Owen K.C. Stephens's Blog, page 70

GammaFinder Mutations (for Starfinder)

So there are quick and easy rules for mutations in the GammaFinder base rules (a campaign hack for Starfinder), but a weird post-apocalyptic game just isn’t the same if you can’t be even more mutated than that.

So, here are some more ways to gain even more mutations, and lots of mutations you can get.

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MUTIE THEME (+1 to any)

Yup, you’re a mutie.

Theme Knowledge (1st)

Your brain focuses on something a little differently than other people. Select one skill to gain as a class skill or (if you already have it as a class skill at 1st level) gain a +1 racial bonus to.

In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to one ability score of your choice at character creation.

Mutation (6th, 12th)

Your mutant abilities grow and evolve. Select a mutation from the Mutant Abilities list, below.

Mutant Heartiness (18th)

Your mutant physiology allows you to recover more easily than those with standard genomes. Twice per day you can recover Stamina Points after a 10-minute rest without expending a Resolve Point to do so. This does reset any abilities that normally reset after you expend a Resolve Point to recover Stamina Points after a rest.

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MUTAMORPH (Archetype)

Your body, exposed tot the strange energies of the GammaFinder World, has morphed.

Mutation (2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th, 12)

At these levels you may choose a mutant ability (see below) as an archetype ability, or take your class’s normal class feature instead. Each time you take a mutant ability, you may also replace one mutant ability gained at an earlier level from the archetype or the mutie theme with a new mutation (losing the old mutant ability).

Mutant Abilities

The following mutant abilities can be gained from mutie theme or mutamorph archetype.

Additional Arms

Blindsense

Change Form

Climber

Compression

Creaturelike

Digger

Exceptional Vision

Expanded Lung Capacity

Fortified

Frenzy

Limited Telepathy

Mutable

Natural Weapons

Psionic, minor

Psionic, moderate

Psionic, major

Rapid Revival

Steady Stride

Swimmer

Telekinetic Flight

Toughened

Venomous

Wings

Additional Arms

You grow two additional arms (or a long prehensile tail, or other manipulative limb), which allows you to wield and hold up to two more hands’ worth of weapons and equipment. While your multiple arms increase the number of items you can have at the ready, it doesn’t increase the number of attacks you can make during combat.

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Blindsense

You grow sensitive antennae that grants your blindsense (vibration)—the ability to sense vibrations in the air—out to 30 feet. You ignore the Stealth bonuses from any form of visual camouflage, invisibility, and the like when attempting a Perception check opposed by a creature’s Stealth check. Even on a successful Perception check, any foe that can’t be seen still has total concealment (50% miss chance) against you, and you still have the normal miss chance when attacking foes that have concealment. You are still flatfooted against attacks from creatures you can’t see.

Change Form

As a standard action, you can physically alter your form to look like any Medium creature, as long as you have seen a similar creature before. You can attempt to either mimic a specific creature or look like a general creature of the chosen type. You gain a +10 bonus to Disguise checks to appear as a creature of the type and subtype of the new form. The DC of your Disguise check is not modified as a result of altering major features. You can remain in an alternate form indefinitely.

If you take this mutation a second time, you do not take a penalty to Disguise when you mimic a creature of a different species or type.

Climber

You gain a climb speed of 40 feet.

Creaturelike

You have mutated to be very similar to another creature. You might look like an anthropomorphic animal, have the strange anatomy of an aberration, seem to be a plant, or have some other strange mix of features. Your features are a blend between your true type and substype, and another type (and possibly subtype).

You gain the creaturelike trait. Select one type and, if desired, an appropriate subtype. You gain these in addition to your normal type and potential subtype. You gain no special abilities of the type or subtype except as noted here. When you are targeted by an effect, if it effects just one of your types or subtypes, it affects you. If it affects your types or subtypes differently, you take the effect that is worse for you.

Skill checks to identify your type or subtype take a -5 penalty.

You gain a +2 racial bonus to one saving throw category of your choice, or +1 racial bonus to two saving throw categories.

You gain one of the following senses or movement types of your choice: blindsense (scent) 30 feet, climb 20 feet, darkvision 60 feet, fly 20 feet (poor)(ex), low-light vision, swim 20 feet.

You can change your unarmed attacks to do piercing or slashing damage, if you wish, or gain do +1 damage with unarmed attacks.

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Compression

You can move through an area as small as one-quarter your space without squeezing or one-eighth their space when squeezing.

Digger

You gain a burrow speed of 30 feet.

Exceptional Vision

You gain low-light vision and darkvision. As a result, you can see in dim light as if it were normal light, and you can see with no light source at all to a range of 60 feet in black and white only. If you already had low-light, your darkvision now grants you color vision with no light. If you already had darkvision, its range increases by 60 feet.

Expanded Lung Capacity

You have extraordinary lung capacity. You can hold your breath for 10 times the normal duration, and you can begin to hold their breath as a purely defensive reaction whenever you are submerged underwater, enter a vacuum, enter a gas or smoke field, or would otherwise begin suffocating or inhaling a substance you suspect to be harmful.

Fortified

You gain a +2 racial bonus to Fortitude saves against environmental hazards and radiation effects. In addition, you reduce the duration of the sickened and nauseated conditions by 1 round.

Frenzy

When badly enough damaged, you enter a fighting frenzy. When you are at 0 Stamina Points, you gain a +1 bonus to melee attacks and AC.

