War... War Never Changes

I know it's not exactly After the Bomb related, but I recently started playing the Fallout series again to help the get my creative juices start flowing. The Fallout series for the most part (exceptions being the console and tactics games) were great examples of what's been lost in the RPG video game market over the years.

When I heard of the FIFE (Flexible Isometric Fallout(-like) Engine) Project, I thought how great it would be for some AtB fan out there to create an AtB game with it. Ah well, doubt that it would ever happen, but one can always hope :)

Until then I will have to be content with playing FO & FO2, and maybe even FO3 when it comes out in 2008. Until then I leave you with these opening videos from the games.

Fallout (opening video & monologue)


Fallout 2 (opening monologue)


Fallout 3 (teaser)


Fallout Tactics (opening monologue)

Adventure Delay

I apologize for the delay in the completion of the Trans-D adventure Sky High. In the mean time I bring you the following Mutant Animals creations from David Jamesrobert "duck-foot" Morris - who just happens to be the guy who requested the darned adventure in the first place...

David has given me permission to post his numerous creations (originally posted on the AtB Board in Palladium's Forums) here at AtB Warehouse, so expect to see more of them posted in the future.

Liger

by: David Jamesrobert "duck-foot" Morris
(posted with permission)

Description
Ligers are born from a male lion and female tiger. They look like huge 12 ft (3.6 m) long lions with faded tiger stripes. The liger can weigh up to 1,000 lbs (440 kg). Despite popular belief the liger is not sterile and can mate with each other or lions and tigers.
Size Level: 16
Length: up to 12 ft long
Weight: up to 1,000 lbs (440 kg)
Build: Medium
Mutant Changes & Cost
Total BIO-E: 0
Attribute Bonuses: +12 P.S. (Beastly), +5 P.E., +3 M.A., +10 SDC
Human Features
Hands: Automatically None
5 BIO-E for Partial. The paws form a barely possible thumb.
10 BIO-E for Full. The hand now has a thumb capable of complex movement, and the arms are human proportioned.
Biped: Automatically None
5 BIO-E for Partial
10 BIO-E for Full. The liger develops fully functional bipedal movement and a humanoid torso.
Speech: Automatically None
5 BIO-E for Partial
10 BIO-E for Full
Looks: Automatically None. Looks exactly like a large lion with faded tiger stripes.
5 BIO-E for Partial. Humanoid feline with a lion-like head, cat ears, and a long tail. The body is covered in fine fur.
10 BIO-E for Full. Human-like body, (although Full Look ligers tend to look like body builders) with faded tiger stripes running down the small of the characters back to his rump and fading near the ankles. Note: Bite attack can not be purchased with Full Human Looks.
Natural Weapons
5 BIO-E for 2D6 teeth
10 BIO-E for 3D6 teeth
15 BIO-E for 2D10+4 teeth
5 BIO-E for 2D6 claws
10 BIO-E for 3D6 claws
15 BIO-E for 2D10+4 claws
Mutant Animal Powers
15 BIO-E for Crushing Strength
5 BIO-E for Extra Physical Prowess
5 BIO-E for Extra Physical Endurance
5 BIO-E for Extra Speed
10 BIO-E for Leaping: Feline
5 BIO-E for Predator Burst
10 BIO-E for Advanced Hearing
10 BIO-E for Advanced Smell
5 BIO-E for Advanced Vision
Vestigial Disadvantages
- 10 BIO-E for taking Nocturnal
-5 BIO-E for Vestigial Tail
-10 BIO-E for Diet: Carnivore
-10 BIO-E for Reptile Brain: Predator
-5 BIO-E for Vestigial Ears

Piranha

by: David Jamesrobert "duck-foot" Morris
(posted with permission)

