(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #32 - The Other Stairwell

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, assisting the Hissers of Notex with the sky falling....

================= 

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Recovering from his injuries from the Glow near Ulmin.

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often.  Recently "gave birth" to a litter of sentient earthworm babies.

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. Looking for trouble in all the right places.  Recent jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray.

================

With a new stairwell uncovered in the back of the new cafeteria, it was determined that Sneaky Pete would confirm his nickname and go down them to see where these lead.  After a few flights, the weasel was shocked to see daylight... and the slightest hint of fresh air? The dust on the stairs evolved into layers of fine gritty soil.  The secret to this mystery was a door, leading to the outside, wedged open many, many moons ago, just enough to let in air, light, dirt, and probably some sort of vermin.

Peeking out, it appeared the door to the outside was on the side of the mesa opposite the village.  With the stairwell leading further down, he ran back up to fill in the the rest of the group.  The Explorers decided to follow Pete back down, and, after grasping no further information, Squiggles led the group down the additional stairs.  

Like the the first stairwell they uncovered, the concrete stairs transitioned to an open metal staircase, about half the width, but instead of finding another storage room at the bottom, Squiggles splashed into a large body of water.  

The earthworm quickly jumped up a step, "Water, you know I hate water.  Nothing good comes from it."

Lanterns focused their glow over a calm body of water surrounded by the normal inky darkness.  About five foot above the water, they could see a ceiling of some type, off away from the stairs.    

Sonny used his Plant-hood for the team's advantage to step further and investigate.  He took two steps further and dove forward into the water.  For a plant.. and one accustomed to book-learning, no less, he showed considerable aptitude in swimming, diving further down, and finding a flat bottom to this pool.  

Coming back up, with only the odd glow of the lantern guiding him back, something incredibly large swam by him.  Sonny froze, as best as sunflower underwater could.  The creature, it was definitely not a piece of debris, was much larger than a normal.  

The creature didn't seem to notice Sonny, as it swam around him, but as the scales of it brushed up against him, the sunflower started feeling tired and more lethargic by the second.  He proceeded to surface, his frond arms flailing up first, before his head surfaced and his face went back into the water.

Seeing his friend in peril, Lathar two two steps in to try to reach him.  Squiggles grabbed the barbarian by the belt to hold him steady.

Pete whipped out his flintlock pistol and fired from behind them all, scaring everyone for a half second, before a second scare jumped out of the water.  

The weasel's shot missed a large fish with nasty teeth break the surface of the water and bit Lathar on the lower leg.

You need heart to fight these guys.

The fish put a considerable wound on Lathar and stayed there, although it wasn't latched on.    A shocked Lathar pulled out his sword, stabbed the animal, then swapped to the sword to his left hand, and with his right, grabbed Sonny out of the water and stumbled up the stairs.  

No one noticed that Sonny had still been conscious slowly stabbing at the fish with his dagger while Lathar saved him.  

Pete pulled out his other flintlock and fired, killing the beast.  The water erupted in a churning frenzy as the large fish was torn apart and pulled under the water.

Squiggles and Pete grabbed the sunflower to allow the barbarian to stumble unencumbered back up the stairs to the room with the open door.

As Lathar hit the floor and the other scurried for something to bandage his leg, Squiggles could only yell out, "I don't how many more times we need to learn the lesson.... WATER BAD!"

In the time it took for everyone to stop Lathar's bleeding, Sonny finally felt the ability to talk return.

"That... was not... good."

Pete was happy Sonny was getting better, "If it had been be, I would have been eaten whole."

They all decided to rest up in this room, and got to listen to at least two more explosions outside, similar to the falling items that were falling on Notex.  The remnants of a dust cloud rolled into the room.  

Using the cloud as a sign, the group worked their way back up to Level 2 and down another hall.  Most of the rooms were quarters of some sort, but nicer accommodations.  They accumulated some basic ancient money, worth a few domars, and a number of syringes, filled with a clear liquid.  The syringes were distributed equally among the group.  

Sonny tossed the coins to Lathar.  Lathar looked at him incredulously, "Stop trying to buy my pain."

"Hey, you saved my life, it's the least I can do..."

They found another bathroom, but no bodies littered the floor.  Instead a huge crack in the floor was filled by a iridescent ooze that seemed to beckon them.  

Lathar was near insistent to investigate, "As a pure-human, I'm resistant to these things." but they had no containers to hold a sample of the ooze.   Sonny also kept staring at the large dent on the room's door, where something was hitting it from the inside.

Finding a larger room with four beds, one for each of them, they decided to take another quick break before continuing...

Rummaging through the desks, they found a clear plastic container, holding a toy of a horribly mutated bear.

"Sonny, open the box, we can use it to collect the ooze, " was all Lathar was worried about.

"Hold your steggons, Lathar, we're resting, and I'm looking at this bear thing." 

Sonny sliced that shiney tape that sealed the box and took out the toy.  The toy felt oddly weighted, so he made a small cut with his knife.  Many tiny, plastic beads poured out the toy's bum.  

"Is it dangerous?"  Lathar asked.

"The toy? No, it's normal, by all accounts."

"Then I shall take it, and it's small, round entrails.  It looks cute."

Hundreds of years in the future, Beanie Babies might finally be worth something.

GM Notes:  GM Quandry of the Day.  How look can mutant plants stay underwater?  Not something I could find in the 4th edition rulebook.  I figured plants could survive many minutes in still water, but once they got waterlogged and wilted, it was nothing but doom.  Luckily thirty seconds was all he needed to discover that he was the right character to jump in, although he was still susceptible to the fish's poisonous skin.  

Next: #33 - He's Not a Heavy Colonel

Game Day is Blooming! Unless You're a Mutant Sunflower in Gamma World

I get a long break from "traveling" responsibilities for the rest of the month, so I can truly focus on the Monday night Gamma World game.

Grabbing lunch with a buddy, we swung into a flower shop next door, and I felt a pang of guilt for "Doctor" Sonny Helianthus, the Mutant Sunflower Examiner in the game. 

I sent the picture to the group. Here are the responses:

Sonny:   "What are these monsters doing to my kind?!?!"

Lathar: "Appears sunflower life is cheap!"

Pete: "How humiliating. They stripped them of all their leaves and put them on a stage to sell. ….we need to demand sunflower emancipation!"

