What is (and isn't) a mutant?

As I flesh out ideas for my own race categories in GWW, I thought I'd capture some quick thoughts about how mutants are presented in other settings.

With so many sources from which to field for inspiration, it's sometimes hard to pin down exactly what qualifies as "mutant" in a post-apocalyptic setting. In Marvel's universe--as with the X-men and other X-groups--the term "mutant" applies to a new class of human being called "homo superior," or a human who's genetic code is in someway altered to acquire any sort of superhuman (and I'll throw in here "non-human") abilities.

In the Marvel universe, Iceman with his power to create ice constructs, Jean Grey and her ability to read minds/use telekinesis, and Wolverine with his incredible healing ability are considered, mutants.

Switch to something like Total Recal where the mutants are more of a traditionally "deformed" depiction. Kuato, Benny, and a host of other melted-face Martians fill that role.

In GWW, I'm using it in a much broader sense--to mean an individual or group, who's appearance and makeup deviates from an ancestral species of origin. This includes hybrid types (e.g., any sort of were-creature), to the Cyborna races, which are at least partially robotic. There are enough of them that have, in some way, deviated from their collective original forms that they qualify as a new species or subspecies. I guess Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: After the Bomb would be a good example of this style.

It doesn't really matter how they became a mutant--they didn't need to be the result of some sort of evolutionary process. A mutant could be an individual who came in contact with some foreign, mutanagenic substance that caused them to change. In GWW, Spider-man would easily be considered to be a mutant, even though his classification as one is oft debated.

It might be easier to state what mutants aren't. They aren't pure strain humans, called Valids-- or flora or fauna, for that matter. They aren't purely robots, created for some specific task. They aren't unmended (reanimated dead). They aren't extraterrestrials. At least--in all of the above cases--they aren't until they begin to deviate from those baseline origins.

More later...

RANDOM ENCOUNTER: Tasty mutagen comes with side effects...

Here's a random table and some GM notes to help fashion a nice little complication for your next gamma adventure. The PCs stumble upon a canister of mutagen tablets. The tablets themselves appear like large, chewable multivitamins (and should be introduced as such) and smell like delicious, sugary confections.

Once ingested, the tablet goes to work mutating its prey...

1d20 of icky random mutations:

1. Eye tendrils, flailing all the time
2. Back scales (2"-3"), itchy and molting
3. Constant, loud wheezing from your new, tiny "throat mouth"
4. Sideburns, running down neck, shoulders, ending at wrists (hopefully)
5. A slippery ooze between extremities that won't go away, even with washing
6. Extra teeth! Pop out of jaw line, hairline, and along knuckles of hands and feet
7. Shoulders begin to bubble and swell into large sacks of leaky, too-sweet smelling fluid
8. "Everything is normal!" say the tiny faces that appear where your kneecaps used to be
9. Iguanna tail sprouts, greens up nicely, turns brown and dies and falls off...on an endless cycle
10. Roll twice on this table, if you get #20 both times, you lucked out--no mutation!
11. Knees now bend the other direction, walk like a chicken (add +2 to your move if you roleplay a headbob for the rest of the session)
12. The person on your left gets to pick any two from this list for you
13. Heel hooves! Which are hooves. On your heels.
14. Fancy colored fish fins line your cranium and spine; also, constant dry mouth for some reason
15. Polydactyly protrusions overcome hands, constantly wiggling
16. Gurgling a pungent slime when attempting to make persuasive arguments
17. Narwhal tusk! You know that's a tooth that protrudes through your face, right? 
18. An ankylosaurus tail bursts out the back of your pants---pray you have the abs, back, and calf muscles to counter the added mass
19. Pheromone firestorm gives you a massive +5 Charisma bonus, any NPCs you encounter follow you around for 1d10 rounds
20. All of the above (you poor bastard!)

Optional GM imposed fun!
Apply as desired...

• PCs with one mutation from the above list suffer -2 on any rolls involving NPC interactions (interviewing, negotiating, bluffing) but gain +2 to intimidate
• PCs with two or more mutations will be considered "monstrous" and hunted on sight by any armed NPCs
• Bounty is equal to Hit Points times 10 credits
• If PC rolled any of the following mutations: 2,3,5,7, 9, 16, 19, it's nearly impossible to cover her/his tracks as she/he flees (pursuers gain +2 to track you)
• If PC evades capture for longer than 1d10 rounds, the bounty on his/her head triples
• If PC evades capture the entire game session, the PC becomes a local legend and the bounty now equals HP times 100 credits
• If PC becomes a local legend, a squad of killer androids (8) with cyborg hounds (4) is unleashed to hunt he/she down; androids are equipped with infravision, +1 laser-eye sights (to hit bonus) and a 2d4+1 sub-machine gun; hounds have olfactory and audio sensors (+2 tracking) and armed with 1d8 robo-bite and 1d6+1 cyber-claw
• If adventuring party finds a science or medical lab, a cure can be reverse-engineered from mutated PC's blood; at least one member of the party must have relatable skill (science, medicine, genetics, etc.), or find an NPC who can concoct antidote in 1d10 rounds -1 round for each level of experience in that skill; cure takes effect immediately
• If more than one PC consumed mutagen tablet, the cure works for all affected and they return to their "normal" selves

Enjoy!

