Secret Santicore: Zombie Apocalypse(s)

David Williams sets this task for his  Secret Santicore: "A kickoff for a zombie apocalypse campaign that does begin with: 'That guy over there doesn't look well'; 'There's a checmical spill. Those guys in the hazmat suits seem a bit worried'; or 'Nanomachines are really neat, aren't they?'"  

Tina Rowand is up to the challenge:

One for a fantasy campaign:
When Monsieur Delacouer declared he had written his masterpiece, His Majesty Himself came to the mad musician to partake of the promised exquisiteness. He came forth declaring that M. Delacouer had written a piece of such beauty the angels themselves would descend from Heaven and the dead would wake just to hear it.

His Majesty was more correct than he knew, and far more correct than any of us would have wished.

Now, we hear them singing outside the walls. They pierce their windpipes to imitate the mighty organ in the Church that awoke them from their eternal sleep, and they sing to us. Deep within the palace, the Song is not so loud; His Majesty sleeps soundly, haunted only by his first hearing of M. Delacouer’s lifework. But here on the walls, the music pulses in our brains.

The temptation to join the dead below is growing, to fling myself into their embrace and emerge with my heart stilled, my throat gaping, my whole being vibrating with my own part of the Song. It’s missing, I know it is. And the Song wants to be complete.

And one for a modern campaign:
Thirty seconds.  That’s how long the Berkley Boys said the gamma ray burst lasted.

Thirty seconds to nuke half the globe.  Thirty seconds to fry the ozone layer to nothin’, thirty seconds to start big ol’ brawl in the atmosphere that pitted global warmin’ and cosmic winter against each other.  They came out about even – about the only break we got.  It’s warm, and it’s grey-brown, and it’s like that all the time.

Those first couple years, couldn’t nobody go outside without enough lead to poison a legion of Romans, and even then we lost a lot of folks to cancer.  Those of us who survived went underground, far as we could go, and only went out to scrounge food.  We shoulda been smart, shoulda brought more plants down with us before they mostly died.  We ate a lot of mushrooms, and the canned stuff we could find.  Those first couple years were hell.

Then the Berkley Boys showed up.  They rolled up outta the wastes, no protective gear, skin all smooth and unblemished and not even fuckin’ tanned from all the UV, and said they had some shots for us.  Shots that’d let us walk the surface again.  They said they’d pulled stuff outta some bacteria [ Deinococcus radiodurans] that’d let us take the radiation, take the UV, and not sweat a bit.  Oh, and they cured cancer.  Took the world endin’, but they cured fuckin’ cancer.

Lotta folks said no, they were just crazies sent to poison us and steal our supplies, bring ‘em back before they died.  But I said yeah.  I took the shot.  And then the others did too.  And the Berkley Boys, they talked about usin’ this bacteria stuff on plants and animals, maybe let us rebuild.  We saw hope for the first time in a long time.

The zombies showed up not long after.  Rovin’ in packs from the places that got the full blast, took ‘em a while to walk here.  And we could look at ‘em and see that they’d gotten some of the settlements up the way.  We found out not too long after that the shots didn’t stop whatever was makin’ the zombies walk, and gettin’ bit by one made you real sick, then made you one of ‘em.  So we went from worryin’ about the Big C to worryin’ about the Big Z.

Least the Big Z you can fix with a shotgun.

Secret Santicore: Legendary Monsters

Warlord Wednesday will return next week. Today enjoy this special presentation...

Ian Burns asks Secret Santicore for: "A table of legendary monsters unwritten by the ancients."  

Here's what Annah Madriñan cataloged:

1  Gwydion the Great Horse - Normally appearing as a riderless red warhorse, when transformed the Great Horse becomes a terrifying beast with withers the height of a spear length.

2  Miniature Centaur - Whereas centaurs are traditionally known as fierce-some and mighty creatures, this dwarven specimen had been rejected by his kind. Embittered, he plagues the local community with tricks and stolen items.

3  Weeping Woman - The guardian of all mothers of lost children, she manifests as a heart-wrenching sound of longing of no direction or origin.

4  Dishonored Hero - Born into a lineage of betrayal, greed, and murder, he never had a chance to redeem his name. He wandered the land seeking out good deeds to perform in attempt to make a new name for himself. No wrong, regardless of how small, will go unpunished.

5  Insatiable Wench - Manifesting as a beautiful women with violet eyes and voracious appetite. If her lovers cannot satisfy her all consuming lust, they are then consumed themselves via the fanged maw her belly turns into.

6  Mask of Temperament - Long hidden safe from the world, legend tells of the sentient mask that gives the wearer power over languages and manipulation. If treated unjustly, it takes over the wearer who then becomes overcome by one all encompassing emotion.

7  Half-Demon Goddess - An abomination of birth she walks the earth exiled from both realms. Which half will she show when met?

