AllOut Apocalypse Bestiary, Vol. II
I'm struggling to write the next post for my post-apocalyptic/cosmic horror setting, so I'm looking at what I've already got written that I could post. The next installment of my bestiary for my brother Nick Hendriks's post-apocalyptic game, AllOut Apocalypse, will do the trick. He and my niece have already encountered the Apothelyptics and the skunk-thing in the Char pointcrawl game, which is all that I'd want to keep secret from them until play. I've been working at it slowly since the first bestiary, so I've built up a bit of a deposit. In that first installment, I started with mechanics and built ideas around them; in this case, it's mostly the other way around.
Advantage on Arcana's AllOut Apocalypse Bestiary, Vol. II
Apothelyptics
Apothelyptics Marauder
1 hp
Custom mask (immune to smoke, gases, etc.)
Pipe rifle OOO
The Apothelyptics are a raider gang that brews and distributes drugs and chemical weapons. They often dress in scrounged, patched Hallowe'en costumes, including masks which they fit with custom air filters and goggles.
The Apothelyptics are an idea I had for a raider gang for an imaginary Fallout 5 game I was making up for my own amusement. The starting point for the Apothelyptics was "chem-brewers = apothecaries = witches," and then I developed it from there using existing franchise concepts to do with chems on the one hand and Hallowe'en on the other. I figured they could be brought into an AllOut game easily enough. Of course, AllOut players will want to take and use an Apothelyptic raider's mask. I'm not inclined to give the masks usage points when attached to the raiders themselves, but I'd probably make the players roll for usage points when salvaging them. (Maybe the masks require special maintenance that only Apothelyptics know how to perform.)
Apothelyptics Pharma-sister
1 hp
Archery
Custom mask (immune to smoke, gases, etc.)
Smoke grenade (lasts rounds = successes x 2; in affected area, first success does not count for all initiative, ranged attack, or dodge missiles tests) O
Toy chemistry set or mortar & pestle OO
Bow (requires arrow) OOOO
Relaxant Syringe Arrow (no damage; on success, target cannot count more successes than 1 + their Toughness on defend and melee attack tests; test every second turn to end) O
Aggro Syringe Arrow (no damage; on success, target must test to take any action except a melee attack; test after every second turn to end) O
Dizzying Syringe Arrow (no damage; on success, target cannot count more successes than 1 + their Toughness on defend and dodge missiles tests; test after every second turn to end) O
The Apothelyptics are commanded by three chemists who style themselves as witches. This coven shares the formulae for select compounds to chosen women in the gang, promoting them to the rank of "pharma-sister" and training them in the use of syringe-tipped arrows. Any Apothelyptic raiding party will have one or two pharma-sisters with them, searching for herbs, pharmaceuticals, weird chemicals, or weird creatures.
The pharma-sisters are way too complicated for an AllOut game, but I do like them. They do no direct damage but still have two important functions in an Apothelyptics combat encounter: they take a support/control role in the raiding party, and they give the gang its distinctive identity. Open with a grenade and then target gun-toting characters with the aggro syringe, target gunless characters with the relaxant syringe, or target any character with the dizzying syringe. There are never more pharma-sisters than marauders in a raiding party.
Apothelyptics Reaper
1 hp
Custom mask (immune to smoke, gases, etc.)
Combat serum (once after injection, works like Brawn 1 or Toughness 1; expires at end of combat) O
Costume armour OOO
Scythe OOO
Among the Apothelyptics, reapers are entrusted with armour decorated as some monster or another – often the Grim Reaper, but not necessarily. Pharma-sisters try to keep them stocked with combat enhancement drugs.
Because every good raider gang needs a front-line fighter. Unless the Apothelyptics really outmatch their enemies, open with the combat serum and charge into battle to soak up melee attacks. There are never more reapers than pharma-sisters in a raiding party.
Beasts
Dob
3 hp
Swimmer
Pond scum coating OO
Dobs are giant mutant otters, sometimes called "otter kings." They are solitary hunters and will eat any creature they can kill, but vastly prefer to ambush while their prey is in the water.
These are, of course, based on the dobharchu or otter kings. For these I'm playing with basic traits: what tactical interest can you create without any more special mechanics than is implied by those words or short phrases? Here, the idea is that dobs are more formidable on water than on land, making the location of the fight relevant and interesting. I did give the pond scum coating usage points, though, to suggest that it might come off after an ambush attack.
Murgar
5 hp
Amphibious
Terrible jaws
Algae coating
Murgar are hybrids between dobs and gar fish, somehow, though the combination makes them look almost crocodilian. The algae that grows on their fur and scales is excellent camouflage, as they lurk just below the surface of the water.
As dobs are based on otter kings, so murgar are based on the morgawr, an alligator-like sea serpent reported to live in Cornwall. I'm saying "Amphibious" rather than "Swimmer" here to give the Warmaster permission to keep them underwater indefinitely. The algae coating is more firmly attached than the dob's pond scum, so it has no usage points and is always applicable.