Limited Telepathy

You can communicate telepathically with any creatures within 30 feet with whom you share a language. Conversing telepathically with multiple creatures simultaneously is just as difficult as listening to multiple people speak.

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Mutable

Your body is mutable and can adapt to many different situations. Once every 1d4 rounds as part of any other action, you can reshape your body and adjust your chemistry to gain one of the following qualities. The adaptation lasts until you dismiss it, use this ability again, fail a saving throw, or are dazed, confused, staggered, stunned, or unconscious.

*Upper limb refinements enable you to add an additional amount of damage to melee attacks equal to half your Strength modifier.

*A toughened dermal layer grants you a +1 racial bonus to KAC.

*Developed lower limbs grant you a +10 bonus to one speed you already possess.

*Molecular-level modifications grant you resistance 2 against a single energy type (acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic).

*Elongated limbs extend your to 10 feet.

Natural Weapons

You are always considered armed. They can deal 1d3 lethal damage with unarmed strikes and the attack doesn’t count as archaic. You choose if the attack does bludgening, piercing, or slashing damage when it is gained, and what kind of attack it is (bite, claws, tail slap, and so on). You gain a unique weapon specialization with your natural weapons at 3rd level, allowing you to add 1–1/2 × your character level to your damage rolls for your natural weapons (instead of just adding your character level, as usual).

Psionic, minor

You gain the following spell-like abilities: At will: (select any two of the following) daze, detect magic, fatigue, ghost sound, psychokinetic hand, telepathic projectile, telepathic message, token spell; 1/day (select one): akashic download, battlemind link (lesser), confusion (lesser), detect thoughts, mind link, share language, share memory.

Psionic, moderate

Select two more at-will spells and one more 1/day spell from the minor psionic list. You must already have two of the at-will spells and one of the 1/day spells as spell-like abilities to select moderate psionic.

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Psionic, major

Select two more at-will spells and one more 1/day spell from the minor psionic list. Additiinally, select one of the following spells as a 1/day spell-like ability: augury, perfect recall, predict foe, status. You must already have four of the at-will spells and two of the 1/day spells as spell-like abilities to select moderate psionic.

Rapid Revival

Once per day, when you take a 10-minute rest to regain Stamina Points, you can additionally recover Hit Points as though you had taken a full night’s rest.

Steady Stride

You can move through nonmagical difficult terrain at your normal speed.

Swimmer

You gain a swim speed of 40 feet.

Telekinetic Flight

You gaining a supernatural fly speed of 10 with perfect maneuverability and the ability to hover without taking an action.

Toughened

Your sturdy physiology backs up armor’s defensive properties particularly well. When wearing armor, you gain a +1 racial bonus to AC. If you already have a +1 racial bonus to AC, you instead gain a +1 racial bonus to Fortitude and Reflex saves.

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Venomous

You can deal piercing or bludgeoning damage with your unarmed strikes. When you make a successful unarmed strike (or innate melee attack, such as might be gained from another mutation) that deals piercing damage, and the target takes damage from the attack, as a reaction you can expose the target to venom. Once you have used your venom, you can do so again only after taking a 10-minute rest to regain Stamina Points. You are immune to the effects of your own venom.

Mutant Venom

Type poison (injury); Save Fortitude (DC = 10 + half your level + your key ability modifier)

Track Dexterity (special); Onset 1 round; Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds

Effect Progression track is Healthy—Sluggish—Stiffened—Staggered; staggered is the end state.

Cure 1 save. All effects end 1 hour after cure.

Wings

You grow wings, gaining an extraordinary fly speed of 30 with average maneuverability.

WANT MORE GAMMAFINDER?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

 

In Time of Pandemic, 1

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Let me clearly open with this:

I am not in danger. I am not a threat to myself or others. I have a strong support network, which includes a lot of really good shoulders to cry on, ears to listen to me, and kind voices to give aid when asked.

I often write things about what I am going through that other people mostly don’t. Sometimes, the fact I do so worries friend and colleagues alike. That’s never my aim, and I sincerely apologize to anyone I have made uncomfortable. Online explanations of my mental state are part of my therapy process. Writing things gives me power over them, and helps me organize and contextualize my feelings.

And, I want other folks who are struggling to know they are not alone.

I also want now, in the front, to noteI have a Patreon. If you find this writing useful, or just want to toss me some support, it’s a great way to help out.

So,

I am an aging, obese, depressive, introverted, socially-awkward independent creative with impostor syndrome, civilian PTSD, and a genuine fear of deadlines, disappointing people, and criticism.

If you are thinking to yourself “Wow, given all that it sounds like the ONE job you should avoid is freelance game writer,” you have a point.

In times of pandemic, you reassess your life choices.

But I’ve been doing this for more than 20 years now, and as much as I want to shrug and give up sometimes, it really is a defining part of my own self-image. Intellectually, I am well aware I have achieved success many people consider noteworthy. I am also aware that as a cis white male I have had a lot of unearned advantages along the way.

I recently wrote online “One of the major advantages to doing business over social media is that I can literally be sobbing as I type smiley faces and multiple cheerful exclamation points.”

And I literally meant it. It really IS an advantage. I mean, when i was the manager of a parking garage in the 1990s, if I was sobbing, not only could I not just go on with my day without people constantly asking me if I was okay, it would be considered unprofessional. It would interfere with my job function, the perception of me, and my own serenity. But when dealing with things in an entirely text-based format, as long as I am together enough to make the post look professional and upbeat, it is treated as professional and upbeat.

