RPG Campaign Tour Challenge - Review and Index

After doing the #CharacterCreationChallenge for January, I anticipated catching up on a few posts, including a few quick wargaming AARs, a full return to the Gamma World actual plays, and, of course, fulling embracing the fun that is #ZineQuest.   

And then NukeTown had to reference the #RPGCampaignTour Challenge early enough to catch up within February.  Twenty-six of the prompts were answered, with me using AI to figure out topics I more preferred to write about.  I chalk it up to as a success.   It supplanted a very lackluster #ZineQuest, in my opinion, helped hammer out some details and ideas about my Gamma World campaign, and allowed for some great bonding time with my players as they reminisced about almost 130 episodes at the time. 

Day 1 - Campaign Introduction and Overview

Day 2 - About Your Tour Guide

Day 3 - Where the Heck Are We?

Day 4 - Is There a Map?

Day 5 - Can You Tell Us About the Campaign's History?

Day 6 - Where Shall We Start?

Day 7 - What's the Weather Like Today?

Day 8 - Tell Us About Local People and Culture

Day 9 - Who's in Charge Here?

Day 10 - What's the First Thing We Should Do?

Day 11 - Where Would We Go To Find "Adventures"?

Day 12 - What Do People Do For Entertainment?

Day 13 - Where Can We Get a Drink and a Bite to Eat?

Day 14 - What to Order to "Eat Like a Local"?

Day 15 - What Are Some of the Things in the Setting That Are Best Avoided?

Day 16 - Are There Any Direct Threats?

Day 17 - Can You Tell Us About Any Famous Battles or Wars?

Day 18 - Forgot to ask, how do we get around?

Day 19 -  Any "Must See" Sites?

Day 20 -  Are There Any Mysteries As Yet Unsolved?

Day 21 - What are the major organizations of the campaign?

Day 22 - Tell us about notable Flora and Fauna!

Day 23 - Arteries of Survial

Day 24 - Contraband and Chaos

Day 25 - Where can I do some shopping?

Day 26 - Are there any dramatic events from the campaign you can share? 

Day 27 - Do You Have Any Amusing Anecdotes From the Campaign?

Day 28 - Is There Anything We Should Know Before We Head Home?

There are two schools of though with these blog challenges, ones who believe they must be completed completed within the challenge month (or a valiant attempt to get them done ASAP), or the folks who get it done when they get it done.  Everyone I was following for this ended the month between Day 22 and all the way back to Day 6.  

A quick search later, and I can give props to The Other Side and  Adventures in Oz for getting in under the deadline!  

I am hoping and praying another cool RPG challenge doesn't materialize for March.  I sincerely need to start my prep for Mepacon and a return to the painting bench for the new projects piling up. 

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 28 - Is There Anything We Should Know Before We Head Home?

At last we've finally reached the end with Day 28 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test".  We end the challenge with another interview question directly to my players: Our imaginary tourists to the campaign asking, " Is there anything we should know before we head home?"

Collectively: "The longer you stay, the more you realize the atomic weapons of the ancients are far more prevalent than imagined!"

Gamma World (and the secondary sources I'm pulling for inspiration) more than suggests that nuclear war plunged the world into darkness and chaos, with wild transformation that would make Godzilla seem mundane.   The number of times atomic/nuclear devices are used as a plot device as well makes  the possibility of a second war... or at least a "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" ending is quite likely.  

At least all of them have been partial or mini-bombs. Civilization still has a slim chance of moving into the next century

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 27 - Do You Have Any Amusing Anecdotes From the Campaign?

Day 27 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and the players were tasked away with answering the inquiry: "Do you have any amusing anecdotes from the campaign 

Sonny and Pete recommend the Invisible Airlords from episode #95 - The Charcuterie Toll, which will be taken care of in a episode scheduled to be published later this year.  