Skunk-Thing
1 hp
Musk (2 targets, on success targets become smelly, bath and rest ends) O
Stinky death (on death, can use Musk again with dice pool of 2)
Although it is significantly bigger (and weirder-looking) than the striped skunks from which they are descended, the two-tailed skunk-thing still isn't much of a fighter, deterring any would-be predators with its potent musk.
For the Char pointcrawl, I decided being smelly means you can never use more than one die when you test for stealth, provided whoever you're hiding from has a sense of smell. I think it has a fun Fallout 76 or Love and Monsters kind of feeling to it.
Cultists
Acolyte
1 hp
Ritual dagger O
People in the wasteland, struggling to survive, are particularly vulnerable to recruitment by charismatic leaders who claim to have all the answers. The most devoted are willing to shed blood for the cause, and their leaders are often too willing to sacrifice them in battle.
To represent how desperate and fragile the acolytes are, I've made them basic mooks, among the least formidable AllOut enemies. They don't represent much of a threat individually but can support higher-ranking cultists. Once they've exhausted their ritual dagger (a sharp but fragile thing more suited to ritual scarring than to actual combat), they can punch, pull, and tear so that a consecrated or keeper can finish their target.
Consecrated
3 hp
Mace OOO
Clad in breechclothes and the ritual scars that cover their body, the cult's specially consecrated warriors are chosen from those acolytes who are both competent and willing to endure suffering for their devotion. The ceremonial maces they bear into battle are usually lengths of pipe, etched and ornamented.
The consecrated has 3 hit points to ensure they have a certain competence and also to represent their willingness to endure suffering on behalf of the cause. They should also look like a weird cult's dedicated warriors, with their scars and their maces evoking the cult's myths. I've said they wear breechclothes, but you can swap that for anything that shows off their scars (or tattoos or piercings, if you like).
Keeper
1 hp
Guns
Shiny breastplate OOO
Weird mask O
Sigil-etched rifle OOO
Masked and robed keepers are the subordinate leaders of the wasteland cults. What they keep are the group's sacred teachings, either in their memories or in texts they carry with them. They also keep discipline in the group and carry lever-action rifles.
The idea behind the keepers is that they lead from the back: they don't have any more hit points than an acolyte does, but they're better with weapons, they have 4 points of armour to get through, and they attack from a distance while the other cultists get up close. They might have a scroll or codex on their person, or maybe the group's tenets are carved into their rifles. As with the other cultists, they have no special mechanics; I want them to just be people, at the end of the day.
Roll for the cult's name, combining two parts:
1d6: 1. Children of ___; 2. ___ Fellowship; 3. Fraternity of ___; 4. Order of ___; 5. ___ Sodality; 6. ___ Sorority
1d6: 1. the Blessed Swine; 2. the Flying Saucer; 3. the Holy Fishwife; 4. the Ruined Dove; 5. the Sacred Ape; 6. the Yellow Throne
Medlies
Medly Burgher
1 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply trait or traits)
Tool OO
No one remembers why the mutants produced by viral gene-editors are called "medlies," but that's what most people call them, to distinguish them from other sorts of mutants. Many medlies gather together into towns they call 'burgs. As visible proof of their membership in a community, burghers usually carry on a belt or strap a tool of their trade: a hammer, a fillet knife, a trowel, and so on.
Some people think medlies are called that because they display a medley of different mutations. Others say the name is a contraction of medically, because the mutogenic contagion was made through medical technology run amok instead of military R&D, radioactivity, or industrial pollutants. At any rate, medlies are your standard multiform mutants, deriving their unusual traits from out-of-control viral gene-editing technology. Most of the time they aren't hostile, but they sometimes might be, because normies and medlies often have rocky relations: many normies believe that "medlations" are contagious and shun or exile those who bear them. That fear isn't entirely unfounded. I would use medlies for social encounters that could go any number of ways.
Medly Drifter
1 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Rucksack O
Walking stick OO
Not every medly lives in a 'burg; some live on the road, accompanied only by their medlations and maybe a faithful mutt. They might be desperate for company, or fearful of it, or both.
Drifters are mechanically similar to burghers, with one extra point of armour in the form of a backpack. I figure the stuff in it has no mechanical value, or is broken in a fight.
Medly Guard
1 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Shield OO
Hard hat O
War shovel OO
'Burgs need defending, of course, and most of them will give a few members a shield, a hard hat, and a short sharpened shovel, and tell them to kill any monsters that come by. Some monsters, of course, walk on two legs.
Medly 'burgs and caravans need well-armoured tanks who can soak up damage.
Medly Pillager
2 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Fibreglass breastplate O
Javelin O
Spike-flail O
Like in any other group of people, some medlies take up weapons and use them against strangers.
