Hamster Dance

I have the sudden urge to make these guys into AtB characters.

HELP!!!

I know there are people still visiting this site despite the lack of any new game related content, but the problem is that I'm out of ideas.

Well, that's not entirely true. I have ideas, but I haven't been able to play and After the Bomb for quite a while, so the inspiration just isn't there.

I'm hoping that I can get some help from you.  Yes, YOU!

What would you like me to work on next? Scenarios, locations, NPCs, organizations, animal nations, short/micro fiction, etc. You name it and I'll work on it.

What ever you would like to see next, give me a vague idea of the type of scenario, NPC, nation, etc you want, and I'll do my best to get it posted.

Turtle Cart

This video gives me so many ideas, I don't know where to start.

Cats With Thumbs

I found this milk commercial and figured I'd share it here:

Imagine that, Cat's With THUMBS?!

Growth Accelerators

Years ago I wanted a logical reason for areas of the country to be completely overgrown with full grown forests even though less than a century had passed since the fall of civilization. What I came up with was an idea that forestry companies would have developed a fertilizer or genetically modified tree that would grow and mature at an accelerate rate. This would allow them to plant young trees and be able to harvest the lumber in as few as three years.

This eventually became the basis of an adventure I ran several years ago and am currently working on occasionally tinker with, "The Whispering Woods". This idea of genetically modified plants eventually found its way into another adventure I posted back in '08, "The Garden of Evil".

Interestingly enough, I came across an article today where a growth acceleration fertilizer was used with disastrous results:

The flying pips, shattered shells and wet shrapnel still haunt farmer Liu Mingsuo after an effort to chemically boost his fruit crop went spectacularly wrong.

Fields of watermelons exploded when he and other agricultural workers in eastern China mistakenly applied forchlorfenuron, a growth accelerator. The incident has become a focus of a Chinese media drive to expose the lax farming practices, shortcuts and excessive use of fertiliser behind a rash of food safety scandals.

[guardian]

The director of the vegetable research institute at Qingdao Academy of Agricultural Science, Cui Jian says the chemical "should not harm anyone's health." Well, not unless one of those melons were to blow up in your face.

So you can see where you could have some fun with plants and science gone wrong.

AtB Adventure: The Whispering Woods

-- Under Construction --

This adventure was designed using Second Edition rules and was written for a group of adventurers with no specific background or power requirements, though it is assumed that the characters work for Cardania in some respect. GMs may want to change some aspects of this adventure to better suit your group.

PLAYER BACKGROUND
It's a warm summer afternoon in a small southern Cardania boarder town, when the PC's, members of the local militia, are called together for a mission briefing.

The militia members sit waiting in a warm and stuffy motor pool garage housing three large all-terrain militia haulers, when Major Erick Woodchuck enters the building.

"Sorry to cut into your afternoon fun, but I've just received orders from Smoketown to send you on a mission.

"An expedition to the south came across the ruins of a pre-Crash agriculture research station a few days ago and have requested equipment and provisions to set up a long-term research site. Smoketown agreed and assigned you to make the delivery and help the expedition set up the site. There are no roads where you're heading, so it should take you approximately four days along the rough trails through the wilderness to get to their base camp.

"You will be transporting the equipment and provisions in those three haulers behind you. Unless any of you have questions or equipment requests, fall out and get ready to move out."

Major Woodchuck will answer any questions he can and fill any equipment requests that he finds necessary to complete the mission. The characters will also be given a If there are fewer than three PC's who can drive, the Major will assign militia members to drive the remaining trucks.


ADVENTURE BACKGROUND
Six days ago, a small Cardanian expedition came across the ruins of a pre-Crash agriculture research center in southern North Carolina, outside the borders of Gatorland. Their initial inspection of the site found that it was still in decent condition despite its age, and that several of its mainframes were still operational. They immediately sent a request to Smoketown for permission to set up a long-term research site.