I hope they drop the seeds for sunflower reparations too....

Happy Mother's Day 2024

Happy Birthday, Maja!

Fifteen years ago, everything changed when Maja appeared in my life. Now, only a few months away from learning how to drive, I'm getting the right amount of teenager attitude.... still considerably less than Millie (even if Millie's been giving that attitude since age six).  

With a few stumbles, she's still been able to maintain a horrific schedule of volleyball, basketball, track & field, and AAU (dance was forced to go), and she's maintaining honors while enrolled in advanced classes.  She still wants to spend most of the time in her room with her books and her cat Harold. 

Despite zero time for "real" gaming outside of some cutthroat games of chess or Chinese checkers, she still holds interest.  In fact, when given a chance to comment on some of our Monday night online Gamma World game, Maja gave ripping critiques and campaign-friendly advice to the guys, one of them commenting, "... and why isn't she part of the group?"

She's off to NYC today to see "Six" with her Mother.  You only get one "starter kid" and Maja's been an awesome one at that.

(Kickstarter) Space Dwarves 2 by Warblade Miniatures

 Warblade Miniatures is expanding its line of Space Dwarves with the succinctly labelled "Space  Dwarves 2" Kickstarter.  

$42US nets you 11 new metal figures with slotted bases.  The first wave of Space Dwarves and other warbands are available as add-ons. 

(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #31 - Lathar Gets His Green Card

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, assisting the Hissers of Notex with the sky falling....

================= 

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Recovering from his injuries from the Glow near Ulmin.

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often.  Recently "gave birth" to a litter of sentient earthworm babies.

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. Looking for trouble in all the right places.  Recent jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray.

================

The debate in front of the locked mess hall doors continued for many minutes.  Pete and Lathar kept discussing ways to open the double doors from the hallway, while the chains and lock were securely on the other side.  All Squiggles could do was insist all this could be done by going back down to the main floor and accessing the room from the emergency stairs.  

While Pete stretched out his weasel arms to reach the lock, then taking a crowbar to unsuccessfully dislodge the door, and Squiggles walking laps around the floor, Lathar emerged with a tin of lantern oil with a host of contraptions attached to it.   

"Here, let's see if we can blow this thing option. "

The others scurried to positions around the corner as the barbarian tried to set it among the chains.  The device fell apart as Lathar let go,   The device did ignite, lighting a small portion of oil, which landed on Lathar's fur vest.  The low flame smoldered in the fur, causing an awful stink.  The remaining oil drained out of the contraption and pooled inside the room.  

After Lathar and Peter both tried to shoulder the doors open, with no success, Squiggles finally won the group over to travel back down the elevator and then up stairs.  Once it was determined the previous reactions in the room had vanished, Squiggles began disassembling the cafeteria tables for the larger metal parts.  With the sturdier pieces, he was finally able to pop open the lock.   The heavy, twenty foot long trail chain was stored in a corner.  The lock seemed ruined, but the chain could come in handy.  

With the great question of the day finally answered, the explorers finally began going to door within the complex.  Most rooms were filled with decaying equipment, damage electronics, with barely any oddities of any note.  The rooms had minimal power and lighting, although none of the running terminals could be accessed.

The orange keycard they had obtained gave them access to nearly all the rooms.  One room had a broken keypad and a stuck door.  Pete used his crowbar to pop open the door, and they uncovered... a latrine.  There was considerable moisture, mold, and growth, but oddly the toilet stalls, sinks, and showers were easily identifiable.  

Lathar took the lead and after breaking in some sort of song to check the impeccable acoustics, found a skeleton, with ancient clothes still hanging on a hook.   The skeleton had suffered a broken neck while alive, but had nothing of note on him.  The clothes on the hook, however, netted them a Green keycard off the pocket.

Working further down the hall, they encountered another mess hall, with long, two-foot high metal plates flanking the back walls.  A switch on the walls activated the plates, they rose up into the wall to reveal a long panel of windows to the outside.  Sunlight poured in,  but as the explorers adjusted their eyes, they could see more flaming objects streaking from the sky, crashing around the Hisser village.   Thankfully, most of the Hissers had already evacuated, but the damage and intensity of the attacks was increasing.

A lone metal door in the back of the mess hall uncovered another concrete staircase, this one going down, just as similar to one they had previously traversed.  

As the main entrance hallway essentially stopped at the elevator, this stairwell was leading down to somewhere else.

According to NightCafe Studio, Lathar is ready to attend a Skid Row concert.

Bonus Content:  Thanks to Chat GPT, here's Lathar's song he sings when he's answering nature's call.  Unfortunately, he can't sing a lick so it sounded horrible in the facility latrine:

Oh, gather 'round ye hearty souls, and hear the tale I tell, Of Lathar the Barbarian, on a quest none can dispel. He roamed the lands both far and wide, with urgency in his stride, To find a place to answer nature's call, the call he couldn't hide.

(Chorus) With a rumble in his belly and a clenched resolve, Lathar searched for solace, a spot to absolve. Through forests deep and deserts wide, he'd revolve, A barbarian on a mission, his desperation would evolve.

(Verse 2) From towering mountains to meadows serene, Lathar scoured every corner, with a face quite green. His mighty axe now seemed a burden, his priority quite clear, To find a hidden sanctuary, far from prying eyes and ears.

(Chorus) With a rumble in his belly and a clenched resolve, Lathar searched for solace, a spot to absolve. Through forests deep and deserts wide, he'd revolve, A barbarian on a mission, his desperation would evolve.

(Verse 3) Through swamps and jungles, he pressed ahead, His urgency growing, his steps filled with dread. Oh, the battles he'd fought were grand indeed, But this quest for relief was a different breed.

(Chorus) With a rumble in his belly and a clenched resolve, Lathar searched for solace, a spot to absolve. Through forests deep and deserts wide, he'd revolve, A barbarian on a mission, his desperation would evolve.

(Verse 4) At last, a hidden glade he found, where he could finally rest, Lathar sighed in sweet relief, his quest put to the test. He raised his axe up to the sky, in triumph and in jest, For even a mighty warrior needs a place to take a rest.

