Jean Wells, R.I.P.

Jean Wells passed away last week.  Thoul's Paradise expresses its condolences to her friends and loved ones.

Humanoids

Check it out, 7 fingers on each hand and 7 toes on each foot

So, you've received the Metamorphosis Alpha reprint that you ordered from Lulu and you're all proud because you think that you've reached the pinnacle of Metamorphosis Alpha geekhood. Please. It's a good start, but nothing says Pure Strain Geek like a Metamorphosis Alpha T-shirt. With one of these, you will have guaranteed geek cred, like you could get a loan from the geek bank without a co-signer.

Your humble host has finally read Jim Ward's short story “Footsteps in the Sky,” originally published in Dragon #19 (October 1978) but available at metamorphosisalpha.net for registered users. Essentially, it's a 'coming of age' story, but aboard the starship Warden and with mutants and robots. It contains some information relevant to today's post. It also contains information that definitively confirms one assumption and corrects another assumption I made in a prior post.

On page 18 are listed 'Mutated Human Types,' specifically five breeds of humanoid numbered one through five. Why numbers and not descriptive names? On the Metamorphosis Alpha boards, Ward states...

When I put numbers to them, I was hoping that others would make their own versions and then players could play in the different campaigns and be amazed at how different humanoid 1 was from game to game.

However, in issue number 5 of The Dragon (March 1977), Ward states in his article, “Some Ideas Missed In Metamorphosis Alpha,” that...

The number three humanoids, knowing all about poison, naturally have antidotes that are obtainable for things that these small humanoids could normally never get hold of.

This seems to suggest that number three humanoids should appear in Metamorphosis Alpha campaigns just as they are described in the rulebook. Regardless, I can understand why the humanoids do not possess descriptive names. How would each of these races of humanoids refer to themselves? I would think that each race would refer to itself as 'human beings' or 'people.' Since there is a single, common language used on the Warden, the same term would apply to all of them. How others refer to a given race will vary depending on perspective. In “Footsteps in the Sky,” number four humanoids are referred to as “the furred ones” (as distinct from furries). Assuming that the number four humanoids have a language, they would distinguish the other humanoid races primarily by their less than hirsute appearance.

Number one humanoids are short, stocky and typically inhabit hills or mountains. One is tempted to call them 'Dwarves,' but the similarity to the standard fantasy race ends there. They are “only semi-intelligent” but nonetheless possess the intellectual capacity to use bows and blowguns. Player characters should hope those are the only weapons they use. Due to their “triple-ply muscles,” they have a “strength factor of 24.” This means they inflict an additional ten points of damage when they hit with striking weapons. They also seem to possess the equivalent of the 'heat generation' physical mutation.

While they look normal (or even sickly) number two humanoids have a 'mental factor' of 18. When available, they prefer to wear cured pegasus hide.* They have a formidable array of mental mutations of Teleportation, Force Field Generation, Repulsion Field, and Telepathy. As a drawback, they have “a fear impulse for any intelligent plant.” I think I would probably get freaked out by intelligent plants too.

Number three humanoids are only one foot tall; however they seem to be very resilient. Aside from having a mental resistance of 17, an Armor Class of 2, and eight hit dice, they are resistant to: “poison, radiation, paralyzation, illusions, gases, chemical acids, and lasers.” Given their size, they tend not to use “technological devices.” However, curiously, they “have a very extensive knowledge of the antidotes for all mutated dangers.” Given their broad resistances, why would they need antidotes? Perhaps they have broad resistances because of their antidotes. Oh yeah, number three humanoids also have precognition.

Number four humanoids, “the furred ones,” are atavistic. They no longer walk erect and have paw like hands (including claws with poison sacs). They are – as their name suggests – furred. Their fur makes this type of humanoid “resistant to contact poisons and paralyzation attacks” and, seemingly, grants them an Armor Class of 5. Oh yeah, number four humanoids also have precognition.

The number five humanoids are the most common type. It's easy to understand why; they have “a skin that reflects all types of energy,” nine hit dice, a mental resistance score of at least 15, and they are “fully intelligent,” enabling them to effectively utilize “both mutated and technological materials.” They are easily recognizable due to their four arms.

*  According to page 16, “...[T]he creature [has] an unusually tough skin that is extremely difficult to pierce.” One supposes that this property is retained, at least in part, when the hide is cured. The pegasus has an Armor Class of 3, which is equivalent to 'thin metal armor or full carapace.' Number two humanoids have an Armor Class of 5, which is equivalent to 'cured hide or plant fiber armor.' I guess this is because of the pegasus hide rather than a default Armor Class without it. If so, the 'pegasus nature' of the hide does not seem to confer benefits in excess of 'normal' hide unless it is lighter than mormal (as suggested by the statement, “The race usually wears light body armor in the form of cured pegasus hide...”).