A previous version of this table was posted on Exonauts.

VIDEO: So Dino-Riders is basically off-world, Gamma World

Somehow I'd forgotten that in addition to the insanely cool action figures and playsets, there was also a Dino-Riders television series. The pilot is equal parts awesome/terrible/surprisingly dark for a kids show. So chances are you'll love it!

Check out the pilot episode...

TRAILER: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes!

The trailer for the second part of the rebooted Planet of the Apes series is here! Here's the official description:

A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, and Judy Greer join the cast this time around. Look for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes sometime in July of 2014.



Chimp leader Caesar adorns the official poster for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Thoughts on the trailer?

Video: Action Cats are Awesome!

Anyone remember this commercial parody from Saturday Night Live, back in the day? I saw this as a kid and totally wanted it for our orange tabby at the time.

It's like the Dinoriders toys, but AWESOMER, because they fit onto a REAL CAT.

Perhaps these are the feline heroes of a forgotten Department of Defense program, now called back into action to protect Gamma Terra?

In any case, they also kinda reminds me of Gammarauders these days too (which I picked up a while back, and I'll need to do a full review of soon).

Still wish they actually made these. Forget Laser Cats and give me Skele-kitty!

Billy Ocean is awesome and obviously a mutant alien of some sort

Man, this is awesome--why don't I remember seeing this?

MISSION: Stat up that goat-lizard dude and make him a Gamma duke or baron in your next game! And I should have guessed that Jawas worshiped Billy Ocean.

Via io9.com

Mutants: Anatomids

Some of the simplest mutations aren't cross-breeds between species or orders of life, but merely deformed from the main line and passed down through generations. These mutants usually manifest as anatomical anomalies, making them Anatomids.

Anatomids  come in many forms and may not carry the same exact mutations from one generation to the next, but generally there are strains. Below are some tables should you not have a specific design in mind and want to randomly roll up a tribe or individual:

Mutation Expression (1d6)

1. Oversized (by factor of xd6)
2. Undersized (by factor of xd6)
3. Multiples (by factor of xd10)
4. Displaced (creator's choice)
5. Combination (creator's choice)
6. Single anatomy (Thing from Addams family)

Governing anatomical feature (1d12)

1. Head
2. Face only
3. Eye(s) only
4. Ear(s) only
5. Nose only
6. Tongue only
7. Neck
8. Hand(s)
9. Foot/feet
10. Combination of 2
11. Conjoined at hip
12. Conjoined at neck

Additional appendages/mutations (1d12)

1. Antlers
2. Elongated claws
3. Exposed bone or shell
4. Horns
5. Limbs
6. Pouch
7. Tail(s)
8. Tendrils
9. Tentacles
10. Tusks or oversized teeth
11. Unidentified 
12. Wings

These are only ideas of course, a player may be free to design their own PC's form or GM to design a tribe per the parameters of a given setting.

Note: Gamma World Orlens fall into this category.

Armin Zola is an example of an Anatomid techno wizard that's mastered the secrets of the ancients!

Underground lairs, forests, and secluded hideways are typical habitats for Anatomids, but they can be found anywhere.

This guy is definitely a chieftain...

What kind of culture would a society of Things be like? Artists, technicians, or healers with no eyesight or hearing....

Anatomids are allowed for PC and NPC use.

Gamma Gallery: Whacked-out Inspiration

This last one is by Rustam F. Hasanov, an incredibly talented illustrator you should be following. :)

A Valid Grudge

Valids are a sanctimonious lot that consider themselves the true heirs to humanity, but they believe they have good reason to think so--other than their un-mutated appearances.

After the Cataclysm, humans on the surface did their best to survive. The first generation of mutants that rose from the disaster were beastly and made the survivors their prey. Those humans who hadn't sought shelter underground and not yet succumbed to mutation would fall to one of two fates: mutation or gruesome death by those who had.

Feeling helpless, the now subterranean Valids could only watch quietly from their secure bunkers. They made sure that neither they--nor subsequent generations--ever forgot the horrible fate of their brethren topside. At least, the leaders of the pure strain humans made sure to use the atrocities to their advantage--crafting an impenetrable police state that gave them full power over the populous.