But of course, I only know that because I DO write marketing text and otherwise interact with fans and freelancers online while crying. Normally it’s a pretty rare thing, only happening when something is timing-critical. Like if there’s a one-day sale of a big product, or if a Kickstarter is ending. In those cases, even if I am depressed, or bereaved, it needs to get done right NOW, tears be damned.

But right now?

Right now I am crying more than usual. I am also slumping into mind-numb torpor where nothing gets done more often, ranting and yelling at the corner of the room more often, self-medicating more often, and walking away from everything in total disgust more often.

In times of pandemic, there are more tears.

That’s not to suggest I have it especially hard right now, compared to other people. While money is tightening, I am not totally unable to get funds like some folks. My job hasn’t depended on my going anywhere but my home office since last July, and even before that it was work a company could (and in the case of my last full-time employer has) have people do from home. Even within my industry, the fact I have focused on digital products for my own projects is proving to insulate me slightly from the resounding crash of the physical product supply chain.

There are people under stay-at-home orders right now who, as a result of various factors often entirely beyond their control, have no home to stay at. I am in now way suffering more than average.

I’m not going it alone, either. Thank goodness, I have an amazing support network. My wife of nearly 30 years is a constant source of comfort and aid. I have great friends, many of whom are going the extra mile to interact with me in video chats, discord forums, IMs, and so on. I have people paying me for my work, both in individual and direct ways and through companies and big projects, who are being understanding and patient with me, but also not letting me totally off the hook that I fall so far behind I can never catch up (thank god). I can get advice, or perspective, or sympathy in pretty much endless and instant supply. (Thank god.)

But I also acknowledge there are stresses in my life. I and my wife both fall into high-risk categories for the current pandemic. We’ve been self-isolating, and going out to places that are now closed (and spending money we currently don’t have) were among my stress-relievers. And while I am not a fan of huge crowds anyway, I did love sitting with a small circle of close friends, and self-isolation for a month or so now has that off the table. I have some medical issues that cause severe fatigue, and it’s hard to differentiate those from depression or being overwhelmed by constant bad news and worry for friends and family.

Nearly every creative I have discussed it with agrees that it is HARD to get anything done right now. The fact that getting things done, and fast, is of even more importance as companies must pivot to deal with the new makes the failure to produce emotionally more challenging, but it doesn’t make it easier. And I completely support shutting down game stores and prioritizing crucial shipments from big vendors, but those things also put my entire industry at real, long-term, catastrophic risk.

In times of pandemic, my chosen career is not essential.

So yes, I am worried, and weary, and worn. And ultimately I am safe, and privileged, and supported. And I really wrote all of this both to assure those who worry about me that I am no closer to any tipping point or brink than normal; and to let other people who feel like they aren’t coping well know they are not alone.

None of us know what the next few weeks, months, and even years will look like. That lack of certainty, and the need to change how we do everything–from order groceries to teach children to talk to friends to play and create games–is exhausting. Every day is both the first day of school, and a stroll by the edge of a very sparse minefield. Stress is a constant companion, and uncertainty is a mist that conceals every road.

I am sure I’ll get through this. I’m sure we’ll collectively get through this. Maybe not unscathed or unchanged, but still whole at the far side.

And maybe, if we work at it, we can improve society with the things we learned in a time of pandemic.

Survival in GammaFinder

One of the core concepts of any post-apocalypse RPG is survival. This is definitely true in GammaFinder, as the world is full of poison earth, acid rain, toxic water, deadly environmental effects, baked earth, rusted, twisted metal… it’s harsh. Just traveling beyond a settlement, even if nothing rises to the level of an encounter, is dangerous.

And, as it happens, Starfinder has a Survival skill.

But making Survival rolls daily, and making people think about where their character sleep, find water, hunt, how they avoid heatstroke, dodge poison ivy, and so on gets boring.

So GammaFinder has a Weekly Survival Check.

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Weekly Survival Check

Each group makes a Survival check each week. The DC is equal to 15 + 1.5 x the average CR of hazards and monsters in the area, +1 per person in the group. (When in double, if there is a titan nearby, the GM can assume the average CR is within the Titans range. Otherwise if the area is not known to be particularly hazardous, assume an average CR of 2. Yes, 2. GammaFinder World is rough).

If multiple people make Survival checks, the highest check result is treated as the primary result, and each character in the group after the first who succeeds adds one to that highest result. The following additional factors modify the roll, as can previous rolls (see results, below).

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Weekly Survival Check Modifiers

Group begins week out of food and water: -5

Group has no wilderness gear: -2

Group has at least 1 piece of survival gear for each member: bonus equal to the highest item level of such gear every character has. (For example, if 4 people have a piece of 5th level survival gear, but one person only has a 1st-level piece of gear, the bonus is +1. If six people all have a piece of 3rd level gear, the bonus is +3).

Results

You not only need to know if the group succeeded or failed, but by how much.

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Success by 5 or More: Things went very well! You slept in protected spots, avoided unpleasant allergens and minor hazards, and found plentiful and quality food and water. You do not use up any of your carried food or water resources, and everyone in your group gains a +2 bonus to the next week’s Weekly Survival Check.

Success by 4 or less: You use up resources (such as food and water) normally, but manage to avoid being run down by the constant dangers of the GammaFinder World.