 

On Atlantasia You Will NEVER Find a Silk Cap!

When we last left our nascent Atlantasian character, Johann Nederland – Spy Mage, we were attempting to determine if he had sufficient fiscal resources to afford a quarter-staff (price = 400 gold chips). (A wooden spear only costs 200 gold chips; maybe Johann could buy a spear and remove the spearhead.) Johann has two platinum chips. How many gold chips are they worth? John Holland, the author of The Realms of Atlantasia, doesn't provide any details regarding the rates of exchange among the various types of “chips.” That's OK, Johann will save the platinum chips for a rainy day. After cashing in the jewels, he has 900 gold chips to spend.

I really want him to have a quarter-staff so I have him buy one. This leaves five hundred gold chips. Johann is going to look somewhat conspicuous with 'saddlebags of charity' but no horse. Well, the cheapest mount is a pony at 750 G.C., so the Spy Mage will just have to look conspicuous. Perhaps it's just as well, in Atlantasia ponies have to eat or they'll die. (I don't think Johann could afford the food.)  Fortunately, Johann has a 'blanket of translocation' so his transportation needs are covered. Also, with the 'saddlebags of charity' he doesn't have to pay for room and board.

There is no indication in the rules that mages cannot wear armor; in fact, page 67 suggests that they can wear armor. Leather shin guards, bracers, chest protector, and helm have a combined cost of 350 gold chips. Johann has 150 gold chips left.

On page 37, there is a clothing chart; rows represent articles of clothing and columns represent material. So, if you wanted a cotton tunic, you would check the “cotton” column of the “tunic” row to find the price (9 silver chips). Unfortunately, Johann does not have any silver chips and no way to convert platinum or gold chips to silver chips. I guess he will just have to shell out for high-end clothes. Costs are not listed for silken hats; evidently, such things are not possible in realistic Atlantasia. A silk cloak, tunic, breeches, and stockings have a combined cost of 49 gold chips. Before spending the remaining 101 gold chips, let's see what else needs to be done with Johann.

Remember, Johann has a Ring of Reward (+ 1-2 psychic strength) and a Ring of the Gods (+ 1-2 all attributes). I have determined randomly +1 or +2 for each attribute (+ 2-4 for psychic strength). Johann's current attributes are:

Strength 6 (constitution 4)

Intelligence 12 (mental quickness 6)

Wisdom 9 (mental retention 12)

Dexterity 10 (agility 7)

Charisma 6 (magnetism 5)

Psychic Strength 15 (psychic defense 11)

This entitles Johann to: +1 damage bonus, +4 languages, +25% to diplomatic rolls, +3 to spell rolls, +25% to reaction rolls, +10% to pickpocket rolls, +20% to charm rolls, x5 spell damage, +25% to spell save rolls.

Johann has a magic resistance of 32% with regard to his school of magic (which we haven't chosen yet). His mental resistance is also 32%.

Remember when we calculated Johann's weapon proficiency at 25%? I hope you didn't think that was his 'to hit' number. Weapon proficiencies merely modify the 'to hit' number. Everybody's 'to hit' number starts at 10%. Because Johann's weapon proficiency is only 25%, his 'to hit' number is reduced to 5%. (If Johann had a 100% weapon proficiency, his 'to hit' number would be 20%). Because of his strength and dexterity, Johann's 'to hit' number is increased to 25%. Well, what do you know? It matches his weapon proficiency score after all!

Johann's base defense is 20%.

'Magic Source Points' are determined by rolling 3d6 and applying modifiers. Due to his high psychic strength, Johann has 20 magic source points.

Thanks to a high mental retention score, Johann can memorize a total of eight spells for any given cycle (1d4 + modifiers).

With regard to languages, everyone knows Common and (for non-humans) their racial language. “Cosmic Magi will also know Light Dragon.”* Cosmic Magi? I think we just found Johann's school of magic. Watch out Atlantasia, here comes Johann Nederland – COSMIC Spy Mage!

Well, it looks like I'm going to milk this Atlantasian character 'set-up' for all it's worth.  Next time I'll try to select spells.

* Light Dragon – According to page 165,

These are magnificent beings to behold! They are 150' - 200' long and encased in glowing gold scales. These dragons are beings of light and therefore, in a dragon’s neutral way, are pure compassion. However, that compassion could be turned against you if you interfere with what the dragon is compassionate about.

Can someone please explain to me the logical flow from "beings of light" to "dragon's neutral way" and then to "pure compassion"?  That would be great.

Intelligent (Non-Human Type) Races in Metamophosis Alpha

Before engaging upon today's topic, your humble host would like to inform (or remind) his esteemed audience that the 1976 edition of Metamorphosis Alpha is currently available as a print-on-demand product from Lulu.