They focused their energies in building incredible underground cities and advanced technologies. In time they flourished, but they still needed resources from the surface so they organized salvage posses. When they re-emerged on the surface they quickly realized they'd technologically surpassed the topsiders and retained a "civilized society".

The Valids long buried their resentment underground, and now they finally had the means and opportunity to vest themselves of a centuries old contempt. Soon their salvage parties were bringing back mutants as prisoners. Valid scientists immediately saw the possibility of testing new advances on near-human subjects without impunity. All too quickly they began sending out more hunting parties, which reaped a bounty of prisoners--so many that they needed a place to stow them until needed. Eventually the experiment became entertainment. Word of the Valids' cruelty spread quickly amongst the mutant tribes and soon it would be their turn to bear a grudge....


Underground city illustration via Comic Book Cartography

Punks of the Apocalypse: Bebop and Rocksteady

Two mean mutant mutha's: Bebop the boar and Rocksteady the rhino from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT).

Here's our dubious duo realistically rendered by the talented Dave Rapoza...

Here's artist HORiA DOCiU's take...

From illustrator Jason Heuser...

Deviant artist Basshole...

 David Cutler's interpretation of Bebop...

Original toy concepts by Stephen Murphy...

After the Bomb was a great supplement to the TMNT roleplaying game which had a terriffic system for creating mutants. I still look over that book when I want to roll up mutants, aliens, whatnot. 

Gamma Cinema: Wild, Wild Planet (1965)

I've not seen it, but it's available through Warner Bros Archive Collection, and is manufactured on-demand. And it looks magnificent. A utopian society that toys with genetics creating mutants that turn on them? Sold. Apparently Italy makes the best sci-fi films of a certain era/type/quality. From WB's product page:

It’s groovy to be a spaceman! The way-out ’60s meet the far-out 21st century in this psychedelic sci-fi head trip. Villains from überpowerful The Corporations think they’d found a way to defeat their rivals, the United Democracies: send robot minions to kidnap UD citizens, shrink them down to suitcase size and transport them to a planetoid for hideous human experiments. But a fearless rescue team is on the way! All that stands between the rescuers and success are four-armed androids in wraparound shades, martial artists wearing silk nighties and sporting sky-high hairdos, flying saucers swinging around the cosmos on strings like interplanetary yo-yos and more mod malevolence. It’s all wild, wild fun and fantasy, brothers and sisters!

That's an incredible amount of copy, considering how little is officially out there:

Wikipedia entry
IMDB listing

Escape from the City of Mutants

The City of Mutants is every mutant's worst nightmare. Valids who come to the surface looking to kidnap and experiment on mutants have found a way to "test" their subjects in a free-for-all arena. Sometimes called "Darwin's Playpen", this walled-in ruined city is little more than a gladiator pit with Valid's salaciously watching the action from perimeter outposts.

So what makes this worse than a regular old Gamma Terra? The Valids have littered the urbanscape with booby traps--brutal and cruel to the last. Some traps are instant and deadly, others prolong the inevitable with lingering effects, and some are meant merely to hold prisoners until a hungry gargantuan can be dropped via ornithopter or hoversled.

Another terrible price while visiting the big city: there's no food. No sustenance of any type is ever dropped. There are no humanitarian gestures--these aren't humans, after all! No, the denizens are left to "make" their own meals through combat.

There are regular deliveries of all manner of weapons (including some Omega Tech), ammunition, vehicle parts, and some (mostly shoddy) equipment.

What little "scientific" knowledge can be gained by this travesty is unknown, but it provides many hours of live, hover-cam recorded entertainment to the Valids safely nestled in their underground cities.

One thing is for sure, if you're a mutant in the Playpen, your hours are numbered.

References:
Running Man
Death Race 2000
Escape from NY/LA
2019: The Fall of NY
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome


Props to Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun! for the great image

Illustration Inspiration: the Work of Bill Hauser (updated)

This some fabulous, gonzo illustration madness by a guy named Bill Hauser here in the Twin Cities. These are mostly covers for metal/thrash bands (I think) and while I'm not much of a headbanger I'm digging on the detail and the wonderful character designs. There's a few gorier ones I didn't post, but in general I think the outright zaniness--and the skill level in which it's rendered--is just perfect for a Gamma-type setting. If I had my own George-Lucas-level-funded art dept. I'd make him Art Director!

Click to embiggen

Love his scifi stuff!

UPDATE 12-21-14: Here's a few more recent pieces. His stuff reminds me of the DCC zines that are making the rounds these days. 

Bill often takes commissions, you should definitely hire him!

Bill Hauser Art on Facebook

Bill Hauser on Deviant Art