Lathar amusing anecdote is from the Stone Pavilion storyline, especially where the Children's Alchemical Laser turned his body into what would be best described as a Werther's Original.  I'd start with episode #49 through 57, it's a quick read.

And Squiggles wants to talk about the secret underground worm orgies that happen during the Queen's Joust in Fair-Town, but I have to draw the line somewhere. 

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 26 - Are There Any Dramatic Events From the Campaign You Can Share?

Day 26 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and again I turn to my players in an interview for "Are there any dramatic events from the campaign you can share?"

First Place: Sonny Saving Lathar

Lathar Bracken was a pure-strain human who had no such stringent requirements when it came to his women... or his liquor. 

During a wintertime stop at Fair-Town, Lathar had gotten plenty drunk and began wandering the streets.  Sonny, the groups educated mutant sunflower, was the only one awake to notice that he wasn't in his room, and he tried his best to follow his tracks.... It was a comedy of errors, including discovering that he had challenged his ex-girlfriend, the blue skinned Kirothian leader, Elona, to a duel!  Thankfully she just called him an idiot and he wandered off, with a group called the Pathfinders.  Upon finding this group and invited to a bonfire and drinking, Sonny learns that they've stripped the poor human naked, strapped him to the front of a side-by-side ATV and were about to drive him off as a sacrifice to something called the "Pathinfinder Run"

The roar of an internal combustion engine could be heard. Emerging out of the woods was some sort of vehicle. There was a pair of skis attached to its front. There was space for two riders, elevated off the ground, and it was moved by a pair of oversized tracks. As the vehicle roared passed, Soony could see a naked Lathar strapped to the front of this device. The other campers cheered it on...

Before the vehicle disappeared, Sonny made a silent prayer to whatever useless deities were listening, and using his teleportation, he landed on the back of the vehicle, Destination: Unknown.

As the vehicle and its internal combustion engine peeled out in the darkened woods, the sunflower climbed forward from the back of it.  There were punches, flintlock pistols discharged, and persons and plants nearly falling off.  

The sunflower continued to fight the duo trying to sacrifice Lathar, when the reached their destination: 

A fire-breathing beast.   

Thankfully Sonny forced the driver to take a sharp left away from the beast, and only the other Pathfinder dude was engulfed in flames.  Ultimately, Sonny forced the driver to flee the scene, and to the upper gates of the town, where he forced the town guard to arrest the surviving Pathfinder.    

Ultimately Sonny got something to cover up the naked Lathar, got him back into his room at the inn, and made sure to wedge the door shut so he couldn't get out for the rest of the night.  

The high point of this story is that Sonny is the least-combat worthy of all the characters, and this action sequence, which took the vast majority of one night's session, was one of the most bad-ass scenarios and character has been through.

Runner Up - Squiggles, our Mutant Earthworm friend, still armed with a flintlock and a superscience weight belt used in warehouses, had suffered some grievous wounds while the group explored "Rho Facility."  But, as luck would have it, the had also befriend a piece of Living Metal named RHA-9, obviously an artificial medic with all its syringes and liquids.  

Squiggles was the most wounded so they let the Living Metal go to town.  A few injections later, Squiggles suffered horrible bouts of screaming, but was miraculously healed.... and grew a layer of shaggy fur....

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 25 - Where Can I Do Some Shopping?

Day 25 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and the desire for commerce is there, "Where can I do some shopping."

In this world, the shopping bug might be quench by the Fair-Town Bug Mart.  

The Bug Mart is simply a flea market, on the still fairly level macadam of an ancient schools.  While the Queen's Joust is once a year, the bug mart is every week, folks bringing in crafts, but mainly the odd artifacts they've uncovered .    Odd dishes, weird containers, a box of Western Pacific breakers? Definitely.

It's unlikely, but you might get your hands on something cool, like a glow suit, before the agents of the Restorationists sweep down and clean out the too valuable stuff.

Now, a complete run of Boys Life magazine in the 80's, complete with a little red wagon?  Lucky for you, they'll foolishly miss those....