Later that evening, during a return trip to the ruins, one of the expeditions teams came into contact with a mutagenic plant that propagates by infecting a host with a vegetable symbiot. That night, the first of the team was driven mad as the changes started to manifest themselves (twigs and buds sprouting from the skin) and went on a rampage through the camp destroying their radio gear. The expedition leader had no choice but to have the team member shot and the other members of its team restrained as they too starting to show the same physical manifestations and mental instability.

The next day, shortly after sunrise, the symbiots in the other infected team members accelerated. They broke free and went on a murderous rampage through the camp killing all but three of the expeditions remaining members before running off screaming into the wilderness. The surviving members returned to the ruins looking for answers as to what caused the teams mutations and a cure. However, as they searched the ruins, the mutated team members attacked them and they locked themselves in an old lab room.

Since the incident, the mutated team members have been wandering around the area attacking and infecting some of the local wildlife.


GAME MASTER INFORMATION
The first leg of the trip to the expeditions last base camp will take the characters around Gatorland through scattered woodlands and grasslands in the Plains of Free Cattle where homesteads are uncommon and villages are rare. If the GM wishes to throw a couple encounters at the caravan during the trip, chose one from the following list or roll on the Wilderness Encounter Table in the main book.

1. Pack of Non-Sentient Feral Wolves. Sometime during the night, while the group is camping, a pack of six feral wolves begin stalking the campsite. They will attempt to take an inattentive guard by surprise and drag them into the woods. If any of the wolves are killed, or severely wounded, the pack will retreat into the woods in search for easier prey.
2. Swarm of Mosquitoes. A cloud of 60 mutant mosquitoes is spooked by the passing caravan and will attack anyone not protected within the vehicles. See main rulebook (pg. 190) for details on these creatures' tactics.
3. Cardanian Scouts. A group five Cardanian scouts are heading back for Smoketown after a yearlong scouting mission to the south. They will gladly share a meal with the group and welcome any news from back home. If entertained, the scouts will share tales of the wilderness and ruins they explored along the Gulf of Mexico.
4. Free Cattle Scouts. Once the caravan enters the Plains of Free Cattle, they will be shadowed by a group of five Free Cattle Scout. They will track the group until they make camp before confronting the group. The scouts will want to know what their business is and where they are headed. When the scouts realize where the group is headed, they will impart a warning that the woods there are haunted by the uneasy spirits of those who died during the Big Death, and that the woods will eat anyone who would dare enter them.


Base Camp

The Blue Ridge Mountains grow larger as the caravan approaches the location of the expeditions last base camp on the edge of a large forested area. The caravan is met by one of the expedition scouts, a mutant horse named Jehosh Marcus, who offers the group a meal before they continue on through the woodlands towards the ruins.

During the meal, one of the two scientists will insist on contacting the expedition to let them know they are nearly there. The radio calls will go unanswered. The scout knows nothing of what has transpired at the main camp and will assume that they are merely experiencing radio troubles, "again."

A mile or so from the site, the caravan is suddenly rushed and attacked by a very large and odd looking boar. It is nearly twice as large as a boar of its type should be and is covered with leaves, branches and vines. The boar will continue to attack until it is dead or otherwise subdued.

Infected Boar
Size: 6' long
Weight: ~500 pounds
Hit Points: 23
SDC: 18
Armor Rating: 6
Horror Factor: 12
Speed: 22 (15mph), Can charge at 50 (35mph) for 3D6 melee
Attacks Per Melee: 2
Damage: Tusks do 2D6+3, Head-butt does 1D6+3, Trample does 2D6+4
Bonuses: +3 on initiative, -3 to Strike, -3 do Dodge
Natural Abilities: Prowl 60%, Track by Smell 65%
Behavior: This infected boar has been driven insane by a plant symbiot. It will fight anything that gets in its way to the death.
GM Notes: The boar was infected by one of the infected expedition members last night. It is unable to infect anyone else at this early stage, and is only motivated to kill itself so it can act as a food bed for the plant to grow in. See later notes for the life cycle of the symbiotic plant.

