Gospog's Omega World Story Hour

Half of the world lies in ruins. The other half is irradiated beyond the possibility of habitation.

Mutant animals, humans and mutant humans struggle for survival, hunted by killer robots, savage tribes, and each other! Their only chance for survival is foraging bits of Relic technology. For some settlements, an ancient blaster or medi-kit is the only thing allowing them to survive...as long as the power cell holds out.

Welcome to Omega World.

THE CHARACTERS:

Corn Starch: A Scaly, a mutated reptile. Corn Starch was named after his poor family's only relic. He has mutant powers allowing him to freeze small sections of air and slip through other dimensions. He carries a hybrid weapon. (a piece of an old forklift attatched to a pole makes a good spear)
Oh, and he's a bleeder.

Smokin' Beaver: A mutant beaver, Smokin Beaver is a little bossy, but extremely competent. She carries a crossbow "for emergencies" but is most skilled in the use of her Hybrid weapon: an axe that used to be something called a "hub cap".
(GM's note: this PC had another name until a player saw the mini for this character and said to my wife "Hey, that's a pretty smokin' beaver." She changed the name immediately.)

Joe Deathstick: When drawing genetic lots in life , Joe pulled the short straw. He has no arms, two brains, horns, quills, and can deliver a nasty Brain Bite. He can also drain energy, either by touch or from an area around him. Joe is often hungry, and is sure to tell everyone he meets, "I like hugs".

What sorts of misadventures will these three encounter? keep reading and find out!

Dome of Doom!

Unite the Clans!
The gathering. Today, what’s left of four local tribes gather at a neutral location. Usually, the tribes are antagonistic towards each other. Today, a common threat brings them together. The threat of Thunder Mountain!

Thunder mountain lies to the west. It has long been a place of mystery to the tribes…and danger! Often, purple lightning is seen crackling at the top of Thunder Mountain. More than one hunting party exploring near the mountain has gone missing in the past, but this may have been from the Hoops and killer robots that prowl the area. But now the purple lighning has intensified and come more often than ever. Several hunting parties have dissapeared, so many that there are barely any fit tribe members left! The four tribes have come together to choose a group of champions to solve the mystery of the mountain before all four of the tribes are wiped out!

Tribal Leaders
The four tribal leaders meet, and lead the conference.
Lars leads the pure-strain humans. He is tall, with purple hair that stands straight up.
Diesel leads the mutauted humans. He is huge, with four arms.
Turjan leads the hairies. He is a mutant german shepard and is known for his fancy talk.
The brothers Odin and Loki lead the scalies. They are massive mutant turtles.

Three champions are chosen by the conclave: Corn Starch, Smokin' Beava and Joe Deathstick. This first two chosen because they are all that remains of able-bodied villagers. Joe Deathstick...well, they just want an excuse for Joe to leave town, and possibly not come back.

The next morning, our brave heroes head west, towards the looming shadow of Thunbder Mountain. Being familiar with the area, they made rapid progress, but soon found themselves beyond the lands that thier individual tribes called home.

In the afternoon of that first day, they came upon an arid plain. Unlike the forests they just exited, this land was completely dry, and cracked in several places. On the dry plain in front of them, several long, thin poles had been driven into the ground. Small bells were crudely tied onto these poles. The Explorers stopped shot, not stepping upon the arid soil.

Smokin Beaver: I don't like the looks of this.

Corn Starch: Me neither, want to go around?

Smokin Beaver: No, that would take us days out of our way. Maybe we should just be careful?

Corn Starch picks up a stick and throws it out into the plain. Only a couple of the bells tinkle. The ait hangs thick with tension.

Joe Deathstick: I can't take any more!!!

Joe runs headlong out onto the plain! His companions stand in mute horror. All of the bells on all of the poles begin to tinkle loudly. Suddenly, to Joe's right, a large, mound of dirt bursts open, and a giant scorpion lunges for him! Joe deftly avoids the claws of the mutated beast, and looks back to his friends for help.

CS:: Hey Smokin', is it me or is that scorpion glowing?

SB: It's not you. We better help Joe.

Joe Deathstick has already plunged his long black horns into the giant, glowing beast, but can clearly use his friends' help.

Corn Starch moves up to assist Joe in front of the scorpion. His spear is turned aside by a savage pincer swipe. Smokin Beaver runs around to approach the mutant from behind.

Smokin Beaver screams and delivers a devastating blow with her axe, severing the scorpions' tail! The mutated beast hisses in pain, rearing on its' multiple legs. Corn Starch and Joe Deathstick lunge and pierce the giant scorpion again and again, until it lies dead on the ground.

The dust settles, the heroes drop thier weapons in exhaustion. Joe Deathstick is seen kicking some debris near where the scorpion emerged. He uncovers a crude tunnel into the earth.

CS: Hey Joe, what are you doing over there?

Joe Deathstick: I think I found it's lair. And guess what? I don't even need one of you to hold a torch for me. This place is lit up all green for some reason. Check it out!

CS: Um, you go ahead and check it out, Joe. You can tell us how it goes.

Smiling from ear-lump to ear-lump, Joe jumps feet-first into the hole.

To be continued...

As soon as I saw my latest Dungeon/Polyhedral mag, I hoped that someone would do an OW storyhour. I know others disagreed but I liked the tongue-in-cheek tone of the mini-game, and it looks like you have thoroughly integrated that into your game as well.

