Friday, July 29, 2011

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

Monday, July 25, 2011

New mayhem-filled Rise of the Planet of the Apes trailer



So the new film needs to show two very important things that will determine it's success as a true "Planet of the Apes" successor:

1. Full-on monkey mayhem (preferably with weapons)
2. Apes standing erect as humanoids

DONE and DONE my friends.

I can't believe this comes out in under TWO WEEKS.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

When You Wish Upon a Gamma Ray, Your Dreams Come True...

We all saw Zombieland, yes? Remember the climactic theme park excursion? Now, imagine that about 100 x's bigger, more twisted, with better rides, zombie mascots, android Lincoln, and a labyrinth of underground tunnels for "cast members".

I give you...

MAPS for MICKEYPOCALYPSE:
(Click to embiggen)




Props to Boing Boing. Maps courtesy of Wishbook. Check out the "Download the Large size of this photo" links for each pic on Wishbook's Flickr pages to get supa' high-res versions suitable for gaming. Our 16th robotic president courtesy Monster Brains.

Gaming with Strangers: Gamma World Play Report Update

A while back I went to the Gamma World Mega Event at the Source (my FLGS) and rolled up a telekinetic yeti (from the Serengeti!) named Psi-Squatch. I didn't get to posting play reports until now as I'd missed several games, but last week I was able to finally join up with a group who had made it's way to the lunar surface. Tonight, ol' Brain Ape goes back to the moon base to wrassle with a couple of space eels. I'll post highlights after the carnage ensues.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Fight On! #12 is all about the GAMMA!

Thanks to Sniderman for his post on the latest issue of Fight On! which includes lost of post-apocalyptic goodness, not to mention a submission from former TSR editors James M. Ward and Tim Kask.

Just look at that cover--that's an adventuring party if I ever saw one!

It's available in print or PDF. Oh, and do yourself a favor and use this coupon code: BIG305 to save 20% on orders $100.00 or less. Yes, it works, I just used it to order my copy.

Props to Netherworks for the coupon info.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Appendix "G": Inspirational Sources

Literature, movies, and TV have long served as inspirational sources for games (duh!). Fantasy games in particular have a well known list, created by Gary Gygax and co. that has been amended through time, but it's name has remained: Appendix N. Star Frontiers was among one TSR's early efforts at science fiction and they published a comparable list of sci-fi for that game as well.

It got me thinking that it would be nice to have an "Appendix N" for the Post Apocalyptic genre. And while there's no codified criteria, I think there are some easy ones to list, not to mention a few that I personally enjoy. So I've begun compiling a list, which also includes some of my own choices that may or may not be directly related to P.A. per se. For instance, I'm not sure Buckaroo Banzai counts as post apocalyptic, but it's certainly weird and wahoo enough that I find it inspiring. :)

I'm calling the list Appendix Gamma or Appendix G for short. I've had this on the blog for a while, but I've added several new links recently so it seemed appropriate to call it out. It's not a "complete" list (and that's also kind of on purpose since it's mainly stuff I'm looking to inspire this blog) but at least the "easy" ones are on there. Feel free to drop any other suggestions in the comments.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

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. 

Thursday, July 7, 2011

"End of it All" Poll Results

A while back I posted a goofy poll asking how you thought the world would spin into oblivion, related to the May doomsday deadline ridiculousness. FOUR of you voted and that's enough for me to post the results :)
Q: According to some sources, May 21, 2011 is the "End of it All". What's your guess it will be?

  • Nukes (simple, effective) 1
  • Alien invasion (like ID4 with better SFX) 0
  • Large Hadron Collider accident 2
  • Insect plague (really, it's a takeover) 0
  • Zombie Fiesta! 0
  • Cosmic suckerpunch (asteroid, rogue planet, gamma rays, etc.) 1
  • Pet uprising 0
  • Killa' plants led by M. Night Shyamalan 0
  • Nanite infestation 0
Feel free to toss in a belated vote or suggestion in the comments below!