Fail by 5 or less: You didn’t manage ideal conditions, but it’s livable. You might be  sleeping in a cold, cramped space under a large rock, eating grubs, drinking water that’s slimy but not poisonous, or just dealing with gnat bites, rough terrain, sunburn, weariness, and so on.

Everyone in the party takes a -1 penalty to skill checks, including next week’s survival, until you succeed at a weekly survival check or you get a good night’s sleep and food in a settlement. This is cumulative if you fail by this amount in consecutive weeks.

Fail by 6- or more: Why did you ever leave your hovel?

Everyone in the party takes a -2 penalty to skill checks, including next week’s survival, until you succeed at a weekly survival check or you get a good night’s sleep and food in a settlement. This is cumulative if you fail by this amount in consecutive weeks.

Everyone temporarily has their maximum Stamina Points reduced by 1 per character level. This lasts until the group succeeds at a Weekly Survival Check by 5 or more, or get 2 good night’s sleep and food at a settlement.

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Want More GammaFinder?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

Titans of GammaFinder

GammaFinder is a Post-Apocalypse setting for the Starfinder RPG. The GammaFinder World has been rocked by the destruction of the cities of Alpha and Beta by the Omega Invasion, and the mysterious, lost city of Gamma seems to be the only force that can have stopped them.

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But there are more mysteries in the World of GammaFinder than just the location of Gamma, or the origin of the forces of Omega. There is what caused the Chasm of History, and what brought an end to the Unburned World.

And then, there are the Titans.

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Titans take many forms, and no two have ever been proven to be similar. Some are huge machines, others appear to be breathing statues, writhing tentacles, glowing beasts, or vast fiends of millions of interconnected vermin. What they have in common is that they are immune to any known effect, they don’t normally move (or take any action at all), they never seem to leave or change, they have been in place since the end of the Chasm of History, and no one knows where they come from.

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Titans are uncommon, but every major settlement know where there is one within a few weeks travel at the farthest, and in some regions titans are nearly within sight of one another.  Because they are among the few unchanging things in the GammaFinder World, they are even used as landmarks on maps, and sometimes as borders between warlords. Maps of Incolnneb always include the Lighthouse Giant at its eastern edge, and the Kithen of the Syckle claim all land within hearing of the RuneSquare Titan’s audible pulsing.

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The Titans are believed to be indestructible and immobile. None have ever taken any major action that can be verified by survivors, though when a mountain range explodes in lava or a new continent raises from the seas, the Titans are often credited. or blames. Even during the Omega Invasion, no Titan was damaged, despite powerful energies being directed against a few near the city of Beta, and none took any action. As a result, of course, some are worshiped as gods, or appeased as demons.

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But Titans do affect their environments, in ways only the most experienced adventurers or wise sages are aware of, and which none understand.

They attract some creatures, and repel others.

Each Titan has a range of CRs it encourages to stay near it, and any outside that are pushed away. For unthinking or instinctive creatures, it’s a subtle effect. Migration may rotate around a Titan, while predators might avoid crossing into one’s territory. For sapient entities, it’s a slight mental pressure, but also stress, nightmares, and feelings of intense dread when conflicting with the Titan’s influence.

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Titans’ territories vary in size from as small as a few city blocks, to as large an area as a rough hundred-mile radius. There is no correlation between the size of a Titan and the area it influences. Creatures not within a titan’s CR range take a -1 penalty to all attacks, saving throws, DC calculations, AC, and skill checks after being in it’s territory for 24 hours. This worsens to -2 after a week, -3 after a month, -4 after a season, and -5 after a year. 1-4 days after leaving the Titan’s territory, these penalties are reduced by one each day.

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Similarly, creature’s within a Titan’s CR range that have been there for 24 hours must make a DC 10 Will save to leave it of their own volition. This DC increases by 2 after a week, and again after a month, season, and year. Creatures are not aware they are being encouraged to stay and find other reasons to not leave, though a DC 20 Sense Motive check can reveal their decision-making is being influenced. Once a creature leaves a Titan’s area, it feels no special compunction to return.

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Most Titans have a CR range of 4 or 5 (such as, from CR 2 through CR 6, or from CR 5 through CR 11), though some are bigger and some smaller, while a few have CR ranges that vary over time. The Writhing Field in Coldpray used to have a range of just CR 5-8. But it has increased by 1 CR a year for the past 5 years, allowing higher-and-higher-level creatures to move in. Of course most locals jut feel Coldpray has been getting more dangerous over the years, but a few Wasteland Scholars fear it’s Titan is dying, and wonder what that could mean.

Titans also serve as the things that inspire solarians to contemplate the core forces of the universe, or as connection sources for mystics… though no one can say for certain if such power actually flows from the Titans, or if some people convince themselves their own powers somehow came from these unmoving colossi.

Want More GammaFinder?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

Mega-Heroic Moments for GammaFinder

GammaFinder, the simple post-apocalypse rules and micro-setting for Starfinder, isn’t just about adventure in the ruined, glowing remains of a once-proud society. It’s also about those mega-heroic moments that all too often come only once every few campaigns. The wondrous, fist-pumping, yahoo-calling, better-than-a-natural-20 things that we all remember for years.

But given how harsh GammaFinder can be, those moments may be too rare. So we’ll cheat. We’ll add a few. (You can port this rule to any other Starfinder-compatible game as well, of course.)

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Every character can invoke one mega-heroic moment. If they do so and manage to reach 10th level, they regain the ability to use one mega-heroic moment, but that’s it.