(Chorus) With a rumble in his belly and a clenched resolve, Lathar searched for solace, a spot to absolve. Through forests deep and deserts wide, he'd revolve, A barbarian on a mission, his desperation would evolve.

So here's to Lathar's quest so grand, a tale of need and grit, A reminder that even heroes have moments they can't omit. In the annals of history, his legacy's secure, A barbarian who conquered all, even nature's call, for sure!

Next: #32 - The Other Stairwell

Mandatory AAU Basketball Spring 2024 Rant - Weekend #3 - Communication Breakdown

One basic rule I've developed in my old age is proper communication is key.  I'm certainly no angel when it comes from a failure to communicate, but I've noticed more and more people just omitting massive facts.  

This weekend was going to be another of the "home and away" tournaments for the girls.  I would take Maja up to Scranton, while their mother would take Millie and two other girls down to Philly for their weekend tournament.  Seemed simple enough.  

The plan began to unravel on two Fridays ago, when Maja mentioned they submitted her times/jumps for a track & field invitational almost an hour away.  Good news was, she had already spoken with her AAU coach, and that allowed everyone enough time to schedule afternoon//evening games for Saturday.

That seemed like it was going to work.  Millie's mom would take her down to Philly Friday night.  Maja would take the team bus Saturday to the meet, and I would run her almost an hour north the Scranton for those games.

Then Tuesday came around and Millie casually drops that she too submitted her throws for the meet and got in.  Luckily it was on the way to AAU practice and she could drop it on her coach with some time to negotiate later times.   Now, my side of the transportation remains the same (per the schedule, I need to be an hour and ten minutes away by 3:00pm).  Once Millie's schedule came out, there was no way she would make her 1:35pm game, but 3:00pm was possible.  

Communication folks!  

I normally have some comments regarding basketball officiating, and don't worry, they'll be showing up.  My first rant has to do with track & field officiating and organization, of lack thereof.  

While I must limit my rants regarding basketball based on the fact I never played, and am learning the rules every game, even at this point, I ran four years of track during high school, I helped volunteer and organize the meets I wasn't participating in. 

For an invitational, where qualifying times are submitted, and lane assignments deteremined A WEEK BEFORE, it shouldn't be too hard to organize the kids by heat, take their times, document them, and get the next heat going.   Case in point, when the final call for Maja's intermediate hurdle race was made, appropriately, they were setting up the first of three heats for the 4x100 relay.  

TWENTY-NINE MINUTES LATER she finally started her race.    If it was the beginning of the season, or a bunch of 7th graders, I might understand, but it's May, most are JV 9th or 8th graders, and everyone knows what's going on.  

The field events suffered a similar breakdown, as everyone who ran the boy's shot put, migrated across the complex for the boy's discus, even though there was a perfectly competent team assigned there, and they just breezed through 17 girls in their event.  That left one poor high school volunteer at shot put, and the girls had to wait 30 minutes. 

With these delays, Millie had to leave at least 35 minutes before the Javelin was supposed to happen, and she JUST got to the facility in time to play at 3:00pm.    I simply had to wait for Maja to finish her high jump and we were on our way, with 15 minutes of wiggle room.  

Millie: 6 out of 18 in the shot, 7 out of 16 in the discus.

Maja:  4th in the high jump, massive PRs in the 100m hurdles, 300 hurdles, and triple jump.

Millie's weekend:  The theme for the weekend for Millie's crew was height differential.  They were forced to play teams with a four-inch height advantage on average.  Yet they finished the weekend 4-0 in the A Pool, including a close game that went down to a steal and a lay-up at the last second.  Unlike the last tournament, everyone was there (save Millie for the first game.) 

Maja's has fewer picture and more text:  Guess who didn't show up for the 3:35pm game?  If you guessed the other team, you'd be right.  Times and locations for the tournament, which, by common courtesy, are usually finalized by Thursday night, seemed to constantly change, and the other team didn't confirm with the app on Friday. 

So we waited... and waited... and luckily our program contact was on site, who got us a 9pm game with them, after our 7pm game. 

The first game wasn't even close, as the girls jumped out to a 21-0 lead after four minutes and the coach called off the dogs.  61-19.

Second game, the other team did show up... and it felt like competition they faced in 7th grade.  65-15 win.  

Sunday morning, fearing a schedule change overnight, I was right.  Our 1pm game had been moved to noon, against the winner of a different pool.    This team, from Long Island, was pretty decent, and kept the game within 6 or 7.  One of our new players buster and an and one at the buzzer to end the half at 28-18, and people never looked back.   48-31.  

The final game was against another pool winner, and it was another 21-0.    Everyone coasted, tried different positions, practiced new plays, and they walked away with a 61-14 win.  

While I mentioned the spontaneous schedule changes, and generally poor organization, I did bury the lead:  Maja's group is 9th grade (15U), and they decided to move up to 10th grade (16U) for this tournament.  

I know when the girls go to the big showcases in Atlantic City and elsewhere, they'll get their buts handed to them, but right now the biggest competition they've faced is the Varsity team every Tuesday and Thursday night. 

(EDIT: One addendum I’d like to add.  One addendum I’d like to add since we were stuck on site at a small Catholic school for seven hours, we got the Watch a lot of the other games and I can safely say, as the referees on site for that timeframe or some of the best I may have ever seen.  I could count on my hands the number of missed calls. They kept control of the game. They were consistent.  This is  the fifth year AAU and I can safely say that I’ve never seen that happen before.  It was a pleasure to watch, Even if some of the actual game results were not.  I might collectively give that group to the first a I’d never give any referees.

*Now, the Sunday refs were a D+ and a solid B, at different sites. 

Happy Star Wars Day!

(Kickstarter) Masters of Devil Reef 2 Box Set by Crucible Crush

 Crucible Crush is back with an expansion of their high-quality Lovecraft-inspired minis with their Masters of Devil Reef 2 Box Set. 

Nice and simple, you can pledge for the new set for $39US, plus shipping, or for around $70US pick up the new set plus Masters of Devil's Reef 1 AND get free shipping.

Project 350 Update

 I have a lot of reoccurring themes and projects on this blog.  One of the ones I haven't done in awhile is my Project: 350.  

Project: 350 had a simple goal in the beginning:  Put a leash on the overwhelming amount of blog material I have behind the scenes, pictures, scenarios, paint schemes, holiday placeholder posts, and a host of other things.  Most importantly, it was supposed to be a little motivation to run games/get things done.  

