Colonial Reconnaissance Corps: Chapter 6: Running an A-Team Adventure

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BMs who wish to run an A-team adventure should first sit down and make up an entire world in at least some detail. Make a map, decide what areas have what type of weather, etc. Make up things to make the world special. It's your campaign, feel free to make up or borrow worlds from movies and books you've read. (Many SF novels involve the concept of “killer planets” or “deathworlds.”)

Your planet needs at least some detail, of course, but you don't have to go overboard. Remember that generally speaking the players will NOT be running about willy nilly, but will be conducting specific tasks in specific areas assigned to them by their higher ups. (I.E. You.) Therefore it's only necessary to 'flesh out' the areas you intend to assign them too, not the whole surface of the planet! This limits map making and allows you to focus on specific areas on the planet.

Decide what terrain the area the players will be in will be like. Jungle, desert, steppes, etc. What is the general weather like? Is the climate constant or wildly variable? Is the area tectonically stable? Do you want there to be caverns to explore? Will there be mountains to climb for some reason?

You can, of course, just 'borrow' planets from movies or books you like.

It's recommended you make up at least a couple dozen types of creatures in some detail to use as encounters. You may use the system in the Battlelords mainbook or come up with something on your own. Also remember that the creatures evolved on a planet that has no connection to the planets the players are from, in most cases. Thus a creature that is perfectly edible to a native carnivore may be poisonous to player characters who are stranded and starving due to the protein configuration. Also note that many creatures may have natural venom but this venom is designed to work on creatures in it's native habitat and may have wildly different effects on the players.

For B.M.s looking for a quick inspiration for creating creatures I've included a basic 'monster maker' table list. Feel free to change it or make your own.

All charts use a d10.

Size

  1. Tiny insect
  2. Large insect/small animal
  3. Small dog/cat sized
  4. Medium dog
  5. Large dog/wolf
  6. Lion
  7. Bear
  8. Elephant
  9. Dinosaur
  10. Whale


Disposition

  1. Fearful, flees from PC s party on sight, like a mouse.
  2. Fearful, flees if approached. Alley cat.
  3. Passive, does not react unless attacked, sloth-like.
  4. Generally passive, may move if anyone comes near.
  5. Neutral, will not attack unless hungry or threatened. Will attack then.
  6. Territorial, will drive intruders out of it's territory. Will not pursue beyond it's territory.
  7. Reactive. Will attack if approached or hungry.
  8. Curious. Will watch players from a distance, may edge closer or further away over time.
  9. Aggressively curious. Will approach players to sniff or taste them to see if they are food. Likely to attack if they seem tasty.
  10. Aggressive. Will attack players on sight. Pitbull mentality


Attack Forms

  1. Bite/claw (Note: Bites may become infected if local bacteria is infectious to the victim.)
  2. Horns
  3. Venomous/acid spit
  4. Venomous bite/claw/sting/appendage (I.E. scorpion's tail.)
  5. Electrical (like an electric eel.)
  6. Spiky body. Porcupine like.
  7. Lashing appendage, like a long whip tail.
  8. Sonic blast
  9. Nematocyst. Can project a venomous dart made of bone or chitin.
  10. Matrix attack!!!


Defenses (Note some “attack forms' can be used as defenses as well And vice versa.)

  1. No real defense, but puts on a frightening show, may puff up to make itself look bigger, make a terrifying noise, flare a hood like some lizards or produce a frightening bio-luminescense display. May also be colored to resemble a local deadly animal.
  2. Fast, very hard to hit
  3. Camouflage
  4. Tough skin/Armor plate, like a tortoise shell, may be spiky.
  5. Acidic/venomous lymph fluid is secreted over the creatures skin, like some toads..
  6. Drops off part of it's body which it grows back to appease/distract predators, like some lizard's tails.
  7. Belches/farts noxious/poisonous gas. Like some people I know.
  8. Poisonous if eaten, discourages local predators, like some butterflies.
  9. Defecates/urinates on itself to make itself unappealing to predators.
  10. Matrix defense!!!


Intelligence

  1. Working class people who vote for rich politicians. (I.E. Negative intelligence. Will do things that are actually against it's best interests.)
  2. Wrestling fans
  3. Dog
  4. Ape
  5. Ram Python
  6. Average human
  7. Human gamer
  8. Mutzachan
  9. Super intelligent creature
  10. Hive mind. An individual is not intelligent, a group may be of any intelligence, the more there are, the smarter they get.


Movement

  1. Slithers, slow
  2. Slithers, fast
  3. Flies slowly, hovers. Insect like. Could also float like a gas filled jellyfish.
  4. Flies fast
  5. Oozes, like slugs
  6. Jumps
  7. Walks on limbs, slow. Sloth like.
  8. Walks/runs on limbs. Fast. Jaguar like.
  9. Glides
  10. Sessile, does not move or moves very little.