Each mega-heroic moment can be invoked only once per campaign. If you use it, no one else can. Strike it from the list. Otherwise, any character who has a mega-heroic moment still coming to them can use any of the mega-heroic moments.

This is a short initial list of available mega-heroic moments. More may come later.

Do You Want To Live Forever?

When you are about to be knocked unconscious, killed, or made helpless, some unexpected force from your past saves you. Maybe a quantum valkyrie of your lost love deflects the deadly blow. Maybe a witchwarper version of yourself from another reality pushes you out of the way. Maybe ghosts of your fallen allies scream a warning at the last second.

Immediately negate all damage and conditions caused by one attack, trap, hazard, spell, or effect against you. If it is from an ongoing effect, you are immune until the beginning of your next round.

Fly, You Fools!

This is it. The big sacrifice. Everyone lives. You die.

For now.

All your allies in this encounter, living and dead, escape. Those who were dead turn out to be only mostly dead, and are instead unconscious and stable. You stay and hold the line, and die.

But when one of your allies next gains a level? You return, having also gained a level. Maybe you were literally resurrected. maybe it’s a version of your from another reality. Maybe all of reality is a simulation and your return is a glitch in the system. You get to rebuild your character as if you had used a mnemonic editor.

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How’d You Get Up There? – Wasn’t Easy!

Your allies are shocked at where you suddenly pop up. Perhaps you achieved the ultimate stealth route. Maybe you found a split-second wormhole and used it to your advantage. You might even have just run faster and further than anyone expected. The truth is you;re not 100% sure how you made it there yourself, so you are always going to be vague on the details.

Select any location within line of sight and line of effect of any ally. You are at that location.

I Want To Show You A Trick Mother Showed Me When You Weren’t Around.

It’s a secret you have carried with you until this moment, aware you can only do it once. Maybe you have a weapon from the Unburned World with only a single charge left in it. Maybe a sentient spell was been riding along with you, waiting for the one and only moment when it could be cast. Maybe you have a mutant power that takes 100 years to recharge. Whatever it is, it’s a surprise to everyone else, and it’s about to hurt.

Select one target within line of sight and line of effect. It takes an amount of damage equal to 1d6+4 multiplied by your character level. This may be of any damage type, and bypasses any resistance, immunity, or miss chance.

You Are Already Dead.

It seemed like no more than an ordinary attack, but you know better. You hit a secret pressure point, or slipped a grenade into their shorts, or smeared a single self-replicating nanite flesh-eater into the wound. That extra act has gone unnoticed, until now.

Select one foe, trap, or hazard within line of sight that you injured within the past 10 minutes, or that has an unhealed injury you inflicted on it. The foe must have a CR no greater than your level +1. It dies if living, is destroyed if undead, breaks if inanimate.

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Want More GammaFinder?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

 

GammaFinder Index

GammaFinder is a post-apocalypse setting for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game. I have multiple articles that begin to describe and define GammaFinder, and this is the index to all of them.

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CORE RULES AND SETTING

The basics.

GammaFinder Rules. Simple rules for post-apocalypse gaming using Starfinder, along with just the hint of a setting *mostly to justify calling it ‘GammaFinder.’)

The Unburned World. A larger article that includes a quick description of the pre-apocalypse Unburned World, and the Chasm of History that separates it from the modern era.

PLAYER OPTIONS

Beyond the core rules, here are the things players can use.

Themes

Alphite. You were raised in the domed city of Apha, before it was destroyed.

Brain-In-A-Jar and Murderous Toy. These stretch what themes are supposed to do to their limits, to give weirder character options.

GM TOOLS

Beyond the core rules, these are things the GM can use to help built the setting and its feel.

Halidoms.

Weird relics of the Unburned World, from before the Chasm of History. Presented conceptually in Part One, and rules for PCs trying to figure them out in Part Two.

MUTANTIARY

These entries are like a bestiary, but for weird mutant threats!

Hammerderm It’s a dangerous sonic shark-rhino mutant.

BOOMER EXTRAS

The spectacularly creative Clinton Boomer has done some additional material for GammaFinder, and we’re thrilled to link it here for folks who want Moar Weird!

Fist of the Gamma Star. Ready for Post-Apocalypse Martial Arts?

Omegamancy. Even after the world ends, some things are forbidden.

Reek of Corrupted Wasteland. You can smell what the Omegamancers are cooking!

 

GammaFinder Mutantiary part 1 (Hammerderm)

So we introduced some quick and easy rules for GammaFinder, a post-apocalypse campaign hack for Starfinder, introduced the concept of the Unburned World and its relics (Halidom), and then gave some Halidom game rules. We’ve done one pretty standard theme for the setting, and two really weird ones.

Since GammaFinder is remaining popular so far, I thought it was time for a Mutantiary (like a Bestiary, but for weird mutant threats). Of course, these can be used for any Starfinder-compatible setting.

We start, with the hammerderm.

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HAMMERDERM          CR 7          [COMBATANT]

XP 2,400 each

N Large Magical Beast

Init +4 Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, blindsight (vibration, 60 feet); Perception +20

DEFENSE     HP 125

EAC 17; KAC 20

Fort +11; Ref +11; Will +6

Defensive Abilities bounce off

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft. (burrow 40 ft., swim 20 ft.)