The 350 is simply my goal to have that many draft blog posts and scheduled blog posts  It seems like a lot, but one day I had 150 of these, and the next, it was over 500, with a month long daily project scheduled and forcing me to add more.  

I usually tack this onto the back end of a Friday morning painting post, but I've been overwhelmed with everything in life, so painting has fallen by the wayside.  There's a wide variety of stuff sitting on the painting table, old figures, new projects, and a lot of cheap plastic for some modelling projects.  Here's hoping I have time in the near future.  

So, without further ado, As of today, my current Project: 350 number is 486 (315 drafts, 171 scheduled).  That's down a decent bit from mid-February (494) 321/173. 

Most of us our internet packrats in some way, so the 300+ drafts can be understandable, but many might be asking, "ViscountEric, why do you have 171 posts scheduled?  And when specifically are they scheduled?"

Almost 100 of those are "holiday placeholder" posts scheduled into 2026 or beyond!  There's plenty of funny or gnome stuff on this worldwide web, and if I can throw it on for Christmas, Easter, or Star Wars Day, it's good enough for the part of my brain that likes to have something new everyday, and who wants to blog on Arbor Day?  All kidding aside, I have Star Wars Day posts set up through 2041, Easter Sunday till 2040, and my Swedish Tomte-related God Jul posts till 2039, usually with no duplicates from previous years!  

What about in the next 18 months?  There's plenty of holiday goodness keeping the numbers high, but I have 30 episodes of my Gamma World campaign in the can and ready to post every Tuesday morning.  I also may have the first 10 of the 31-day #CharacterCreationChallenge ready to go.  

With a photo purge of over 200 pictures from my phone, I discovered another 50-60 pics that need a home, either as filler pics for other posts, or setting up new posts in the horizon.  I hope to start that project this week, so it seemed appropriate tally a benchmark before the blog exploded again for a while.  

HMGS Ballots Are Out! Vote, Dagnabbit!

 Tuesday evening I received my link to vote for the new members on the HMGS Board of Directors.  It was quick and easy,   Do make sure to read the candidate biographies before voting!   

There is a nice variety, of old and new, promises and gripes,   I do agree with some of the concerns with visibility and general accounting, but I'm not resisting the exhalation of gas from my lungs for issues that get much more detail once you have access to behind the curtain.  

And also, if you could vote for Eric Jacobson, that would be much appreciated.

It's an old picture, but I'm surprisingly much thinner and clean shaven again!

May Day Seems a Little Slimmer this Year

 

Twitter: @tabletopinq  IG:@tabletopinquirer

(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #30 - Coffins for Hissers

 Our heroes, the De Facto Explorers, assisting the Hissers of Notex with the sky falling....

================= 

Sneaky Pete: A mutated weasel scout.  Pete's telepathy and night vision take a backseat when he whips out his electrical powers.  Recovering from his injuries from the Glow near Ulmin.

Sonny Helianthus: a sentient sunflower artifact examiner with trusted Restorationist ties. 

Slitheran Wurmtail (aka Squiggles): a mutated earthworm scout, in impromptu power armor, looking for trouble, and finding it often.  Recently "gave birth" to a litter of sentient earthworm babies.

Lathar Bracken: A pure-strain human from River Bend.  He's got the muscle, the face, and a mount for most encounters.  Lathar's trusty beast of burden, No Name, travels wherever he does. Looking for trouble in all the right places.  Recent jousting champion of Fair-Town and has been awarded... a peacock he has named Chambray.

================

With a full night's sleep, a belly full of grub, the De Facto Explorers met up with the Hisser elders.  The general consensus of the villagers was that they were prepared to leave if things continued from yesterday.  Yesterday had been the first attack that killed someone, and unless the party had a solution, there was no way to defend against the falling objects.   The Explorers encouraged the Hissers to evacuate the area short-term.  Hopefully in a few days, things would be remedied, if no sooner.

As the villagers began packing their worldly possessions, the Explorers re-entered the facility entrance.  They were still debating which direction they would take when they still wandered into the stairwell.  It was another five minutes of rather loud debating for a marching order going down the concrete steps. 

One flight of steps down and the concrete changed to all-metal steps, about three-quarters the width, with only superficial rust.   Four more flights of the metal stairs, and the group found themselves on solid ground.  A quick look saw dozens of plastic containers, each about as big as one man could carry.  scattered to and fro.  Some were still stacked atop each other, while others were tossed about.  

With Sonny holding a torch, Lathar went through all of the bins, finding all of them empty.  Pete insisted that they seemed like great inventions to lug stuff around.  Added that they were stackable, they took two stacks of three and hauled them back up to just inside the main door.  

"So long as we don't end up selling these as Hisser coffins, I think they'll work out fine," was all Squiggles could say as he climbed the steps with one bin.  

"Don't forget the lids," was all Sonny could add to the discussion.

Completing that task, Pete suggested taking the main hallway before heading back up.  

Working down the hallway, the sunlight from the outside door gave way to darkness, which Lathar's lantern took over.  

There were no other doors until the end of the hallway,  two silver doors were side-by-side, with a panel of some sort.  In front of it was a human skeleton, in some greenish uniform.  Outside a green access card, snapped in half, and a crumpled-up white coat of some sort underneath, there were no other clues.  

The doors opened with just a touch of the panel, opening one of the magic lifts, similar to the ones they used at Level A.  The green key card did not work, as expected, but the orange card they had allowed them to select "1, 2, or 3" on the panel inside the lift.  

Pressing 3, the doors shut and the lift moved upwards.  The doors opened on a new floor.  It was dark, with open, and two signs on the walls in front of them.   The sign on the right hand an arrow pointing to the right and "SCIENCE" above it.  The sing on the left had an arrow pointing left and "MEDICAL" above that.  

As they turned towards in the direction of Medical, they were alarmed by the carnage just outside their view.  Bodies in uniform were strewn across the floor, and the burn marks on the walls, probably from weapons fire.  It appeared that there should have been bodies and blaster marks in front of the elevator, but someone/thing cleaned them up.  