Description
There are several different species of piranha. This template deals with the red-belly piranha a vicious carnivorous freshwater fish.
Size Level: 2
Length: up to 6 inches (15 cm)
Weight: A few ounces.
Build: Medium
Mutant Changes and Cost
Total BIO-E: 80
Attribute Bonuses: +2 P.P., +4 Spd
Human Features
Hands: Automatically None
5 BIO-E Partial: Character gains "lobe-fins" at the end of it's arms. The lobe-fins have a non-opposable thumb.
10 BIO-E Full: Fully developed arms and hands capable of fine manual movement like a humans.
Biped: Automatically None.
5 BIO-E Partial: The tail becomes a pair of rigid legs. Character can now walk or run erect on land for 1D4 minutes.
10 BIO-E Full: Character now has a set of fully developed human-like legs.
Speech None
5 BIO-E for Partial: Words will be guttural and hard to understand.
10 BIO-E for Full.
Looks: Automatically None. The character looks like a grizzled and vicious piranha. Shiny silver scales on the top, deep red scales on the belly. A fin runs down the back from head to tail.
5 BIO-E for Partial: The character has a humanoid form. Body is still extremely fish-like. The hands and feet are webbed.
10 BIO-E for Full: Large dark eyes set deep within the sockets. Big thick lips. Small pointed teeth, rough skin and no body hair.
Natural Weapons
5 BIO-E for 1D6 teeth
10 BIO-E for 2D4 teeth
15 BIO-E for 2D6 teeth
20 BIO-E for Frenzy Attack: When the character is down to 20% of his or her original SDC or hit points, or the characters smells or sees blood, kills an enemy, or hit by a critical strike he or she will go into a frenzy. +20 to SDC, +1 to strike and parry and +1D6 to bite attacks, character will not attempt to dodge. The effect lasts for 1D4 melee rounds.
5 BIO-E for 1D6 claws
Mutant Animal Powers
Automatically has Advanced Swimming at 80%
5 BIO-E Water Breathing
15 BIO-E Brute Strength
20 BIO-E Beastly Strength
10 BIO-E Extra Physical Endurance
10 BIO-E Extra Physical Beauty
10 BIO-E Infrared Vision
5 BIO-E Nightvision
15 BIO-E Predator Burst
Vestigial Disadvantages
-5 BIO-E for Reptile Brain: Predator
-10 BIO-E for Prey Eyes
-15 BIO-E for Aquatic Vestigial Skin
-20 BIO-E for Aquatic Respiratory System
-5 BIO-E for Webbed Hands and Feet: An additional -5% to manual skills. And -10% to Speed.
-10 BIO-E for Diet: Carnivore

Freeman Dyson's Rosy Future

In an article posted on Salon.com titled "Our rosy future, according to Freeman Dyson" by Onnesha Roychoudhuri, Dyson, an eminent physicist, says that climate change is nothing to worry about, and let's celebrate genetic engineering and our ability to design a new world of plants and creatures.

In the article, Dyson describes how we may end up creating a world much like that described by Erick Wujcik in the Second Edition of After the Bomb™.

Freeman Dyson said,

That's now the new era of what I call open-source genetics, an analogy to open-source software in the computer business. It means that genes are shared between species. Species in the end will fade out. They will become merged. I think that's a hopeful future, but it's also going to be dangerous, of course. And all sorts of unintended consequences will no doubt come to plague us.

[snip]

With that will probably go biotech games for children, where you give the child some eggs and seeds and a kit for writing the genomes and seeing what comes out. That will certainly be a very messy and sometimes dangerous business, but I think it's on the whole likely to be very good for education.

[snip]

My idea is that in 50 years, this whole problem of fossil fuels will evaporate because we'll learn how to grow trees that produce liquid fuels much more efficiently than existing trees. So we'll have an ample supply of fuel without having to dig it out of the ground.

However, Dyson talks about more that how out grand or great-grandchildren may be playing with genetics like we play with computers. He also discusses religion/theology and science, and how global warming is 'nothing to worry about'.

[NOTE] Here's an article & video clip over at New Scientist which helped me understand better what it was Dyson was saying about not panicing over global warming: Are we overreacting to climate change?