What The?

I don't know what this is. Found it on Wikimedia Commons. I do know that it is the work of Gnot Guedin, so don't steal it. Just enjoy it.

Click to make larger - you need to see if full size to appreciate the work.

More from Sector C6

Image from wikipedia

Hermits in the Hills: These hills have long been attractive to a breed of strange, religious hermits from the south. The caves are dry and cool, and the landscape abounds in easily accessed edibles, especially a button-sized mushroom that helps the hermits slip into their trances. The soft-shelled southerners have built quite a pilgrimage business around these hermits, with well-traveled trails leading down from the hills to large wooden roadhouses with grand courtyards, stables, etc. These are linked to the southern market towns via brick roadways that are beginning to show their age. Spacers are generally unwelcome at the roadhouses and in the Hermitage Hills, as they are considered a pox on the local culture and a threat to the ruling elite of the market towns. The loudest opposition comes from the few spacers that live among these people and have "gone native" - though not so native as to not use a blaster to fry unwelcome intruders.

Mining Operation: A small band of prospectors has set up an illegal mining operation here, using heavy industrial disintegrators to plow up large swathes of the landscape to get to the veins of valuable ores (triskellium, lopadite and pseudo-silver deposits) below. The last batch of rains washed down from the hills and destroyed a portion of the camp and caused a flood in the lowlands. The sodden landscape is now crawling with bee-spiders, whose stings carry a rotting disease that has claimed many of the miners.

Landing Strip: The survey scouts have cleared this area to build a landing strip. The strip is too small for large, interplanetary craft, but is perfect for the light atmosphere freighters that deliver supplies from the Port Gernsback. A small caretaker's shack has been constructed from corrugated plaz-board and tin packing sheaths, and is lived in by Urgo Ezbik, an odd man who survived a zombie war but lost his left arm (he thinks it is still out there looking for him) and a small piece of his sanity. Still, he's a wiz with aircraft repairs. He has stocks of ammunition and food hidden throughout the area.

Olvugai Scout Survey: A team of olvugai are scouting this area in pogos on behalf of the Andromeda Confederation. They are mercenary scientists, but not particularly violent. One has been infected by alien bacteria (an oddity for olvugai) and they are at a loss to solve the problem, as their small supply of medicinal powders and tonics has proven ineffective.

Ancient City: The remains of an ancient city of the three-toed people sits here, choked by jungle and as-yet unexplored by spacers. The ruins hide large reservoirs of fresh water (much of it heavy), a large idol of golden-radium, subterranean laboratories, armories, treasure vaults and summoning chambers, and other wondrous things. Those who enter must beware the fungal growths that look like unicorn horns that will inevitably spring up on their unprotected skulls. The images of the three-toed people all show similar horns on their heads. They are, in fact, a form of fungal parasite/symbiote that did most of that species' heavy thinking and planning. They survive as an airborne fungus that clings to and then grows on sentient beings. There is a 1 in 6 chance per person they grow on that they will make meaningful contact and begin conquering their mind. Otherwise, they scramble a person's synapses and leave them a shuddering, incoherent mass on the forest floor.

Three bull zartodons have taken up residence here, sending out arcs of photovoltaic energy to attract females.

Planet Building ... Silver Age DC-Style

Via HEROPRESS, a nifty map of Silver Age DC Krypton. Helluva place to adventure, wouldn't you say?

Who else would like to run a Krypton Science Police campaign on this map?

Some More K22B Previews from Luke DeGraw

Note: These Doctor Who fish-people are not necessarily related to those in Hex 160.59

Well, stocking old K22B has been a little slow - I finally have some ideas generated for my own chunk of the planet, though several other projects are holding me up on completing them. In the meantime, enjoy some more previews from Luke DeGraw and Sector B8 ...