The Explorer searched the bodies, but found a lot of empty energy cells, plenty of spent bullet casings, a full syringe of some sort of liquid, three casters for an office chair, and a single grenade.  The grenade was in a skeleton's hand that let it go when the body was rolled over, a stream of a white cloud sprayed out of the grenade, quickly filling up the hallway.  

The mutant animals and Lathar immediately began to choke, their eyes water, and vision completely obscured.  Sonny was less effected, but still felt a burning sensation over his body and was disoriented.  They scrambled for the doors, but they all appeared luck.  Sonny tried the orange card to access the rooms.  The rest of the group stumbled back to the elevator, and despite traveling back down with a good dose of the smoke, they made it back down to the main level.  Squiggles stumbled over the crates as they emerged out the entrance and back into much-needed fresh air. 

Beyond the humans/animals emitting every type of bodily fluid/secretion out of every orifice, Sonny's leaves were covered in brown pit-marks.  

No one was checking on them, so they regrouped, ate lunch, and decided to explore the unsearched level 2... but SMART.

When the doors opened on level 2, it was a somewhere between the immaculateness of the lift area on level 3, and the carnage of bodies around the corner.   They walked around the floor, counting doors and making note of three of them.  One was damaged.  One had a ticking sound behind it.  One had reinforced window and human eye-height... and a familiar mess hall on the other side...

Next: #31 - Lathar Gets His Green Card

Events Submitted for Historicon 2024

The Preliminary Event List for Historicon 2024 isn't coming out until May 21st, but I have received confirmation that the following events have been approved for the Stout Gnomes:

#1 Big Truffle in a Little Village

Gnome Wars 

7-10pm Thursday

GM: Eric Jacobson

In the early days of the Wishing Well War, the only thing between the German Gnome war machine and the subjugation of all Gnome-Kind were small town militias... and a few friends. Any player bringing a painted 320 point unit from Brigade Games Gnomes at War line do not need to pre-register. No one under 12 without a playing adult.

#2 Return to the Forbidden City

Fistful of Lead - Wasteland Warriors

1-5pm Friday

GM:  Mike Lung

For generations, the City of Ancients has been feared and taboo. No one would go near the place because those who did quickly sickened and died horrible deaths. But recently, a few foolhardy souls have gone there and survived. They have brought back tales of ancient wonders and incredible treasures waiting there for the taking. Are you willing to lead your brave band into this devastated post-apocalyptic city to gain fabulous riches and fame?

#3 The Joust! 8-10pm Friday

To Cry a Joust!

8-10pm Friday

GM: Eric Jacobson

Hear ye, hear ye! All are invited to participate in the grand return of the Joust at Fall-In! Rules taught. Quick, east, fun, and prizes. No one under 10 without a playing adult.

#4 Big Truffle in a Little Village 7-10pm Saturday

Gnome Wars

7-10pm Saturday

GM: Eric JacobsonIn the early days of the Wishing Well War, the only thing between the German Gnome war machine and the subjugation of all Gnome-Kind were small town militias... and a few friends. Any player bringing a painted 320 point unit from Brigade Games Gnomes at War line do not need to pre-register. No one under 12 without a playing adult.

 

The one notable absence from the event list is the Gnome King himself, Jim Station.  Rumor has it he'll be researching Greek gnomes while on vacation, but regardless, he won't be there, so there are fewer events listed for the Stout Gnomes under the HMGS Next Gen banner.  

Details aren't finalized yet, but the gnome village will see some additional action in a "games by demand"  setting.  I'm assuming I'll run Gnome Wars in a more Mordheim setting, small squads, different objectives, players can drop in and drop out at will.  More to come!

Another Month of New Gaming (May 2024)

Issue #291 of Game Trade Magazine can be found at you FLGS, on in PDF file available here. 

ViscountEric's Gaming Want List

Nothing!

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List

9th Level Games

Kobolds Ate My Baby - The Orange Book ...................... $24.99

ViscountEric's Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)

25th Century Games

Mojo ............................................................ $14.99

Tasso Banana ............................................... $19.99

8 Bit Brush Design

Loco Luchas ................................................. $19.99

Alderac Entertainment Group

Let's Go to Japan ........................................... $49.99

The Army Painter

Warpaints Fanatic: Most Wanted Paint Set ................. $99.99

Bandai

Digimon TCG: Digimon Liberator Boosters

Digimon TCG: Fable Waltz Starters

Digimon TCG: Guardian Vortex Starters

Dragon Ball Super Masters TCG Zenkai Set 09 Boosters

Sand Land Tactical Card Battle: Starters

Cubicle 7

A Life Well Lived (5e) ................................... $39.99

Warhammer AoS Soulbound - Ulfenkarn - City at the Edge of Death ........ $49.99

Dyce Games

First to Worst .................................................. $24.99

Eagle-Gryphon Games

For Sale: Travel Edition ................................. $17.99

A Bard's Day Night ........................................ $25.99

Crunch Time ................................................... $24.99

I'm the Boss!  2023 Edition ............................ $39.99

Incan Gold: New Edition ................................ $29.95

Envy Born Games

Confusing Lands ............................................. $14.95

Exalted Funeral Press

Arkos: An Adventure for Troika ..................... $25.00

The Forest Primordia: An Adventure for Troika ............ $22.00

Knives Out! Mork Borg Supplement ............................. $15.00

Old School Essentials: Adventure Anthology 1 ............. $20.00

Old School Essentials: Adventure Anthology 2 ............. $20.00

Free League Publishing

Twilight: 2000 RPG - The Black Madonna ...................... $39.99

Twilight: 2000 RPG - Hostile Waters ............................... $39.99

Goodman Games

DCC: The Protectorate of Junulane .................................. $20.00

DCC: The Scales of Hyper -Visor God ............................ $74.99

Tales from the Smoking Wyrm #008 ................................ $20.00

Key Card Games

Monsters of Loch Lomond ................................................ $19.95

Kobold Press

Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns (HC) ..................... $49.99

Campaign Builder: Castles & Crowns Map Folio (HC) ... $49.99

Map Tiles: Villages ............................................................ $24.99

Konami Digital Entertainment

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Battles of Legend - Terminal Revenge Boosters

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: The Infinite Forbidden Boosters

