master" and a mutant secret society hidden under Koto Dam.  It did involve an atomic device, and the Explorers never returned to the region.  They only heard poor rumors of the fate of the nearby town of Jainus, and the members of the Brotherhood of Thought who filled the power vacuum.  

Sneaky Pete,  mutant weasel: The dish not meant for cooking, and the intentions of Parr

The group investigated a Hisser community under the shadow a giant satellite dish atop a mesa, known as "Rho Base".  It's chock full of technology, and rumors that the Hissers has allied with the animal confederation of Parr... and may have even abandoned their village after everything. 

Lathar, the pure-strain human:  What's really up with the Kirothians? 

The blue-skinned Kirothians arrived mysteriously, and the surviving refugees have quickly adapted to Gamma World questions.  Lathar has learned a lot about them.... some of it extremely intimate, but they are an unknown faction in the world... especially if more of them start showing up.  

Next: Day 21 - 

(Review) Time Walk Games, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Back in July, I lamented the closure of Dragon Knight Games, a local game store just over a mile from my place.  The sign on the door was a cryptic promise of moving to a new location.    Time passed and I thought it was just another game store demise.

Awhile back, I was driving past the local movie theatre, and caught a Pokemon window cling in a door, and an open sign.    It took a bit of time and some research, but it appears Time Walk Games is some semblance of the remains of Dragon Knight.

Location:  The old Evolution Games/Sword in the Stone location was around the corner and parking there was questionable at best for a casual visit.   The corner of E. Northampton and S Main in Wilkes-Barre is even worse, with limited storefront parking, paid parking lots and metered parking around the corner.  

If you're a gamer attending Wilkes University and King's College?  It's perfect. 

Miniatures:  A limited number of Games Workshop boxed set... I did pick up some nice flight bases during my visit. 

Board Games:  Nada

RPGs: Nada

Accessories:   Not a whole lot, the set of official D&D dice that stared at me at Dragon Knight resumed its staring when I walked in the door.

CCGs:  The obvious bread and butter.  They carry Magic, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!  and noted Star Wars Unlimited and Lorcana there's a full case of singles. 

Events:  I believe there was a pretty full calendar, with Magic (Wizards Certified) and a host of other CCG and GW wargames.   This is 100% their bread and butter.

Food:  Drinks and snacks! 

I'll be honest, it's pretty sparse, and I showed up on a lull day.    But they circumvented my one pet peeve by saying hello when I walked through the door, so I'm going to root for them.  

With inconvenient parking for an out-of-towner and a general lack of stock, I'm giving Time Walk Games one and a half Gnomes out of five Gnomes.  If you're local, love playing in-store, and can fight against Wilkes-Barre parking, please try them out, and I hope you have fun! 

Time Walk Games is located at 10 East Northampton St in Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 19 - Any "Must See" Sites?

Day 19 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test" and like a bad internet survey, I asked my players "Any must-see sites?"  for a tourist visiting Gamma World. 

Lathar and Sonny -  Fair-Town in general.  They enjoy the concept of a town that was built on the premise of a Ren Faire.... (And I secretly now follow Ren Faires to see the rotation in on-site vendors, and change up businesses each time they visit).

Both also agreed that the "Must See" site in Fair-Town would have to be the mutant plant bar, The Wrong Celery. 

 

Sneaky Pete:  KIA Academy - The beacon of technology in this dark world, even if most of the technology they possess is oddly concentrated in road construction.

Despite the sheer size and majesty of the facility, Pete would like you to check out the neglected sub-levels.   It's where the leadership shove those highly mutated and undesirable ... and pull them back when they need to conscript an army.  The first three sub-levels have neighborhoods, businesses, and a salty variety of ne'er do wells.  The lower levels are the substructure of the actual facility.  Most levels are dangerous, yet incredible rewards still come out of it year over year.

GM Choice: For better or for worse, my players don't read the blog, so I'm somewhat safe to drop "The Wall" as my future must-see site that they haven't visited. 

Situated along the Big River, this huge structure with 40 foot high walls the extend out for kilometers (unlike the AI pic I generated), something is keeping the people out of the wall, or is it keeping something in?    We may find out soon enough.