Gamma World enthralled me as a young lad for various reasons; more for what it didn't say than for what it did – the unaddressed details. This, of course, spurred my imagination to “fill in” those details (which, I suppose, was the intent of Ward and Jaquet). The most obvious example was the map that came in the boxed set. It had just enough details to be recognizable as a post-apocalyptic United States, but mostly it was a blank canvas onto which we could project a personalized Gamma World. Civilization had collapsed, but there were efforts to rise up once again, including a minimal number of cities. What was society like in those cities? That's what I wanted to know. Of course, there were the cryptic alliances, but there were also races of intelligent beings – the two-headed Orlens, the reptilian Sleeth, the translucent Fens, etc. I thought it was a shame that these couldn't be player character races, but they would likely be unbalancing.

Similarly, there are intelligent races on the starship Warden and with intelligence comes some form of society. No provision is given in the rules for allowing player characters to be members of such races; however, there is no rule expressly forbidding such. Within the “Mutated Animals” section starting on page 17, there are six intelligent races of mutated animals proper, two races of intelligent “flying types,” no intelligent insect races, at least two (and perhaps as many as four) intelligent races of plants.

The following are the intelligent mutated animal races: metaled ones, cougaroids, bearoids, jegets, thief beasts, and wolfoids. Metaled ones have “a high order of intelligence” so I suspect that they have the intellectual capacity for communication and they possess telekinesis which suggests some level of manipulatory ability. Regardless, there is no indication of a society of metaled ones. Cougaroids have “the intelligence of a human” and “manipulative paws.” The illustration page 11 shows a quartet of weapon wielding cougaroids, so they definitely have a society. Per their description, they have “an attraction odor that prevents [them] from congregating in any number.” According to page 14, attraction odor “makes the mutant smell very edible to any meat eating creature.” (emphasis from original) I'm guessing this means that cougaroids will resort to cannibalism. Bearoids have “intelligence” and “manipulative paws.” They have telepathy to facilitate communication as well as several other formidable mental mutations. Jegets are “very intelligent” and have telepathy; they also have “manipulative paws” and telekinesis. Perhaps their size (2 feet) prevents effective tool use or perhaps they have no need for tools. Like their cougaroid cousins, jegets have the attraction odor mutational defect. Wolfoids are “fully intelligent” and have “manipulative paws.” They wear clothes, use swords, and they “have been able to master many of the mutated beasts and use them as guards and protectors.” Thief beasts seek out, study, and use technological devices more than any other mutant animal race on the ship. Like some of the other races described above, thief beasts are “highly intelligent” and have “manipulative paws,” telepathy, and telekinesis (as well as other mutations). Unlike the other intelligent mutant animal races, thief beasts lack any defects and do not seem to have any drawbacks. By all rights, these guys should be the dominant race on the Warden.

There are two intelligent “flying type” races, hawkoids and imitators. Hawkoids are “fully intelligent” and have “appendages...ending in hands” which make them capable of using bows and throwing rocks. Their capacity for communication is not mentioned. Through the vagaries of fate, these birds have the levitation mutation; I guess its useful if they get tired of flapping their wings. The description for the imitator says “it is fully intelligent but does not have the manipulative appendages to take advantage of it.” However, once a month, the imitator is able to “completely shapechange into any creature within 25 feet of it” which makes the imitator “resistant to the powers of that creature.” The shapechange lasts as long as desired, so I don't see the problem. Shapechange into something with manipulatory appendages and stay that way. In the “Example of Ship's Level 11” on page 26, there is an imitator that will assume the form of a party member and attempt to covertly replace that person, doppelganger-like. It uses a blowgun, so I assume that, before changing into the form of a party member, it maintained a form that could use (or at least carry) a blowgun.

There are two plant races that are obviously intelligent, singing vines and sword bushes. Also, there are two plant races that are arguably intelligent, dark fungus and death growth. The singing vine is a “fully intelligent plant [that] is able to move and converse with any creature, as it is telepathic.” It has “an unusually large amount of knowledge” as well as “the best set of manipulatory vines.” Somehow, “it is able to use sonics to cancel all violent action on the part of any possible [intelligent] enemy.” The sword bush is mobile,“fully intelligent,” and “has 3 manipulative tentacles.” It uses devices, including color bands. In the “Example of Ship's Level 11” on page 26, specifically keyed encounter M, a sword bush responds to every command of the “lone human female.” This strongly suggests a capability for communication. Although the dark fungus has an “intelligent state” (a concentration of at least ten pounds) with telepathy, “its only concern is increasing its mass” so a sophisticated conversation seems to be out of the question. The death growth “forms a symbiotic attachment to any warm blooded creature.” Presumably it is intelligent because it can “command” the host creature.

In the course of preparing this post, I came across a reference to “artificial sun” (not necessarily an artificial sun). Accordingly, I have updated my prior post that discusses sunlight in Metamorphosis Alpha.

Oh, by the way, where's Dave?