Kelvernian ray guns (and the like)

A first take at a few tech artifacts.

A much more simplified list than GW/MF, but I figure these will be like magic items, and relatively rare ones at that. The power cell will be a standard "battery." But larger, belt-pack power sources may be their own special item.

A new angle

I'm thinking about taking the whole "Mutants & Mazes" thing with Kelvernia in a different direction. The difficulty I keep running into is the few, but significant differences between the Labyrinth Lord (B/X) and Mutant Future systems. I would say they are 75-80% compatible, but the parts that aren't keep giving me fits.

First off the characters progression system is different enough to make is kludgy to blend characters from each game. Things like saves, to hits, etc. are more random in MF, so it "feels" unbalancing next to the more uniform D&D style progression in LL. 

Next are the hit points. While this is one of the most obvious changes, it is actually the easiest to fix. You just give the MF character types LL-style HP (likewise the monsters that vary between systems). 

The other problem, related to hit points, is weapon damage. Specifically, the "artifact" weapons (e.g. lasers, etc.). These weapons do a crazy amount of damage compared to things like LL PCs and monsters. Consider a vibro sword. It does 1d8 (longsword damage) +16(!!!) per hit. It can maintain this ability for up to 240 rounds before its battery dies. This thing could kill an average dragon in two (non critical)hits. That's too powerful for the game I want to play, but I don't want to make such items unheard of, either.

So what to do?

Well, in my case, I'm taking inspiration from a slightly different source, but one with a pedigree that most can appreciate.

Kind of a no-brainer, once I thought about it.

Instead of blending the systems, I'm going to port over and convert and scale the tech I want into D&D/LL terms/stats. This means I might not include certain items and monsters, but even using the MF book, it's doubtful any campaign would cover them all. Also, the Mutant Future book will be there as an awesome reference for any future needs.

This will also require updating/converting some of the mutations' descriptions, but I'm hoping that will be relatively minor.

In a future post, I'll give some stats for the "fantasized" versions of the MF weapons and gear. 

Kelvernia: Saving Throws

Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord are about 90% compatible with one another. The two areas that I've run into so far that need tweaking are hit point/hit dice, and saving throws. Namely, MF characters start with more hit points and several monsters (especially humanoids) reflect this as well (e.g. Morlocks with 9HD as opposed to 1)

For hit points I'm simply sticking to LL for PCs and will adjust any monsters that need to be  tweaked on the fly. Generally sticking to the lower power levels.

For saving throws, the Mutants & Mazes section has some decent advice, basically giving equivalents for the save types between systems. Rather than bog the players down with it, I'll just keep these equivalents in mind when asking for them to roll.

Character Saving Throws

Mutant Future **** Labyrinth Lord

Energy Attacks **** Breath Attacks

Poison or Death **** Poison or Death

Stun Attacks **** Petrify or Paralyze

Radiation **** Wands

Spells or Spell-like Devices has no equivalent in MF, so I'll just the PCs'/monsters' LL saves for that.

ZAP!

Make sense? Or am I missing something?

Bring on the Mutants!

OK, now to get down to the nitty-gritty. One of the things that I'm having trouble with is the question of how to handle mutants and androids in the setting. Are they monsters/NPCs? Can players play whatever they want? What's the best way to balance the power levels, etc.? Since the idea is that Kelvernia is a "fantasy" world, and the PA (post-apocalyptic) stylings are a recent occurrence, I want to use LL/BX as the "baseline" system-wise.

(Yeah, kinda like that!)

At the moment, I am leaning toward allowing "changed" humans as a playable race, but not using every mutation on the Mutant Future list. Here's where my version is at right now:

THE CHANGED (MUTANT)

• Attacks/HD/XP/Saves as Halfling. Also, level caps at 8th.
• Start with 2 random mutations at 1st level. Drawbacks are part of same tables. 
• The Changed gain a new mutation at 3rd, 5th, and 8th levels.
• Save at -4 vs. mutating energies.
• The Changed suffer a reaction penalty of 4 when dealing with any other race (NPC or monster).

The player can choose to be a changed animal, human, or plant. Changed are assumed to be at least halfling-sized (but no larger than human), of human range intelligence, and capable of speech (though perhaps having some difficulty articulating certain sounds depending on the shape of their mouths). Changed humans or animals roll once on the physical and once on the mental charts at the start of play. Changed plants are also assumed to be mobile. At start of play, mutated plants roll once on the plant and once on the mental mutations.

When a changed PC gains a new mutation (i.e. at 3rd level, etc.), the player rolls a die. An odd result means they gain a mental mutation, even means they roll on the physical (or plant) table.

    


I realize the above makes for an extremely random PC, but I figure that's sort of the point when playing a mutant!

I'm still on the fence about the MetalMen (androids). The version I came up with used Elf progression for XP, saves and to hits (with the 10th level cap). PC Metalmen are humanoid constructs whose AI has developed self-awareness and free will (to a degree). Their background programming causes them to tend toward Lawful alignment. They do not sleep (magical Sleep doesn't work), are immune to most normal poisons and diseases.

Androids start with a fixed number of hit points (probably 50), but cannot be healed (magically or otherwise), they must be repaired or repair themselves (self-repair rate is 1d3 per day, assuming it has at least 8 hours to work on themselves and basic equipment, which most androids have built-in or on their "person" by default). More elaborate repair kits and facilities exist, but are like Healing Potions, with limited supplies/doses. If an android is "killed", it cannot be raised, resurrected, or reincarnated. Only direct divine intervention or a Wish can bring it back.

Androids have an affinity for hi-tech artifacts, and can figure out how to use such objects with relative ease. Androids gain a +20% to Technology rolls.

 

We shall see. Perhaps they should stay NPC-only. 

Thoughts? C&C?