When the fight is over anyone who examines the boar will find that the boar is not just covered with branches, leaves and vines, but instead they are growing out if its body. The two scientists are excited by this new discovery and start taking notes and pictures of this exciting new mutation. The scientists will insist on bringing the remains with them to the expedition camp so they can examine it more thoroughly.


Expedition Camp Ruins

When the caravan arrives at the expeditions campsite, they find it in ruins. Several dead bodies lie around the camp, victims of a brutal attack.

Searching the area, the group will find the dead bodies of seven of the eighteen expeditions team, the rest are missing. In the expedition leaders tent, they find the expedition's logbook. The last few entries note the discovery of the ruins along with a crude map of its layout; receiving approval from Smoketown to set up a long-term encampment; and then a note that one of the expedition members went mad, "Aristaeus is dead. He came down with the shakes shortly after his team returned from the ruins, but the doctor said it was most likely allergies. During dinner he became quite agitated and started a fight with the scouts. Before we could restrain him he ran into the radio shack, destroyed the communications gear, and killed Zaria! I had to shoot him before he could harm any of the other expedition members. The doctor doesn't have any answers, but noted some odd changes to his appearance."
The leader later notes that the other members of the team had been restrained, "The rest of Aristaeus' team have started to change, so we must protect ourselves should they too go mad. We have tied them to their cots and the doctor has heavily sedated them. The doctor has informed me that Aristaeus' body is still changing!"
The last entry is from three days ago. A quickly scribbled note that the members of the team had gone mad, "Madness and mutation has taken those poor souls. They have broken free of their restraints and fled into the woods, but not before killing the doctor and Timon. I intend to take those that are left to the ruins to find out what caused the mutations and search for a cure."

Jehosh will identify the expedition members noted in the log: Aristaeus was one of three team leaders, Zaria was the radio operator, Timon was a scout, and the doctor's name was Paul. Aristaeus team members were Hoc, and Adalia.

If the characters search the area, (Perception check vs. 14) they will find the remains of Aristaeus. It would almost have mistaken for an odd looking thorn bush if it weren't for the clothes stuck to its thorny branches and the horrifically distorted face hidden beneath it's leaves. The character finding the bush must save vs. HF 15; failure results in a temporary (1D3 days) loss of 1D4 ME and a phobia of plants.

Anyone examining the thorn bush without a natural armor rating of 6 or better (or wearing protective gear) must save against non-lethal poison or become infected with the plant symbiot. See later notes on the symbiotic plant for details.

AgPax Botanical and Agricultural Research Biosphere Ruins

Jehosh, though a bit skittish, will lead the group to the ruins, which is only a fifteen minute hike south of the campsite.

A path through the forest opens up onto a field of huge corn stalks; each plant stands fifteen feet tall with several eighteen inch ears of corn growing on them. In the center of the field, if anyone is able to see over the top of the corn, rises the AgPax Botanical and Agricultural Research Ruins.

The ruins consist of a number of geodesic conservatory domes surrounding a complex. The domes and central complex have all succumb to the decades of weather and unchecked growth of plant-life.


NPCs

The Expedition Survivors

Michael Dean, Expedition Leader
Casey Hatch, Scout
Theodore Cook, Expedition Member

Ent Hunters

Symbiotic Plant

One Small Step

This is Ambam, a bachelor Western Lowland gorilla at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, England. He loves to walk around like this!
The video was taken by Johanna Watson whilst she was working for a project on great ape locomotion.

[IN THE NEWS] Automated Flying Construction Robots

When I saw this, I knew they were something I need to scale up and bring into some role playing game.

Watch as a group of automated quadrotor robots autonomously build several cubical structures. Quadrotor researcher Daniel Mellinger notes, "We tell the quadrotors what structure to build and they figure out the assembly plan and then build it."

These structures beams are held together with magnets, but there's no reason if this were scaled up that you couldn't have a team of welding robots securing larger metal beams while the lifters recharged their batteries.



This reminds me of the 80s sci-fi movie Runaway