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 24 - Contraband and Chaos

Like I mentioned yesterday Day 24 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test",  is something that I wasn't prepared for, and, to be honest, I find somewhat boring, "What Are the Major Imports? " 

And like yesterday, I plugged the rest of the challenge prompts into Chat GPT and asked for a new topic/question for Day 24. 

It generated "Contraband and Chaos" and I must approve.  

For a region that prides itself on peace and quiet first, and  law and order second, the corridor hides a surprisingly vibrant shadow economy.

Riverbend’s Quiet Trades

Riverbend was a lot of artifacts go through the town, mostly through the doors of the Restorationists.  Many times these Restorationists seem to lose said artifacts, or claims they never arrived at all.  The question being begged?  Where are these items going, who are they helping, or are they simply hoarding them in an undisclosed location.  

A bunch of simple farmers with a knack of finding artifacts....

And then, of course, there are those dealing with artifacts that never end up in the hands of the Restorationist.  Like Boson Higby, who runs a neighborhood over the hills from Riverbend prime.  He handles a lot of commodities, and uses rarely trodden paths to move items from place to place.  He knows more about the region (and what lies beyond) than most. 

He may still have an odd suit of armor which fell from the sky in the past year, interesting markings and all. 

There is only a community of farmers actively trying to breed different species for larger creatures to produce wool.  

Fair Town’s Invisible Market

The Bug Mart is the most famous market, but "Invisible Market" is one exploiting the corruption of the bureaucracy.  

• Manipulated arbitration by town barristers 

• Selective enforcement contracts by officials

• Caravan cargo misreporting

• Quiet resale of confiscated goods

While knowledge is most valuable at KIA, The most valuable contraband in Fair Town is information — advance knowledge of tariffs, inspections, and rulings.

KIA Academy's Restricted Archives

The Academy appears to be the true protectors of knowledge.  Their techniques and protocols appear to preserve knowledge responsibly.

The archives in the upper levels have great files on transportation technology. But there are some deeper and darker wings of the archive are sealed for good reason, possibly:

• Weapons technology that has not been destroyed. 

• Political pamphlets and literature that could destabilized portions of the complex.  

• Gene-editing manuals from before regulatory collapse

Heaven's forbid if any of that could get out and fall into the wrong hands.  Maybe they already got out, not from the archives, but common knowledge of the Ancients trickling down in the sub-levels. 

Day 25 :  Where can I do some shopping?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 23 - What Are the Arteries of Survival?

Day 23 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and we finally hit our first road block.  The question from the challenge,  "What Are the Major Exports? "  Let's be totally honest.  Gamma World for me is a series of gonzo adventures with crazy character concepts.    With few exceptions, there larges swaths of the world that are glossed over, politics, military, and economics are only fleshed out as needed. 

So I plugged the other 26 questions into ChatGPT and asked for replacement questions for Day 23... and it's counterpart for tomorrow, Day 24 "What are the major imports."  

Today is a similarly worded question, but one that sparks my interest more, "Arteries of Survival"

Because our three three towns along the Big River: Riverbend, Fair-Town, and KIA Academy, as technically independent of each other, but their is trade, political organization, and problems.  And the one question my one player has essentially asked multiple times in varying ways, "How are these players still around in a dangerous world like Gamma World?"

The Roads: 

One thing about the Big River, the area a few days journey downriver of KIA Academy, with places along its bank with dangerous names like "The Wildlands" and "The Wall" seem to have stifled traffic of any sort upriver... on both sides of the banks.  While there is a stable but narrow path on the KIA side (old railroad tracks on phenomenal levee that survived the apocalypse and 500-year floods. 

The truth of the matter is, transportation in this river valley starts at the Ancient technology softrock bridge crossing the Redline Creek, is extraordinary in KIA, transforms to a stable and maintains dirt track for traffic going back and forth,  the road runs through Fair-Town, continues upriver to Riverbend, until is winnows out to a path through the wilderness at a second bend in the river, eight or nine miles upriver near an odd low spot that could be used to ford across in the Hisser lands.   The path continues, and folks from places to Blackvale and The Catacombs do venture down from a long journey.  