Melee bite +15 (2d6+11 S)

Ranged ping +18 (2d6+7 So, deafen)

Space 10 feet; Reach 5 feet

Offensive Abilities ping

STATISTICS

Str +5; Dex +4; Con +0; Int -4; Wis +2; Cha +0

Skills Athletics +14, Intimidate +14

Languages none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Bounce Off (Ex) When an adjacent character makes an attack against a hammerderm and misses, but misses by less than 5, the attack literally bounces off the creature’s hide and reflects back at the attacker. The hammerderm makes an attack roll with a +13 bonus and, if the attack hits, it does its base damage (not including Specialization, ability modifiers, or special abilities) to the attacker.

Ping (Ex) The vibratory sonar of a hammerderm can be focused into a massive damaging “ping”. This counts as a ranged sonic attack with a 30 feet range increment and the deafen critical hit effect. It can fire through a material the hammerderm is currently burrowing or swimming through, but not other materials in contact with it — a hammerderm can ping through the earth it is digging through, but not through a concrete slap or boulder sitting on the earth. A target hit by the ping must make a DC 15 fortitude save or be deafened for 1d4 hours.

Hammerderms are much feared alpha predators most common in areas with long stretches of uninterrupted soil or sand, such as planes, prairies, deserts, river deltas, and beaches. They appear to be some horrific blend of shark and rhino, though its unclear if they are actually a product of mixing the dna of these creatures of if the Unburned World process that created them simply followed the from of those natural animals.

Hammerderms have massively powerful passive sonar, able to sense virbations in soil, water, and even the air making them almost impossible to sneak up on. They also possess an offensive sonic “ping,” a deafening bolt of focused sonic energy projected from an organ known as the tintabulum that runs along the front ridge of their head. If a hammerderm is killed without using any bludgeoning or sonic damage, the tintabulum can be extracted and sold (making up treasure equivalent to the appropriate amount for the hammerderm’s CR).

Hammerderms travel alone or in mated pairs, except when the moon is visible in the evening sky before nighttime, when they gather in small herds of 7-12. Hammerderms give live birth to 2-4 “peens,” which emerge fully capable of fending for themselves. A typical hammerderm is 12-15 feet long and weights around 5,000 lbs.

This is Just The Beginning

If the Mutantiary proves popular, we can do so much more with it! If you are looking for more GammaFinder-appropriate mutant critters right now, you can check out the grizzly boar and rattle-cat, which were designed for Really Wild West, but also work great in GammaFinder!

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Want More GammaFinder?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

Themes for GammaFinder, Part 2 (Brain in a Jar, Murderous Toy)

So we introduced some quick and easy rules for GammaFinder, a post-apocalypse campaign hack for Starfinder, introduced the concept of the Unburned World and its relics (Halidom), and then gave some Halidom game rules.

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Since these have proven very popular so far, I thought I’d try some more GammaFinder stuff, and see how it goes over. Since my simple rules cover things like mutation, and ancient weird tech and magic is covered by Halidoms, it seemed to me the main thing we still needed were some GammaFinder-specific themes.

So I did the Alphite theme. I really like it. It’s a classic vault dweller/domed citizen/erudite lost-lore kind of theme. It’s important to have some useful, interesting options that are easy to pick and create typical characters. Lots of players want that.

But… it’s not weird. Some of the fun of GammaFinder-style settings is that it lets you play WEIRD characters and they don’t stick out like a sore thumb. If the world has cyberdinosaurs, cryptowizards, and psychic evil plants as part of the standard setting, you can do something a bit weirder than a human alphite and just be part of the quilt of crazy.

So, let’s do some crazy themes.

Brain in a Jar (+1 Wis)

You had one really, really bad day. You suffered a serious injury. Kind of the ultimate injury. You lost your body. Everything but your brain, which is now kept alive by a life support system using tech from the Unburned World, which no one really understands or can replicate. Maybe you remember that really bad day, and are driven to seek revenge on those who did this to you. Maybe your yearning to feel the wind on your face again defines your every choice. Or  maybe you just came to, a brain in a jar, and this seems entirely normal to you.

You are unlikely to appreciate “jarhead” jokes.

In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Wisdom at character creation.

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Theme Knowledge (1st)

Although you are a living thing, determining your species is tricky. Because you are just a brain in a jar. Recall knowledge checks to determine anything about your biology other than “you are a brain in a jar” take a -10 penalty.

Note that your jay has mechanical limbs, sensory inputs, mobilizers, speakers, and so on. With the exception of a sense of touch or the ability to determine the ambient temperature, you can do all the things a person with a body can do. Since these systems all interact with your brain and need the basic of biology to keep your brain alive, you are also still subject to things like starvation, suffocation, injected poisons and so on. These systems may extend out from your brain, or even form telescoping armor around you as you move, but when you are stationary or asleep, it all folds back to reveal your brain. In a jar.

Medicine checks made regarding you also take a -10 penalty. However, anything that can normally be done with Medicine can also be done for you using Engineering (at no penalty), and you can benefit from any spell or effect (including healing) that can benefit a construct.

Upgrade (6th, 12th)

Your jar develops an upgrade. You gain one of the following feats as a bonus feat: Accelerated Recovery, Ambush Awareness, Arm Extensions, Blind-Fight, Climbing Master, Diehard, Dire Straights, Disease Rejection, Echolocation Attack, Environmental Adaptation, Fleet, Ground Fighting, Hauler, Improved Initiative, Improved Unarmed Strike, Jet dash, Kip Up, Living Ladder, Lunge, Masked Visage, Memory Access, Nanite Integration, Poison Rejection, Positive Conduit, Protective Fur, Solid Stance, Startled Scream, an Swimming Master.