Hex 67.18
Many animal trails lead to this hex from all directions, merging as they become progressively closer to an epicenter. Animals of all kinds make their way to the center of the hex, where all the trails merge. Once there, they stand without moving for several hours before moving away. Sometimes, a multitude of animals will be present, ranging from snakes, spiders, and other small vermin to desert deer and large predators. They will push together, attempting to be as close to the center as possible. No animal attacks another. Animals in the center of a group will leave by pushing their way past the others and another animal will take it's place.

Should an animal be attacked by a player character, all animals currently caught in the trance will quickly turn their head (or their body, if they have no independant head) and gaze at the offender. Their eyes will immediately emit a glowing red light. The red light acts as an Intimidation effect against all who can see the light equal to the median HD/level of all animals present plus three, and it has a 100 ft. range. Should the offender cease attacking (by their own volition or intimidation), the animals will continue gazing for 2d6 seconds before the light dies out and they turn back to the epicenter. Should the offender continue attacking, all animals present will attack. If the offender moves 100 ft. from the epicenter, the animals will cease attacking and move back to the epicenter. However, if the offender moves back within 100 ft., the animals will immediately attack again.

Should the players dig ten feet down at the epicenter, they will find a disc mesuring two feet in diameter and three inches thick made of metal. It will have a red light in the center of one side. If pressed, the red light will turn off; another press will turn it back on. When on, it attracts animals from all over the sector, at an effective rate of 1d20 per day. If the device is turned off when an animal is present, it will immediately begin acting like a normal animal, i.e. run away, attack, etc. Predator animals are likely to attack other animals, if present, before attacking the player characters.


Hex 160.59
A peaceful village rests here on the shore of a mountain lake. It is populated with a race of fish-scaled humanoids who live both on land an in the water. They speak of a time when they had access to a water-without-end, but now they cannot leave the lake because they cannot survive the surrounding desert. The village is a trading post of sorts, though travelers are infrequent. There are commodities to be bartered for here, most importantly metal workers who shape metal using high-pressure water techniques. All metal items produced here are extra durable (double applicable durability), and bladed weapons are extra sharp (+1 damage).

The local people will tell of a water-stop at the bottom of the lake. If the players can find a way to get to the bottom of the lake, they will find a spring that has been gummed up with the barnacles of some kind of creatures. Straying too close, crab-like creatures will spill forth and attack the group. These crabs are about the size of a dinner plate and have razor-sharp pincers. Strength in numbers is their advantage, so individually they will not be difficult to kill. Once the crab threat is removed (by destruction, or other means), the barnacles can be broken away, releasing a full torrent of spring water. This will cause the lake to fill far more than it's current level and over the course of a few weeks it will spill over to create a new river. This river will flow south into Sector B9 and into the sea there. Randomly determine the direction the river takes in each new hex it enters, though it will always bear southerly. The fish-people will reward the players for their gracious feat.


Hex 12.65
A statue-fountain of a humanoid woman is at the top of this mountain. The fountain is in the shape of a woman kneeling before a basin. The water from the fountain trickles from the woman's eyes and into the basin. The stream of water does not break when falling off the woman's chin, creating a silent flow. Should the players drink from the fountain, they will feel greatly refreshed and focused, removing fatigue and giving them +1 to skill checks for four hours. The water can be bottled, and there is enough water in the basin to fill three normal sized water skins or flasks. The water in the basin refills in one hour. When bottled, the water will retain is unique properties for fourteen days.

The statue-fountain is actually a rendition of a mother-goddess who eternally weeps in joy and sadness for her children. If a player prays to or meditates on the goddess for one hour before the statue and then sleeps at its base during the night, the player will be visited by a dream of the goddess. In the dream, the goddess will reveal the presence of an ancient evil inside the bowels of the arcology to the east. Should the player be willing, the goddess will task him or her with destroying the evil and pledge her assistance. When the player wakes, a 1-inch cube will be in the player's pocket. When confronting the alien at the bottom of the arcology, the cube will strongly vibrate and emit a sound like a continuous bell chime. If presented before the alien, the runes will glow bright blue and the alien will be incapacitated and weakened for five rounds. During that time, the alien will not be able to move, attack, or defend, and all player attacks will automatically hit.