The Redline Bridge.

The Big River:

The Big River is far more massive than anyone ever recalls.   There are not even ruins of bridges in this region from the Ancients, and KIA probably has plans to construct a beautiful four lane softrock bridge to the other side... but there's nothing on the other sides.  Perhaps the start of a road to the now-ruined town of Jainus?  Not particularly appealing.  

There is extremely limited fishing in the river.  Certainly a mutant raccoon with a pole and some bait could catch fish of varying sizes, but the predators swimming within it as quiet and deadly.   Someone could make a basic living fishing on the river... for a year or two, until disaster strikes.

The Capillaries of the Towns

The one thing I've failed to do is probably explain that these three towns are not bastions of civilization, surrounded by nothing but wastelands.  

Riverbend is an agrarians town with farms  upriver and downriver, but not going into the interior. Barley, root vegetables, and enough linen and wool-equivalent material for basic clothmaking.  I would expect further beyond the town that there are trapper, hunters, and furriers bringing back their kills.  They would make the true front line of defense against those creatures migrating from a land labelled on the maps only as "Nightmare Monsters"

Beyond the famous walls of famous are primitive farms, producing grains and vegetables.  Beyond the walls are two functioning mills using water power from streams.  

KIA Academy has the most obvious capillaries.  Most of the population is situation within the complex, but until the recent worries of war encroaching their lands, KIA had different outside districts that resembled suburbs.  Each district had departments operation out of stations for road work and other functions, and self-sustaining communities were beyond the direct protection of the academy.

Day 24 - Contraband and Catastrophe

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.

Day #23 - What are the arteries of survival?

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.

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 - 

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.

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 18 - Forgot To Ask, How Do We Get Around?

Day 19 of the  #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test"  and a casual question asked by a tourist, "Forgot to ask, how do we get around?"

On foot.   Largely on foot.  

Our famed adventuring party out of Riverbend, has had the good fortune of having a loyal and intelligent Stagon, owned by Lathar, since the beginning.

From the Gamma World wiki: 

The Stagon is a mutated whitetailed deer with six legs. It is a little larger and stronger than its ancestors, making it ideal as a riding animal and as a draft beast. Other animals are sometimes used as beasts of burden, such as the Rakoxen, Podog, and Centisteed,

When not being used as a beast of burden, Lathar's Stagon, No-Name likes to joust and simply graze.

The De Facto Explorers, special character in a Fistful of Lead game, Historicon 2023

The Explorers have also been able to travel within the boundaries of KIA Academy with an electric fuel cell powered cart.  Pretty slow, zero armor, but relatively silent, as golf carts go. 

There have been occasions when something large is flying overhead, be it bird, lizard, dragon, or even things that look like living metal, but belching out an obnoxious quantity of smoke as they sail high in the sky...

Next: #19 - Any "Must See" Sites?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 17 - Can You Tell Us About Any Famous Battles or Wars?

I took day 17 of the  #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test" and turned it right to my players....

Pete, Squiggles - The Battle of the Gazebo.  The previous entry on the Kirothians does have one gaping error in it.  The group the De Facto Explorers encounters, in the winter, around KIA Academy was not the first group of Kirothians they met with.   Labelled only as 'blue skinned mutants'  they were encountered in the early fall far to the south of KIA.  It should be noted that the no connection can be made between the hostile Kirothians and the ones that settled in Fair-Town.  The Battle itself was maddening, centered on an ancient gazebo, and the Explorers realized that these people had their own working version of the Children's Alchemical Laser.    It should also be noted that the subsequent destruction of their rental, an electric powered golf cart, made Pete persona non grata in KIA, and made some enjoyable role-playing as he tried his best to pretend to be "Stinky Meat", Pete's cousin. 