You do not need to meet this feat’s prerequisites. You gain an additional upgrade at 12th level.

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System Check (18th)

You can run an internal diagnostic of your jar, and it’s various functions, to ready yourself for more problems. Up to twice a day you can take one minutes to have anyone (even yourself) make a DC 32 Engineering check to fine-tune your mechanical body extensions. On a successful check, you regain 1 Resolve Point.

Murderous Toy (+1 Dex)

You are a relic of the Unburned World, or at least of a process lost after the Charm of History, You are a heavily modified entity that was turned into a living toy, a literal plaything for the rich and immoral of the world that existed in ancient times. Your species is not changed–if human you are as human as anyone else–but every aspect of your body and appearance was modified, seamlessly, to make you appear to be something fun and innocent. But your mind? Your mind is your own.

You might have been found in your original mint packaging, and only activated once the vault of collectibles you were in was raided. Or you might have had a normal life once, or as normal as life gets in the GammaFinder World, and been transformed by a mad cybersorcerer, DigiDaemons of the Omega Invasion, or a Living Factory-God.

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Theme Knowledge (1st)

You are a small, doll-like creature.

You may look like a brand-new Theddi Ruffspin babysit bear (TM), or a worn, barely-together Bharbe Dholl (c), but you are definitely a toy at first glance. Recall knowledge checks to identify anything about you are at a -10 penalty.

The DC of Culture checks regarding toys and toy brands from the Unburnd World are reduced by 5.

You are literally Small. Nothing else about your race changes. If you are a kasatha, you are still a kasatha… but maybe with big bear ears and fuzzy hide and a cute button nose. You also gain the constructed trait, as and android. If you already have it, you instead gain one of the following alternate android traits of your choice you do not already have (without losing a trait): easily augmented, infosphere integration, multilingual, or nanite upgrade.

In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Dexterity at character creation.

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Accessories (6th, 12th)

You gain additional android traits you do not already have, without losing any you do. You can select from those listed with theme knowledge, or gain  exceptional vision, flat affect, or upgrade slot.

Playtime (18th)

You may not like children… but you get a great deal out of playing with them. Up to twice a day you can take 1 minute to play with (innocently and safely) a child, or 10 minutes to meditate on a time when you did so. This cannot overlap with time spent regaining Stamina Points. You regain 1 Resolve Point.

Want More GammaFinder?!

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

Themes for GammaFinder, Part 1 (Alphite)

So we introduced some quick and easy rules for GammaFinder, a post-apocalypse campaign hack for Starfinder, introduced the concept of the Unburned World and its relics (Halidom), and then gave some Halidom game rules.

Since these have proven very popular so far, I thought I’d try some more GammaFinder stuff, and see how it goes over. Since my simple rules cover things like mutation, and ancient weird tech and magic is covered by Halidoms, it seemed to me the main thing we still needed were some GammaFinder-specific themes.

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Alphite (+1 Int)

You were born and raised in Alpha, the domed (and doomed) city that was the last bastion of order, technology, and science in the GammaFinder world–until it was destroyed by the Omega Invasion. But while you home was smashed, the broad education and basic understanding of how science and even quantum manipulation (called “magic” by the uneducated) function is still with you. It’s not that you are necessarily a scientist as a focus. It’s that you were raised to understand the power of intellect in all things, and given a firm set of conceptual tools you can apply to most problems.

Theme Knowledge (1st)

You received the benefit of an actual classic education. It wasn’t as broad and complete as it would have been in the Unburned World–too much was lost during the Chasm of History–but it was more complete and involved than is available anywhere else in the world that remains. That gives you a grasp of the scientific method, the psychic basics, and core problem solving. You reduce the DC of any skill check to recall knowledge by 3, and when you take 10 on a skill check, you gain a +1 bonus. Select Mysticism or Physical Science. The selected skill is a class skill for you, though if it is a class skill from the class you take at 1st level, you instead gain a +1 bonus to checks with your chosen skill.

In addition, you gain an ability adjustment of +1 to Intelligence at character creation.

Careful Consideration (6th)

The more time you have to consider how to solve a problem, the better you are at doing so. You gain a +2 bonus to skill checks when you take 20. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus to your second and subsequent skill checks when trying to understand a Halidom.

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Intellectual Dispassion (12th)

Your understanding that everything makes sense if you know enough about it allows you to overcome emotional responses by leaning on your trust of a rational world. When you fail a saving throw against an emotion effect, fear effect, or effect that causes you to be confused, you make expend a Resolve Point as a reaction to immediately reroll the saving throw with a +5 bonus. You take the better of the two save results.

Contemplation (18th)

Sitting back and calmly thinking about your circumstance, your assets, various tactics and methods you can try to overcome your difficulties, and what you know that may assist you in future endeavors calms and centers you, leaving you feeling renewed. Up to twice per day, after you spend at least 10 minutes in deep contemplation (this doesn’t count as resting to regain Stamina Points, and during this time you take a -10 penalty to all Perception checks), you regain 1 Resolve Point.

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A Request

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.

Halidoms: Relics of the Unburned World for GammaFinder (Part 2)

Okay, we’re still discussing Halidoms, for GammaFinder! We introduced the concept in yesterday’s article, and now we start looking at game rules.

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Halidom Game Rules

Halidoms are a form of item that come without instructions. The GM can replace 25% of all treasure given out with Halidoms, though they are most common as Moderate and Major items.