A World Where Dino's Evolved from Man?

Well, no. Not at all really, but you do need a snappy headline in this blog game.

Some scientists are throwing around the notion that intelligent life on other planets could be of the dinosaur persuasion. They don't really have any evidence, of course, but I think we can all agree that the rigors of scientific accuracy went out the window long ago for some members of the community (i.e. we need a freakin' grant - think of something cool).

Still, it's worth thinking about in terms of writing a sci-fi setting (which this blog is supposedly about). Humans, of course, have the brains, but we also have the thumbs, and that's pretty important if you're going to fashion lasers and rocket ships. On a planet of intelligent dinos, what if none of the dinos with intellect also got the digits to put it to especially good use. They can think and philosophize, but they don't have the tools to dig deeper into the mysteries of the cosmos. Meanwhile, some other branch of the family got the thumbs, but not the sense to use them. So, when planning your sector of Keppler-22B, please give some consideration to super-genius saurpods or just good old fashioned intelligent raptors, won't you.

GIF found at HATE:WRECK:PERIL, along with these dandies ...

These are the Transhumanistas, a biker gang of cybernetic women who roams my sector of K22B

This is the greatest movie ever made (yes, better than Citizen Kane)

These are the silver faced androids of Crux-12, preaching their gospel in my sector of K22B

Alien Inspiration from Ed Cartier

From one of the great sci-fi illustrators, Ed Cartier's illustrations for Travelers of Space (1951) from Gnome Press. Found at the equally great blog Monster Brains!

Random Alien Plant Generator

Image copyright Paizo Publishing

For those looking to populate their regions with some alien flora, grab some dice and see what you get ...

STEP ONE: Determine Type (d6)

1-4 Plant
5-6 Fungus

50% chance the plant is aquatic

STEP TWO: Determine Size (d8)

1 Fine (no more than 6” tall)
2 Tiny (around 1’ tall)
3 Small (around 3’ tall)
4 Medium (around 6’ tall)
5 Large (around 15’ tall or wide)
6 Huge (around 30’ tall or wide)
7 Colossal (around 60’ tall or wide)
8 Gargantuan (around 120’ tall or wide)

STEP THREE: Determine Form (d10)

1 Clump – grown in a clump, like many grasses
2 Stick – stem with very little branching, usually topped by a flower or a clump of foliage
3 Vines – takes the form of vines or runners
4 Carpet – grows close to the ground like a ground cover
5 Branches – droopy or “weeping” – point downward
6 Branches – upraised, make a sort of v-shape
7 Branches – form a spherical structure around the trunk
8 Bulbous – either grows directly from the ground, stands atop a root structure or floats in the water or air
9 Web-like
10 Subterranean – like a tubor or fungus

STEP FOUR: Foliage (d10)

1 No discernible foliage
2 Leaves (roll 1d3: 1 = Small, 2 = Medium, 3 = Large; roll 1d4: 1 = Elliptical, 2 = Circular, 3 = Multi-pointed or sided; 4 = Rectangular)
3 Needles (roll 1d2: 1 = Soft and flexible, 2 = Rigid and sharp)
4 Fronds – like those of a palm tree
5 Fronds – like those of a fern
6 Ribbon-like
7 Moss-like – carpets the plant
8 Tongue-like (retractable)
9 Spine-like
10 Crystalline

STEP FIVE: Flowers (d4)

1 Large and showy
2 Tiny and plain
3 Flower spikes
4 No flowers

STEP SIX: Fruit (d4)
Note: Plants without flowers have no fruit; all fungus has a chance of being edible

1 No fruit
2 Large (head-sized) fruit; 25% chance of growing in clumps
3 Medium (fist-sized) fruit; 50% chance of growing in clumps
4 Small (berry-sized) fruit; 75% chance of growing in clumps

Roll 1d6: 1-2 = Fruit, 3-5 = Nut or Legume; 6 = Seed Pod)

Roll 1d6: 1 = Edible and nutritious; 2-5 = Edible but worthless or inedible; 6 = Toxic