Lathar - A two-time champion probably has some bias as he wants to regale his successes in the Queen's Joust.  Lathar and his trust steed, No-Name are new legends within the tournament scene, and him literally winning a spot on the Fair-Town town council will create some problems down the road.

Sonny - The Battle of Kyoto Dam, clearing out Level A Inc, and most recently, investigating the Hopper community and Living Metal factory far away on the other side of the Big River have all resulted in atomic blasts.  Thankfully, Sonny's teleportation ability (or sometimes fast legs) were the difference between survival and getting vaporized.

Next: Day 18 - Forgot to ask, how do we get around?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 16 - Are There Any Direct Threats?

Day 16 of  the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test", and I again defer to my players to answer the question, "Are there any direct threats?"

Sneaky Pete, Mutant Weasel - Dogs.  Dogs of any shape and size.  Whether it's roving packs of Podogs terrorizing the countryside, or mutant wolfmen who claim they have a soul, but their actions prove that claim false.  The whole world would be better without them.  

Podogs

Dr Sonny Helianthus, Mutant Sunflower  - Alchemical Lasers falling into the wrong hands.  The fact that the Ancients developed the science to create such a device is unimaginable, but the fact that they sold this super-science as casual consumer appliances boggles my mind!   The fact that we possess one (and know the location of a much larger one) brings me nothing but fear, for if it were to fall into the wrong hands....

Lathar, Pure Strain Human - Yeah, those Alchemical Lasers suck.  I was turned into some kind of green stone by one, then some sort of hard candy, then some other substance, before Sonny to fix the device and get me back to normal human.  And that was one they labelled as a "Children's Alchemical Laser!"

For Ages 8 and Above...

Squiggles, Mutant Earthworm  - Birds.    And the giant alchemical laser that can not only turn rusty nails into gold, but also imbue them with a freakin' soul.... and telepathy begging us for the sweet release of death to relieve them of their unwanted consciousness.  

Next: Day 17 - Can you tell us about any famous battles or wars? 

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 15 - What Are Some Things About the Setting That Are Best Avoided?

Day 15 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test".  I figured the question, " What Are Some Things About the Setting That Are Best Avoided?" could be better answered by my players, so I asked them after our last Monday night online sessions.

* Girls of the World Ain't Nothin' But Trouble - From Our Six-Foot Tall, White Furry Mutant Earthworm "Squiggles".   A member of the White Hand called it "Interpersonal Relationsships,"  but to Squiggles and his Pure-Strain Human friend Lathar, women have been a headache... and other pains.  Squiggles has managed to hook up with another mutant earthworm, Ubenda, and twice he's  the one that's been knocked up!  

And Lathar simply needed a discount on the river ferry to get the group across to meet a group of Hisser emissaries.  The catch?  Going on a date with the ferryman's peculiar sister, Thunnelda.

Lathar and Thunnelda are now married... and she's pregnant! 

And she's not a little unhinged, she's VERY hinged, as in she collects hinges! 

Sorry guys, she doesn't have a sister....

*Only you can prevent glow reactions.  - From our ten-foot tall mutant sunflower, Dr Sonny Helianthus.  "The Glow" is the dangerous power than randomly resides in destroyed places of the ancients.  Sometimes it makes you sick.  Too much of it can kill you.  

Toting around metal a metal skull and spinal column that's imbued with it might make your docile, intellectual sunflower grow an extra set of arms!  

Sure, they're helpful, but the distress of the Glow's blessing is something people should avoid, because you can't tell the difference between living and dying until it's too late. 

Day 16 - Are there any direct threats? 

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 14 - What to Order to "Eat Like a Local'?

Day 14 of the #RPGCampaignTour for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test" continues with local businesses and customs:  "What to order to eat like a local."

We're going to swerve in a totally different direction and travel to Fair-Town to partake in... The Wrong Celery.