Looney Labs

Looney Oracle ................................. $20.00

Maestro Media Ventures

Hello Kitty: Day at the Park ..............$30.00

Smurfs' Hidden Village ......................$40.00

Mantic Entertainment

Worms: The Board Game .................. $50.00

Modiphius 

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Starter Edition ............... $37.00

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Unexplored ................... $43.00

Battlespace RPG ................................................... $45.00

Dune RPG: Fall of the Imperium .......................... $52.00

Dune RPG: Desert Planet Adventure Compendium Vol 1 .......... $42.00

Star Trek Adventures RPG: The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign .... $45.00

Monte Cook Games

Cypher System RPG: Adventures in the Cypher System (HC) .................. $39.99

Paizo Publishing 

Pathfinder RPG: AP - Curtain Call 1 - Stage Fright ...................... $29.99

Pathfinder RPG:  Flip-Mat - Village Assault .................................. $19.99

Pathfinder RPG: Pathfinder Player Core 2 ..................................... $59.99

Pathfinder RPG: Prey for Death ..................................................... $44.99

Starfinder RPG: Flip- Mat Multi-Pack - 2nd Edition Playtest ....... $29.99

Starfinder RPG: Playtest Adventure - A Cosmic Birthday ............. $24.99

Starfinder RPG: 2nd Edition Playtest Book ................................... $47.99

I'm not saying that Paizo is a cult, but getting folks to pay over $100 for the playtest material cries out cult like behavior.  This feels like Taylor Swift charging for an album that still needs editing and mixing.

Random House 

Marvel Multiverse RPG: Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe One-Shot ........ $9.99

Marvel Multiverse RPG: X-Men Expansion .................................... $49.99

Right Wrong Games

Tiger Banana Pancake ............................................ $15.00

Rio Grande Games

Dominion 2nd Edition: Cornucopia & Guilds Expansion .............. $44.95

Scorpion Masque

Monster Chase ......................................................... $14.99

Steve Jackson Games

Car Wars: Companion .............................................. $29.95

Wizards of the Coast

Magic the Gathering: Assassin's Creed Beyond 

Boosters, Bundles, Collector Boosters,and Starters

Magic the Gathering: Bloomburrow 

Boosters, Bundles, Collector Boosters,and Starters

Magic the Gathering: Modern Horizons 3

Boosters, Bundles, Collector Boosters, Gift Edition, Commander Decks

Wizkids

D&D: 50th Anniversary  7" Scale Actions Figure:  Srongheart ............... $29.99

D&D: 50th Anniversary 13" Sacred Statue Plush .................................... $34.99

D&D Onslaught: Scenario Kit: Grasp of the Mind Flayer ...................... $24.99

D&D Onslaught: Tendrils of the Lichen Lich Starter Set ........................ $9.99

D&D: IotR: Gargantuan Bahumat ....................................... $399.99

D&D: IotR: Miska the Wolf Spider .................................... $ 49.99

D&D: IotR: Spiderdragon ................................................... $ 39.99

D&D: IotR:Vecna Eve of Ruins Booster Brick

D&D: Iconix: Eye of the Beholder .................................... $24.99

DC Heroclix: Starter Set 2025 ........................................... $39.99

Marvel Heroclix: Black Panther Booster Brick

Marvel Heroclix: Black Panther Play at Home Kit ................ $24.00

Marvel Heroclix: Black Panther Release Day Kit .................. $26.00

Marvel Heroclix: Deadpool Weapon X Jeff's Pizza Party ...... $19.99

Marvel Heroclix: Deadpool and Hit-Monkey Heist Pack ....... $19.99

Marvel Heroclix: Iconix: First Appearance Spider-Man ........ $24.99

Marvel Heroclix: Starter Set 2025 .......................................... $39.99

Wizkids Encounter in a Box: Cult of the Spider .................... $29.99

HMGS Does Mepacon April 19-21, 2024

 I may not have been able to attend Mepacon again this year, thanks to some sports obligations, but I was pleasantly pleased to discover that the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) was quite prominent there, running events all weekend.

Indochina

Frostgrave

Wings of Glory

Indochina

Tripods and Triplanes

World of Tanks

(Risus) Be Prepared for a Talent Show

 Our weekly Gamma World game continues to go strong.  As episode 28 dropped last Tuesday, I have another 32 weekly write-ups in the can.  We left off at a good break point earlier this month to allow a player a few weeks off to deal with this odd thing called "real-life."

In his absence, I finally completed my "COVID Trilogy", or better yet, perhaps I should call in the Coffee Shop Trilogy.

Still a point of controversy all these years, COVID killed over a million Americans and millions worldwide.  But few remember the bravery and sacrifice of some of the true heroes of the front-lines:  grocery store employees when toilet paper was stowed away, baking hit an all-time high, and people wore the most outrageous get-ups to either protect themselves, or fight the new world order authoritarian regime, whatever was the by-line of the week.  

Mike Pnevmonus was one of those heroes.  A dirty, hairy, and fat Greek butcher in the meat department of a Giant Foods in Pennsylvania.  He though he had seen it all before, the shortages, the runs on the store, etc.  and by the end of it, he hung up his bloody apron and traveled the country, trying to find a place to settle down in peace.  

He ended up in Bloomington, Minnesota, and thanks to his odd penchant for olive slacks, took a job as a cashier at the Boy Scouts of America Superstore in the Mall of America

The Boy Scouts of America Superstore, Imagined by NightCafe

Working alongside him was Hoyce McGurgle, a 20-year emo-kid who had survived the COVID nightmare with his teenage apathy.  A steady stream of poor reviews let him wander the countryside, the final destination: The Boy Scout Store.  

The best thing about visiting the Boy Scout Store in the Mall of America?  A possibly infinite supply of the photography merit badge. 

The biggest problem with the store?  They were almost completely out of any scarves.  At least that's where all the complaints were coming from all week.

Shawn was a regular at the mall.  When he wasn't accumulating 30,00 steps before lunch, he was the resident expert at every store, or so he told them.  Allegedly he had been a Boy Scout as a lad, and had a broad memory of the finest BSA minutiae.  Occasionally he was even helpful, so the the fellas thought it best to keep him around. 

It was a beautiful day at the Mall of America.  It was just the way Minnesota was.

Hoyce and Mike raised the gates to the store and wandered to their spot around the registers.  Shawn, fresh from his 4-mile mall walk, came in.