8  Mirror Mimic - Which reflection is real and which is deadly? She sometimes gives herself away by her frequent inability to hide a smile.

9  Succulent de Fleur - Found in deserts, this flower supposedly wastes precious water to blow bubbles above it's petals. But when touched, these bubbles instantly liquifies anything organic which then rains down upon the plant.

10  Abarimon - Despite a pair of backwards feet, this completely hairless humanoid is capable of traveling at incredible and terrifying speeds.

11  Maiden of Moonbeams and Snow- Denied her beau she was thrown out into the night to die. Her soulful lament was heard by the gods, who in turn granted her the power to punish those who forsook lovers.

12  Rulevine - A bipedal reptile with 3 foot long tusks and a love of old cadavers

Have a Yule That's Cool!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours! Here's a pin-up and a song from  Satchmo to keep you in the spirit.

Secret Santicore: The Instruments of Tintinabula

Duncan Young requests of his Secret Santicore: "some new ideas for ways of using music in the game: spells that use music, traps that use music or are integrated into music, objects that react to music, or even musical races--surprise me! 

And  Ash Haji does: 

THE INSTRUMENTS OF TINTINABULA

Secret Santicore: Carcosan Nazi Rocketmen Must Die!

Connor Uber asks his Secret Santicore for: "A Carcosa adventure that includes at least 1 new monster and some nonstandard treasure and magic items." 

Paolo Greco says he hates writing adventures, then goes all gonzo. 

May I present:

CARCOSAN CHRONICLES: ULFIRESTEIN & THE NAZI ROCKET TROOPERS

Premise: Nazis are not necessary for this adventure. You can replace them with any other imperialist country hellbent on invasion and plunder and no respect whatsoever for natives like the British Empire, Imperial France or Japan, the Kingdom of Italy or the United States of America. If you want to keep the cool-sounding fake German names, pick Prussia. Or Switzerland.

I’m of the opinion that what happens in the typical Carcosa game or metaplot (snake-men performing eugenics and selective breeding on apes to have colour-coded victims to rape and sacrifice) is not worse than what the SS were up to in Europe.... (follow the title link for the entire adventure!)

Secret Santicore: Black Hole Metal Axe

An anonymous gamer queries Secret Santicore for: A piece of art to advertise an Encounter Critical campaign with. Please include 'Titanius Anglesmith', a dwarf, and a Black Hole Metal Axe." 

Paul Schaefer unites dwarf and axe:

Secret Santicore: The Ocelot!

Emily Vitori requests of her Secret Santicore: "I would like a Spelljammer ship design based upon felines." Shoe the Pixie delivers that and more:

THE OCELOT

• AC 4
• 40 Tonnes
• Saves as Thin Wood
• Maneuverability Class B
• Crew 5-14

The Ocelot is a scavenging ship! It is used to hover over various sites and pick over the place for useful parts, and salvage those things. It can also be used as a Search & Rescue ship, if need be. It is a closed ship, with many useful additions for the clever scavenger or pirate. 

There are three decks.

The top deck is a room for small salvage, lined with dozens of shelves, some holding drawers or other containers. 

Big things go on the lower deck!  This is  just a huge wide area for storing shipping containers, vehicles, scrap metal, and other large salvage. It has reversed gravity, so things can be stored on the flat 'floor' and be piled high into the huge, round belly of the catship.

The middle deck holds the engine room and other controls toward the back, living quarters in the middle, and connects in front to the head: that is, the cockpit. The cockpit has all the steering and comms equipment, all the controls, and passages to the other parts of the ship. 

The Ears are communication dishes, with all the antennae and sensors inside them.  The Whiskers are long, delicate arms, that feel about and test conditions and take measurements. They can also handle things, and pick up smaller pieces of salvage. The Eyes are huge searchlights, and are very very bright. The bottom floor of the cockpit lowers down, creating the Mouth - a huge, wide hatch for loading big things.  It has rollers and an powered ramp, for helping to get things into the lower cargo hold. 

The living quarters are quite simple: there is a tiny kitchen, and a wide-open lounge area with hooks on the floor for bolting in furniture, if so desired. There are bunks along the sides of the ship that curve along with the walls; these are three layers deep. Under the bunks are little hatches, where the crew can slide into the Feet. 

The Feet are little observation pods!  They are round globes made of very very strong glass-like material, and some can be built with lenses to enlarge the viewing area. It's a good way to get up close and personal, but be protected from the elements as well.  

Finally, the Tail. The Ocelot's tail is a mag-grapple sort of thing, two parts that can be switched.  One is a huge grappling hook, the other is a very powerful magnet.  Either end is for grasping large salvage, and has sophisticated controls so it can swing things right up into the Mouth.  

That's the Ocelot!  I really, really hope you like it.