No, we're not going to make you partake in some questionable stalk vegetables.  The Wrong Celery is actually the only plant-only/specific bar in Gamma World we've documented as of yet.   It's proudly located on the Main River Boulevard in Fair-Town. 

It's the only bar in the region where you'll find a tulip playing an organ grinder, a host of dandelions dancing beneath it, an old plant with cybernetics, claiming he was once a human, and a full-fledged coffee bush tending the the bar.  

Yes,  the clientele is skewed heavily to plant-kind, but it was the mammals of the De Facto Explorers who discovered and fell in love with it.  So long as you like your martinis literally dirty, this is the place for you!  

The bartender, Duncan, a coffee bush who uses his own output to make drinks, is an honorable plant.   Clark, the only human on the staff, has fully photosynthetic skin. 

 

The back of the bartender

The days and nights are pretty chill for the plants, unless there's a rousing radish game, involving radishes, nailed to a string and swing at a hook.  It's more exciting than it sounds.

The Wrong Celery is know for it's mead, as recently a new drink called The Mutant’s Regret, recreated stolen experiments to duplicate the Regret have led to rumors of  “temporary evolutionary instability.”

Nobody is quite sure what that means....

Day 15 - What are some things about the setting that are just avoided?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 13 - "Where Can We Get a Drink and a Bite to Eat?"

Day 13 of the #RPGCampaignTour Challenge and need to rest and recuperate a bit: "Where can we get drink and a bite to eat."  So cover the few bars and inn of Riverbend.

1) The Slackwater (Inn)  - A bit further uphill from the business district and the other bars, The Slackwater is the only official inn in town.    The structure is stone on the lower floor, all timber above.  The guest ledgers go back decades.. even though there are noticeable gaps.  This isn't a place of heavy drinking or fighting, save the other establishments for all that.   Drinks are available to patron, as well as as a large cauldron for stew, which has been cooking non-stop for as long as anyone remembers.

The Interior of the Slackwater 

2) The Bent Oar - More casually called the "Bent Over," it's a low creaking building populated with the regulars in town: farmers, laborers, and most who don't want any questions, and can handle their own if there's any trouble.  Drinks are cheap, and the food if just different enough that the patrons don't want to go home to eat.   It is best known for their nuggies, typically crafted from mutated creatures like plump squiggles, oversized insect larvae, or rat-birds. These strange animals are raised or hunted for their edible flesh, and their taste varies from mildly sour to an oddly sweet and savory blend. The flesh is chopped or ground up to a paste that somewhat resembles old-world meat, then shaped into nugget-like forms.  If you order them, specifically ask for the mushroom paste AND glow sauce to go with them. 

The second most famous thing at the bar is Delaney, one of the servers.  

3)  The Leaping Drunken Keg is the newest tavern, and most popular with the travelers and outsiders.  It is run by Squiggles' daughter, Sophie the Keg.  The food is passable, and the selection of drinks quite impressive for a podunk dive bar. 

Next: #14 - What to Order to "Eat Like a Local?"

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 12 - What Do People Do for Entertainment?

The quest for adventure in the #RPGCampaignTour was short lived, as our tour guide users are already asking, "What do people do for entertainment around here."  

There's only one major event that brings everyone from the four corners... and even beyond the Big River Valley:  The Fair-Town Queen's Joust

Every June, Fair-Town is completely true to form, with the Renaissance Fair influences in full effect.  Vendors crowding the streets, crafts and entertainers... People pour out of their little pocket communities safely hidden in the forests and hills and a grand time is had by all...

And that week ends in a two-day jousting tournament, for fame, for domars, and usually for a unique item of the Queen's choosing.

The Queen of the Joust.... definitely not of Fair-Town

In it's previous year, the pageantry of the joust remained, but the new gladiator combat arena drew a lot of the less civilized guests. 

Any lifeform is allowed.  Any mount is allowed, so long as it (a) does not fly (b) fits on their side of the jousting pitch (b) does not impede either participant using their standard issue lance.  