"Hey guys, what's new?"

"Photography badges."

"You guys had them yesterday?" 

"We got a new shipment of them yesterday."

"What about the Excalibur pocket knife I ordered for month ago."

"What about the ones we have in the case?"

"Those don't have the dentist drillbit.  The Excalibur has the dentist drillbit."

"Why do you need a dentist drillbit?"

"To complete my dentist drillbit?"

"You're 85 years old!"

Even the apathetic Hoyce noticed that there were an unusual number of people shopping on a Thursday morning.  He girded his loins for the overwhelming act of Scan--> Pay --> Next!

As the typical Scout Mom brought up the last Webelos scarf in the state of Minnesota.  Hoyce scanned the item, the mother inserted the credit card... and the terminal kept clocking, absolutely no progress.

Mike peered over to Hoyce's machine, "Run the card again, and if it's still not working, punch in the numbers."

Hoyce, "It's not connecting at all"

Mike, "Then the internet is down.  Sorry folks, we're going to have to go to cash only."

Hoyce: "The wi-fi is working, I'm on my phone right now."

Shawn:  We can build an amateur radio with all the parts you have in stock.  

While the chaos of the cash-only economy descended upon the store, Shawn stared out at a number of mall employees set up an entire stage, complete with lights and rigging.  Shawn has obtained his lights and rigging merit badge and begins to assist the employees, who simply know better than to tell Shawn no.

Shawn completes the lights up top, when he hears the words, "Good, we're almost done.  Talent Show starts in 15 minutes."

Shawn: Talent Show?  Who's talent?

Employee: It's just the weekly national talent show at the mall.  We placed a Sudoku Store at the old location of the stage, so this is going to do today...

Shawn:  Can I participate?

Employee:  Sure!  It's a $50,000 cash prize... in tens.

Mike's getting frustrating handling cash.  The POS system does not like people using the No Sale button to open the register, so cash is simply stacked on the register.

Hoyce has decided to simply force the customers to round up for charity,...

As the tiny talented kids in adorable costumes show up for the talent show, UPS showed up with yet another delivery.  

Mike opened the box and revealed the long out-of-stock Mall Talent Show merit badge.  Of course half of the last 22 years of Boy Scouts waiting on an eternally back-ordered merit badge were coming to the mall to get one, and the other half wanted to sign up to the talent show show they would qualify for the badge... then purchase it. 

... and it was still cash-only.

Shawn:  "These skits are going to be terrible"

Morty, the manager, finally emerged from his office in the stockroom of the store, coffee in hand.

Mike: "Waitaminute, we've had a manager here the whole time?"

Morty was surprisingly quick to call the credit card company, but hung up with worry.  "We have a problem.  Since the BSA is bankrupt, the credit card fees haven't been paid.  We need to fundraise to pay off our bill, so let's assemble a skit for the talent show and win the $50,000.  I'm going to get another cup of coffee at the other end of the mall."

Hoyce: "Whatever, I'm on the clock."

Mike handled some of the more obstinate Boy Scout moms, Shawn thought up a classic Shawn idea.

"Hey, they closed that Sears down a week before they even opened the mall, but I bet the old credit card slides are there."

Hoyce: "I think we'd still have to pay our credit card bills."

Shawn: "Sure, but you can still take the slips and process them tomorrow."

Hoyce:  "Great idea, let me go get one."  And like that, Hoyce wandered away from his registered and walked down to Sears.  

Mike was flabbergasted, and Shawn was trying to convince Mike to sing Spice Girls for the talent show.  

Hoyce was surprisingly adept at breaking into the Sears storefront,   It was also a shock just how many of the old "knuckle buster" credit slides and large level carbon slip presses were on the counter in the jewelry department.  

Realizing that the larger imprinter could be swung as a weapon, Hoyce almost broke a smile and said, "Cool" before returning to the store.  

Back at the store, Shawn jumped behind the register to try to help Mike.   While Hoyce was apathetic, he had most of the prices memorized through no effort of his own.  Shawn did too, but at 1965 prices.

With the full fury of the talent show dance moms, Boy Scouts, other folks looking to win $50,000, and Peculiar Sal, Minnesota's favorite parody artist.  

Hoyce dropped his machines through the glass counter, and took a 15-minute break.   Morty decided not to question Hoyce's actions, as the manger returned with his coffee, and officially signed up the group for the talent show under "Musical Act".

As the talent show started, that corner of the mall fell into a weird time warp as each act seemed like an eternity, yet hundreds of acts were getting on stage within the mall's regular hours of operation.  

Once the store employees were called, everyone dropped everything to walk behind the stage, abandoning everything.  Morty has brought out a set of four velour Boy Scout jumpsuits from out of the backroom.  

The Boy Scout store sat behind the stage, watching "Eugene the Magician" dressed as Gandalf, began doing illusion and hypnotism.    Eugene talents were limited but his own major talent was summoning the actual zombies in the Mall of America (who could tell the difference from regular shoppers).  Sometimes a random zombie would get distracted and attack a dance mom, but most headed straight towards the stage.  

Everyone was entranced by the zombie horde, except Mike, who eyed a straight path back through the store and out the backdoor.  

Shawn pulled out his Zune and tried to lure the back end of the zombie horde to a new location with some success.  

Mike and Hoyce fought through the crowd to return to the store.  They grabbed the stacks of cash off the register, and dashed through the back store room, through the back door, into the hallway.  

Shawn successfully led his zombie horde to Hickory Farms and Doris' never-ending free samples.  Except that the first Hickory Farms he reach wasn't a storefront, it was the classic kiosk in the middle of the mall.  Lucky for Shawn, the zombies organized themselves into an infinite line, Getting free samples from Doris until she fell from exhaustion.  

Shawn didn't like Doris anyway.  

The zombies finally reached Eugene and knocked him over onto the stage.  In a classic scene, it looked like the zombie descended upon him and began pulling his entrails out.  In reality, they had simply hit his stash of never-ending scarves for his act.  Boy Scout neckscarves,  The horde of Boy Scout and Boy Scout adjacent attendees, waiting on the back-ordered neckwear attacked the stage and fought the zombies for the cloth. 

Fast Forward two years, 2026

Coastal village, somewhere in Eastern Europe. 