COLORS (d20)
Colors of any part of the plant can be rolled here

1 Blue
2 Red
3 Purple
4 Orange
5-10 Green
11-15 Brown
16 White
17 Grey
18 Black
19 Metallic – silvery
20 Metallic – golden or coppery

ODORS (d10)
Odor of any part of the plant can be rolled here

1 Musky
2 Putrid
3 Pungent
4 Camphoraceous
5 Ethereal (like ether)
6 Floral
7 Pepperminty
8 Buttery
9 Metallic
10 Spicy

TASTES (d6)
Taste of fruit (or other parts of the plant) can be rolled here

1 Sweet
2 Sour
3 Tart
4 Savory, spicy
5 Tasteless
6 Foul or sickening

TEXTURES (d10)
Texture of bark, skin or foliage can be rolled here

1 Leathery
2 Furry
3 Smooth
4 Soft, downy
5 Prickly, spiny
6 Slimy
7 Moist (maybe acidic or poisonous)
8 Ribbed
9 Irregular
10 Cracked

INTENSITY (d6)
When working with color, taste or smells, you can randomly determine the intensity of the sensation

1-3 Light, mild, slight
4-5 Medium
6 Dark, strong, intense

ANYTHING ODD? (d10)
Assume a 1 in 1000 chance of something “odd” about the plant

1 Slight mobility (like a Venus flytrap)
2 Complete mobility (can actually walk or crawl or slither about)
3 Crude intelligence (about animal- or insect-level)
4 High intelligence (as intelligent as human beings or more so)
5 Emits beams or cascades or auroras of light
6 Weird secretions (may be poisonous or otherwise)
7 Vibrates and hums
8 Communicates with animals via pheromones – can alter moods
9 Non-traditional feeding (carnivorous, eats sound waves or radiation or heat)
10 Non-organic based life (metal, natural plastic, crystal)

SAMPLE PLANTS

Specimen I: A large plant - a tree essentially - with drooping branches covered with brown, crystalline foliage. The trunk is a vivid green color and slick to the touch, and the tree produces large, leathery seed pods that have a sour taste and smell, but are non-nutritious. The foliage gives off a camphoraceous odor.

Specimen II: A colossal fungus that grows like a carpet over the plains. The fungus is composed of thousands of little brown protrusions that stick up from the ground and all connect to the main body of the fungus below ground. Each of these knobs is covered with green, mossy foliage. The fungus has a buttery smell and a sour taste, and is quite toxic to human and human-like life forms.

Specimen III: A huge aquatic plant that grows in lakes. It takes the form of a floating bulb with long, dangling roots. The bulb is white and covered with fibrous strands that look like fur. These strands hide its foliage, long, curly, coppery-colored tendrils that it sticks out during the daytime and retracts at night. The plant smells of ether and no part of it is edible.

Alien Planet

I would assume most of the folks who read this blog have already seen this documentary ... but just in case, those writing an alien hex crawl might find some value here.

Inspiration: Fantastic Adventures

Another batch of inspirational titles and images, this time from Fantastic Adventures!

Enjoy!

Revolt of the Robots
The Invisible Robinhood
Invaders from Sirius
City Under the Sea
Horror Out of Carthage
The Man from Hell
The Purple Conspiracy
The Robot Peril
Death Over Chicago
The Prince of Mars Returns
Termanites Invade New York!
The Little People
Jalu of the Radiant Valley
The Blue Tropics
Norris Tapley’s Sixth Sense
The Whispering Gorilla
Lancelot Biggs: Master Navigator
Jongor of Lost Land
Paganini – Man or Devil?

And deserving of a better view, their impressions of aliens from our own Solar System.

In my mind, these are the species of the Solar Confederation, a fractious alliance of the peoples of the Sol System joined together in exploring the galaxy.

Remember, these titles and images may still be under copyright, so be inspired, but don’t take what isn’t yours!

--

Compiled via Golden Age Comic Book Stories