If you are looking for a time when all races, groups, and creeds get together, the Queen's Joust is the place to be.  

There is already talk, eight months out, if Lathar Bracken and his trusty Staggon mount No-Name can win a third joust in a row, after dealing with a murderer's row last time involving a stone golem, his ex-girlfriend, and his then-fiancée, currently his pregnant wife.  

There may be other criminal or immoral activities that occur under the banner of the Queen's Joust, but the reader is always advised to avoid traveling alone, and always keep that companion nearby.  

Next: #13 - Where Can We Get a Drink and Bite to Eat?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 11 - Where Would We Go to Find "Adventure"?

We're already at Day 11 of the #RPGCampaignTour Challenge  for my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test" and the questions start gearing towards true heroism... or full-fledged murder hoboism

Riverbend, Ascension Hall, home of the Restorationists.  Ask for Justinian. 

For a secret society bent on bringing back the old ways via its technology, the Restorationists are almost transparent to the citizens of Riverbend.  Their current focus has been hiring groups for discovery and research within the lands across the Big River.  

Justinian

Dr Sonny Helianthus has developed a healthy and respectful relationship with the leader of the Restorationists, and has been offered better perks than his human counterparts, so the society is not biased towards plants or animals.   Of course, they don't know just how many mini-tactical nukes were detonated under Sonny's watch.

Day #12 - What do people do for entertainment around here?

RPG Campaign Tour: Day 10 - What's the First Thing We Should Do?

 Day 10 of the #RPGCampaignTour Challenge finally kicks off utilizing the tour guide format in my Gamma World campaign "This Is Not a Test" with "What's the first thing we should do?"

Except I didn't dive down into places to eat, or sights to see....

I relegated this question, and others, to the players in the Gamma World campaign in the last half of our session, and got some replies that were way too practical.

"Figure out your place in the world."

"Invest in a sword... or running shoes."

"Find Friends for Cannon Fodder."

Which brings up Slitheran Wurmtail, aka "Squiggles,"  the only character in any of my campaigns who jokingly created his own entourage.

My friend Steve is notorious for unique characters who push, but never break boundaries in game.  I should not have shown any surprise when he announced he wanted to play a mutant earthworm, for displaying any such reaction is a sign of weakness he gleefully feeds off of. 

Squiggles is a five year old earthworm, middle aged, we figured out.   Born and raised by himself in Riverbend, he's been a permanent fixture at Farmer Yulius' farm outside of town.  He befriended Sonny Helianthus, a mutant sunflower living at the farm, and they quickly became part of the De Facto Explorers.  

Squiggles has been true and steadfast member of the Explorers, although he does have one particular fault.  When the group is at the Fair-Town Queen's Joust, Squiggles is hiding in the shadows and burrows with other mutant worms, "getting their freak on).  

After two wild, multi-day soirees with his wormkind, Squiggles has twice found himself... pregnant.  

Research was done on many things about earthworm reproduction, and since it was Gamma World, we turned much of it on its ear.   Squiggles has became a "Manchi" to over 100 baby worms these past two seasons.  Many did not survive the first month, being eaten by animals, birds, livestock, or simply perishing in the chaos of early life.    There are but a handful of the first litter of worms, ranging from bar managers to mobsters, to the militia members, Speedy and Poppy, who are currently travelling with the De Facto Explorers, into the desolate lands beyond KIA Academy.  

The second wave of offspring were much larger, but they sense to be a little more resilient.... Squiggles has also introduced many of that generation the mystical sounds and sensation of something he picked up in his travels.  Something called... bongos. 

So if you do wander through Riverbend, head upriver, past Aspiration Hall, and soon you can here the drumming of tiny worms, staving off the predators that have killed so many of their kin.

.... and have we mentioned that Squiggles is pregnant once again?

Next: Day 11 - Where Would We Go to Find Adventure?