Senses (Assumes normal senses, I.E. Vision, hearing, smell.)

  1. Missing some 'normal' sense, often vision.
  2. Limited vision, only sees movement or no color vision.
  3. Acute hearing
  4. Infrared vision
  5. Sees the 'aura' of living things.
  6. Acute smell
  7. Active sonar, like a bat or dolphin.
  8. Night vision
  9. Incredible vision, like a hawk.
  10. Telepathic senses


Diet

  1. Herbivore
  2. Carnivore
  3. Scavenger, carrion eater.
  4. Omnivore
  5. Only eats one type of plant.
  6. Only eats one type of animal.
  7. Eats fungus/Mushrooms.
  8. Haemovore, drinks blood like a vampire bat.
  9. Insectivore
  10. Derives nourishment from sunlight/other form of energy.


Grouping 1-2 Solitary 3-4 travels/lives in mated pairs 5-6 Family group/small pack 7-8 Large pack 9-10 Swarm/Horde/Tribe

Poison/Venom effect table. (This assumes that venoms evolved on one planet may have radically different effects, if any, on an alien lifeform. Each player character race rolls on the table below when exposed to a venom from a creature created on these tables unless the BM has another effect in mind. Humans. Gen humans and orions count as the same race for purposes of this table, likewise both python species are covered by one roll.)

  1. This venom is rapidly fatal to this species, death will likely result barring medical treatment administered within moments.
  2. The venom is slow but deadly.
  3. The venom induces nausea, weakness, fever, possible loss of consciousness, may (but not always) be deadly
  4. The venom is corrosive to this race's biochemistry. Treat it like acid.
  5. The venom acts like a nerve agent, may/ may not kill but can cause brain damage, loss of I.Q., paralysis or other nerve damage.
  6. The venom acts like a drug. The victim may behave like he just had a dose of LSD and go “on a trip”, have flashbacks, hallucinate, etc. This can be used for amusement by some BM types.
  7. The venom “plasters” the victim, he's drunk!
  8. Victim yawns, goes sleepy bye, doesn't wake for d10 hours.
  9. No effect. (WHEW!)
  10. The venom actually has medicinal properties for this species! It might be a new anti-biotic, an arterial plaque remover, an aphrodisiac or anti-cancer medicine. It could also be an extremely effective laxative, with embarrassing results.


If you don't like the “roll your own” method of making creatures there's the “questionnaire” method. Basically you make out a list of questions about the creature, then make up the stats based on your answers. A sample 'creature questionnaire” might be something like this:

What do you want the creature to be in your game? A serious threat/enemy to the players? A nuisance? Something the players must capture? Something they must tag for study? Something that will attack them? Something that will just be a random encounter?

How big is the creature?

What general type is it? Mammal? Reptile? Insectoid? Sluglike? Amphibian? Something totally alien?

What does it look like? What colors does it come in? Does it change color? Is it furred, scaled, slimy or something else?

How does it move? How fast is it? Does it have multiple movement modes? Can it leap?

What does it eat? Is it a carnivore, herbivore, omnivore or scavenger? How does it get food? Hunt? Lay in wait? Lure in prey? Set traps like a spider web? Sneak up and pounce?

Is it aggressive? Does it attack or flee when it sees players? Does it ignore them unless they do something?

What senses does it have? How sharp are they?

How intelligent is the creature? Will it rush at prey or enemies? Does it stalk? Does it lay in wait? If injured will it fight to the death or flee?

How hard is it to kill? Will a single pistol shot kill it? Does it take a whole clip to drop it? Can it survive normal firearms? Can heavy weapons kill it?

Does it have special abilities? Can it generate electricity? Can it spit poison? Does it have innate matrix control abilities?

Does it live alone? With a mate? With a family or pack? Is it part of a swarm?

Does it have a nest or lair? Does it move around all the time?

Does it sleep?

You can make out a questionnaire as long as you like, the longer it is the more detailed your creatures will be.


Finally, there is a third method for stocking a world with alien animals. If all else fails, just take some generic monsters from other games, books or movies, change the names, file off the serial numbers, give them new paintjobs and call them your new alien animals!

You can then add finishing touches to your new planet. Does it have mineral resources? Is it the home of an ancient civilization? Are the Arachnids setting up a base on it or has some other power like pirates or anarchists been to it before?

Once all of the above has been done, your planet should be ready for the players. Now it's time to see if the players are ready for it.

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Colonial Reconnaissance Corps: Chapter 7: Training

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