Looking forward to more updates.

Gospog said:

Corn Starch: A Scaly, a mutated reptile. Corn Starch was named after his poor family's only relic. He has mutant powers allowing him to freeze small sections of air and slip through other dimensions. He carries a hybrid weapon. (a piece of an old forklift attatched to a pole makes a good spear)

Click to expand...

He tried to kill me with a forklift!

J

Yay, After-the-Bomb goodness! Woohoo!

Hatchling Dragon

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone.

And now...buckle up!

Corn Starch looked at Smokin Beaver with a worried expression on his snout.

CS: He's been down there for 20 minutes.

SB: Well, what's the worst that could happen?

Suddenly, from the scorpion lair comes the sound of tortured screaming.

CS: Joe, are you alright down there? Joe!?!?

JD (from inside the hole): Yeah, I think I'm OK now. I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that I soaked up too much radiation, and I kind of...mutated. The good news is, I grew a shiny new shell, and it didn't hurt...much.

SB: Are you coming out now, Joe?

JD: Well, more good news, I found a bunch of stuff down here. I just need someone to help me carry it out. You see, I've got-

SB: -No arms, we know! OK, one of us will be right down.

One game of rock-papers-scissors later, Corn Starch climbs into the lair and helps Joe out, along with some canned food, a box of ancient cigars, and a relic! The relic is a gunpowder rifle, and as far as the companions can tell, it works!

Joe is looking a little different since descending into the irradiated hole. His skin is covered by a shiny black carapace, and his oversized head is sporting long eye-stalks! He seems to take the changes in stride.

Emboldened by thier victory, the heroes press on, past the arid plain, and into the dense woodlands surrounding Thunder Mountain!

From Badder to Worse

The PCs are trekking through the woods. So engrossed in thier conversation are they, that they do not hear the group of creatures lounging in their path until they are practically on top of them!

The group is facing six mutant badgers, called Badders by most people. Two of the Badders are holding rifles, and they look as surprised as the PCs. Some of the Badders are smoking foul looking cigarettes and coughing violently. There is a tense moment of potential confrontation.

Corn Starch has heard that the Badders like to steal and eat purestrain human babies.
Smokin Beaver has heard that the Badders are kind and will help you when you need it.
Joe Deathstick has heard that Badders are powerful psychics and are addicted to salt.

Neither group makes any truly hostile gestures. After a moment of tense silence, the foremost Badder hitches up his over-alls and asks, "Who the hell're you and whatta you want?"

JD: Hello friends, we're on our way to Thunder Mountain. We're just passing through, but if you want to be pals, you can give me a hug!

Joe Deathsticks' attempt at diplomacy goes poorly, and rifle barrels are raised. Hurriedly, Smokin Beaver steps up.

SB: Friends! Friends! As my...er, associate said, we're just passing through. But you look like you might know a little bit about these woods. Maybe you could tell us a little bit about the area? We'd make it worth your while. We could trade for the information.

The look the lead Badder give Smokin Beaver makes it clear what he wants to trade for, but in the end, the cigars found in the scorpions' lair are handed over (they hardly glow at all anymore), and the heroes discover the following:

-Watch out for the killer robot that is running around hereabouts.
-The villagers who dissapeared are being held at Thunder Mountain.
-The fellers holding the villagers look human, but they don’t smell human.

The cigars are well-received. With smiles (or snarls, hard to tell with Badders) from thier new friends, the heroes press on towards Thunder Mountain.

Hide and Seek

The heores make camp for the night. There is a heated discussion concerning when (and if) Joe Deathstick is to left awake while everyone else is alseep.

In the end, Joe takes first watch. During his watch, he spends a long, long time staring at the sleeping for of Corn Starch. A rumbling come from somewhere in the metal tube he wears as armor. Finally, Joe marshalls his willpower, and stomps off into the woods.
Using some ingenious animal calls (and some dumb luck), Joe soon befriends a small two-headed squirrel, which he promptly sucks the life out of. The ex-squirrel falls to the forst floor, a mumified husk. Feeling much better, Joe skips back to camp to awaken Smokin Beaver for her watch.

Apart from the inner struggles of Joe Deathstick, the night passes uneventfully. The next day, the PCs break camp and continue west towards the daunting enigma that is Thunder Mountain!

Several hours of walking begins to tire the companions. Nonetheless, the warnings of the Badders are not forgotten, and all three hear the clanking metallic footsteps approaching from within the woods. All of the companions throw themselves to the ground and take cover in some nearby bushes.

Stalking from deep withing the woods is what can only be a killer robot! It stands about eleven feet tall, and is made of polished steel. One on it's wrists ends in a blaster cannon, the other in a massive chainsaw! It's round eyes glow blood red!

The robot stomps closer, slowly scanning the bushes with its' enhanced robot vision (tm). It's mechanical hearing strains for any sound out of place in its' hunting grounds. The heroes hold thier breath, and are quite relieved when the robot stomps away. Soon, it is completely out of sight.

SB: I still think we should have attacked that thing. We could have taken it!

CS: Yeah, you could shoot out antique rifle at it , and Joe and I could hurl insults at it while the bullets bounce off. Good plan. Let's go.

Dusting themselves (and Joe) off, the heroes continue on thier way. Another two hours of walking brings Thunder Mountain into view. The mountain reaches majestically into the sky. It won't be long now before the heroes arrive at the mountain...and thier destinies!