Another year, another pandemic.  But the country couldn't afford the fancy medicines of COVID-25 and 26.   They relied on other methods for social distancing.

At a quaint little cafe,  a large Greek man spied his socially responsible friend with a super-model on each arm, Hoyce, walking down the street, and toasted for their good fortune.  

This completes a ridiculous trilogy of COVID-adjacent adventures.  Bigg Melons  and the Great Hall of COVidiots were run in the first months of the pandemic, and I never got to us the street cafe picture above.  It's only really related by the use of Coffee Shop, and the appearance of Shawn in all three.

(Gamma World) This is Not a Test #29 - Dr Helianthus and the Return to the Lost City

Sonny felt an odd sensation.  The mutant sunflower involuntarily jerked its head up.  It took him a few seconds to reorient himself.  He was still firmly rooted in the ground, inside a group tent with a photosynthetic amplifier on top.  The journey through the Glow Zone had been trying for his team, but after a quick rest, they were all ready to finish their mission.  

Dr Sonny Helianthus -  Scientist, Researcher, Sunflower of Action

He had assembled a top notch team of PLANT operators. The Plant Liberation Army of a New Tomorrow didn't hate animal-kind, but animal kind was getting in the way of everyone's improvement.  

That would stop today.  One way, or another.  

Stick, his trusted scout and hand-to-hand expert, returned to camp.  "Doc, the device was right where you said it was, surrounded by a ton of living metal."

Stick

"Stick, I have something up my sleeve for that."

"Is that why you where a human lab coat, Doc?"

"That... and other reasons, my friend. Go tell Venus and the others it's go-time."

The scout left to tell the others:  Stump, a tree with artillery-sized projectile capability.  Twig I and Twig II, the big guys friends (children) but very capable plants.  And Venus, the true intelligence in the party, even if she was dumb enough to get involved with Sonny for some extra-curricular activities.  

Venus

Sonny's team, about to dash across the City of Eternal Flame

The device across town supposed to fix alot of the glow zone issues, and bring back plant life.  That would help everyone.  Sonny had spent years pouring over an operator's manual someone had found years ago, and even more time sending teams to find if any of these machines still existed.

His biggest problem know was the device's location:  The City of Eternal Flame was a no-go site deep with the Glow Zone.  Fires constantly raged throughout the city, fueled by something that even kept the adjacent lake aflame.  The glow counts were normally in the Instant Death category on the Ancients' instruments, but one week out of the year, the winds changed and pushed enough material off into the lake to make the counts drop to Deathly Stupid.  If they were quick enough, they could complete the mission and get out of their with only lingering complications, or, if they were lucky, a new mutation.

The problem was, most other groups were aware of the weather patterns, and it was a prime week for scavengers, restorationists, and power hungry groups to prowl the ruined streets, looking for artifacts, and dealing with any resistance in very murderous ways.  

The PLANT Operators spread out.  Sonny had given them orders to secure buildings quickly, and scavenge even faster.    The Twigs quickly uncovered a lost stash of electronics from another group.

Venus moved over towards an old industrial facility.  They were always good for more practical items, and the elevated position would give them better intel about what was coming at them.  

A single shot rang out through the town.  Everyone froze in their tracks and crouched down.  A second shot rang out.  Venus was already dead before she fell onto the platform below her, a victim of a scavenger sniper.  

Where Venus fell.  Scavengers unleashed toxic mutants from the tanks, so there was some karma.

The orders quickly changed from Secure/Scavenge/Move On to "Go, go, go!"    Sonny appeared to wipe a tear (?) from his face with his sleeve, then proceeded to run forward.   The others followed.  

Those two shots appeared to bring the City of Eternal Flame back from the dead.  Weapons fire from every direction could be heard, and off in the distance, something was flying in the air.

The PLANT operators was shocked to find Sonny sprinting across a wide open street, then feared the worst when a mutant, six-legged reindeer came charging right him.  

They were even more shocked when the sunflower jumped on the creature's back and they rode towards the device.  

Sonny wasn't prepared for the loss of the love of his life, but he did call in favors from his old crew, the De Facto Explorers.

Another group emerged from the rubble, a motley group with a mutant weasel, a mutant ram, a mutant earthworm, and a some sort of human barbarian, blasting away at multiple packs of monstrous animals.  Sonny's old crew still had connections to the Restorationists, but years of working with the sunflower built up a number of favors he cashed in for today.  The reindeer was a stagon named No Name,  a loyal mount for the human in the group, Lathar the Mighty.  

(L to R) Front Row:  Sneaky Pete,  Squiggles
Back Row: Lathar the Mighty, Ramsay, No-Name.

The De Facto Explorers dispatched some wolves and turned their attention to distracting the living metal guarding it.  With an opening, Sonny leapt off of No-Name and slid right towards the device.    With the sound of slugthrower fire and chicken clucks coming from the east, Sonny activated the device and once it was engaged, jumped back on No Name and headed back to his fellow PLANT Operators.

With a boom the device began to work, terraforming the City of Eternal Flames.  Where there had been desolation, huge growths began to sprout out of the reclaimed soil.  

For the members of PLANT this seemed divine, but the terraforming rapidly exceeded anything Sonny had pulled from the manual.  Plant growth grew exponentially, vines covered everything, including passive humans, until succumbing to an even heartier plant growth.    What could have been a paradise for all races turned into primaeval jungle only the most dangerous beasts could survive in.  Most of the exploring gangs survived with only their lives. 

New lifeforms began emerging from the soil.  Sentient lifeforms

The City of Eternal Flame had turned into the City of Eternal Flowers.

Sonny felt an odd sensation.  The mutant sunflower involuntarily jerked it's head up.  It took him a few seconds to reorient himself.  He was still firmly rooted in the ground, inside a group tent, just outside the walls of the Hisser village of Notex.  A noise appeared to have awoken him in the middle of the night.

But.... mutated plants don't sleep, much less dream, do they?

GM: Welcome to a proper place to put in the Fistful of Lead: Wasteland Warriors game I played in, and Mike Lung ran at Historicon 2023.  Mike was nice not only have myself, but "Gnome King" and fellow Gamma World player Jim play in the session.  I ran Sonny's plant commandos, while Jim statted out the other characters from the campaign to play in the miniatures game.  

Next: #30 - Coffins for Hissers