The good news for layers is that if you find a Halidom, getting it to work gets you a scaling item. A halidom upgrades itself as you gain levels (normally once every 5 levels, based on when a version of roughly the same item is available with a higher item level). The base news is, you may blow yourself up trying to figure out how to use it.

Halidom Key Skills

Every Halidom has a key skill that is the primary way it was designed to be interfaced with. In 70% of cases this is Computers, Engineering, Life Science, Mysticism, or Physical Science. In 20% of cases, it’s Culture, Diplomacy, Medicine, or Sleight of Hand. And in 10% of cases, it can be literally any other skill. That said, take it easy on Halidoms with Profession as their key skill–there are a lot of different Profession options, and no group can possibly cover them all. On the other hand, a quantum knife that keys of Profession (cook) is both reasonable and, if we are being honest with ourselves, funny. (I like the idea of “Soup’s On!” as a battle cry…)

A GM may pick the skill to match either the form of function of the Halidom, if desired. For example, a laser pistol that takes the form of a small remote control steering wheel (which is used to guide a targeting dot like a flying remote, with a gear shift to fire the weapon) might have Engineering (for the laser weapon aspect), Physical Science (for the general laws dictating how such a device works ), or Piloting (for the actual interaction with the device’s steering mechanism).

On the other hand, it might interact with Culture (to recognize the Unburned World toy name brand and marketing), Acrobatics (because you have to twist and turn the device to make its various functions work), or Bluff (because it constantly asks if you have parental approval to use it without the safety systems engaged).

A GM can also just roll on the table below to determine a Halidom’s Key Skill.

Roll 1d100 

01-14 Computers

15-28 Engineering

29-42 Life Science

43-56 Mysticism

57-70 Physical Science

71-75 Culture

76-80 Diplomacy

81-85 Medicine

85-90 Sleight of Hand

91 Acrobatics

92 Athletics

93 Bluff

94 Disguise

95 Intimidate

96 Perception

97 Piloting

98 Profession (Pick one at random)

99 Sense Motive

100 Survival

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Discovery Checks

A Halidom does not come with instructions, and it doesn’t work in a way that is obvious to adventurers of the GammaFinder World. Even if it looks like a gun, acts like a gun, and has a trigger, a Halidom gun may require you to think a mantra in praise to the Saint of Bullets before you pull the trigger, or might have a palmlock that requires you to fake only having 3 fingers, or might only work when held sideways.

And, of course, it might exactly like the serum of healing that requires you to place the gunlike object against your own thigh and pull the trigger.

There were reasons for all these odd things to exist, and they made sense to the society of the Unburned World. But those reasons were based on philosophies and conditions that are in many cases inconceivable to heroes of the world as it exists now, and the factors that caused such unusual designs are long-lost to the Chasm of History.

When a character first encounters a Halidom, they can make skill checks to try to determine its Key Skill. The base DC for any such check is 15 + 1.5x the Halidom’s item level. Any skill that is NOT a Halidom’s key skill has a -5 penalty to all checks regarding the Halidom.

Until a Key Skill is identified, all characters can do it pick a skill, and use it to interact with the Halidom. This can be done once an hour, unless a side effect deactivates the Halidom for a time. You cannot intentionally activate a Halidom until you make enough Identification results to gain that knowledge.

Halidom Interaction Skill Checks

Beat DC by 10. Make a Identification roll.

Beat DC by 5. Identify that if skill being is Key Skill. DC lowered by 1.

Meet DC. Identify if skill being used is Key Skill.

Fail DC by 4 or less. Minor side-effect.

Fail DC by 5 to 9. Minor side-effect. All DCs increase by 1 until Key Skill is identified.

Fail DC by 10 or More: Major side-effect.

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Identification Rolls

Roll 1d4. If you get a result you already know, you get the first result of a higher value you haven’t gotten yet.

1. Learn Item Level

2. Learn Item Function (Small Arm, Upgrade, Computer, and so on)

3. Learn Key Skill’s ability score

4. Learn Key Skill. +1 to all future rolls (cumulative with getting this result multiple times)

5. Learn a hapahazard activation. (Can activate Halidom, but suffer a minor effect when doing so unless you succeed at a Fortitude or Reflex save, DC 10 + Halidom’s item level). +1 to all future rolls (cumulative with getting this result multiple times)

6. Halidom mastered, can be used normally.

Minor Side Effects

Roll 1d6.

1. Item changes Key Skill. Any activation is haphazard (as 5, above) until Key Skill is identified.

2. Take damage of a random physical type, 1 point per item level.

3. Take damage of a random energy type, 2 points per item level.

4. Weird discharge. You are sickened for 1 hour per item level.

5. Weird discharge. You are confused for 1 round per 2 item levels.

6. Discharge. You are targeted by the item for its normal function (if it cannot affect targets, nothing happens).

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Major Side Effects

Major side effects function as a , but the area is a radius with a number of feet equal to the Halidom’s item level, rounded down to the nearest 5 feet. If that is less than 5, it only effect’s the triggering character.

A Request

I now depend on my Patreon for more of my income and support than I ever expected to. If you find any value in my blog posts or videos, I could use help with the Patreon. If you can spare a few bucks a month, it’s a huge help. If not, even just sharing and linking to my blogs, videos, and the Patreon itself is a huge help that just takes a moment of your time.

Thanks, everyone.