The most likely kind of medly combat encounter, of course, would be with a medly raider gang. I've decided only to make two stat blocks for such encounters; you can round out a medly bandit crew with guards, drifters, or dog medlies (below), if you feel it would help.
Medly Warboss
4 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Painted breastplate OO
Knife O
Sulfur soaker OOO
Many medly gangs have adopted certain traditions, mostly because they look scary or cool. One such trend is for a gang to appoint a new leader by giving them a water gun and filling it with sulfuric acid. Anyone wandering the wasteland is well-advised to run from a mutant with a water blaster.
Medly gangs need cool scary leaders, of course. The sulfur soaker is kind of a silly idea, but I like it. The goal for medly weapons is something flavourful that has no special mechanics; medlies have enough going on with their medlations, so I wanted to avoid further bookkeeping.
Medlations Table
| d6 | d6 | Trait | Second trait (doubles only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 - 2 | 1 - 2 | Extra arm | Another extra arm |
| 1 - 2 | 3 - 4 | Extra eyes | Nocturnal |
| 1 - 2 | 5 - 6 | Webbed fingers and toes | Amphibious |
| 3 - 4 | 1 - 2 | Second head | Third head |
| 3 - 4 | 3 - 4 | Prehensile tail | Second prehensile tail |
| 3 - 4 | 5 - 6 | Bat ears | Echolocation |
| 5 - 6 | 1 - 2 | Octopus chromatophores | Octopus papillae |
| 5 - 6 | 3 - 4 | Squid ink jet | Contagious ink |
| 5 - 6 | 5 - 6 | Hag fish slime glands | Contagious slime |
(Flavour is free: you can replace "extra eyes" with "compound eyes," "prehensile tail" with "tentacle," or "bat ears" with "rabbit ears," so long as it wouldn't change how you'd use them.)
Medly Contagion
Characters exposed to the medly contagion (such as through the contagious ink or contagious slime medlations) must test to overcome it. If they fail, they have caught the contagion, but it does not immediately take effect; their genes are being rewritten, but that doesn't directly change their anatomy. The next time the character is reduced to 1 hit point, mark two small Medly boxes on their sheet; when the character would gain a new trait from levelling up, choose a medlation on the Medlations Table instead and mark an empty box. When both boxes are full, you can take traits from levelling up as normal.
Medly Beasts
Dog Medly
2 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Sprinter
Animals sometimes catch medlations, too, and if that animal is a dog, it might very well be friendly with anyone who's friendly back at it. Usually there's a dog medly or two hanging around a 'burg or following a drifter.
What a good dog(s)!
Mantyger
5 hp
Medlations (roll twice on Medlation table and apply traits)
Gross nodules (when the mantyger dies, nearby creatures test against medly contagion)
Tail quills OOO
Shark teeth OOOO
A jumble of animal parts – human, jaguar, porcupine, tiger shark, viper – on a lion-like frame, mantygers always carry the medly contagion in the fluid filling their clustered nodules. They hunt alone, flinging quills from their tails and preferentially attacking humans. For unknown reasons they also despise robots and fight them on sight; fortunately for the mantygers, they can bite through steel.
When I was looking up manticores to get ideas, I noticed that some writers in the Middle Ages called them mantygers. I loved that, so decided to use that name instead. I figure the various hybrid creatures I've come up with, like the murgar above and the sneak-thieves of my previous bestiary entry, can be explained (for some value of "explained") as the results of either deliberate genetic modification or CRISPR-likes gone feral in the wild. The mantyger hints at this with its oozing nodules that carry gene-editing viruses.
Source: Edward Topsell, 1607, via Wikimedia. This isn't really how I imagine the mantyger, but it gives you a sense of how weird it can be.
Snallygaster
2 hp
Serious Medlation (roll once on Medlation table and apply both traits)
Medly Vector (when combat ends, any creature that lost hit points to a snallygaster tests against medly contagion)
Flying
Feathered O
Tentacles OOOO
A stork-lizard-squid hybrid, snallygasters are solitary hunters but roost in groups. They stab with their formidable beaks, attempting to hold prey still with the tentacles growing from their lower jaws.
Realizing that the medlation table's second column was unlikely to see a lot of use (a 1-in-9 chance per medly or medly-beast), I thought I could make a creature that was guaranteed to use it. While I was at it, I figured it could also be more contagious than usual, and in a different way than the mantyger is. Threatening the players with mutation is half the point, after all! Snallygasters, based on the cryptid of the same name, should appear singly on wandering monster tables but in groups for static locations.
Bonus Armoury
As it happens, I have exactly one idea for an interesting special item. Rather than sit on it until I think of others, I present it here. The idea is that it's a massive, heavy weapon that can reasonably deflect a blade and still carry through to strike the enemy.
Zweihander (requires Brawn 1 to use; first success can both block one incoming damage and deal one damage to target)