13 Wasteland Hazards is D20 Future product written by PDF pioneer Philip Reed for Ronin Arts. This product is priced at $1.50 and comes with two PDF versions including a 7 page (including 1/2 page OGL) standard version with colour front page and black borders and a printer friendly version (7 pages long, without black borders and colour front page and including 1/2 page OGL). This product adds to the growing range of PDFs released by Ronin Arts, each bite-size PDF narrowly focusing upon a particular topic and providing a variety of drop-in pieces, be they hazards, spells or equipment.
From the front page, the author makes a running start as he explains that these hazards, like most of the sci-fi material that he has written, have been created with the weird and the wonderful in mind rather than the hardcore science of gritty sci-fi campaigns. Despite this statement, the broad range of hazards is adaptable even to a serious sci-fi game. Only the D20 Modern core rulebook is required to use this PDF and everything but product identity is designated as Open Game Content.
There are in fact fourteen hazards and a new disease included here and not just thirteen hazards as the product's name would suggest. Below are a few examples:
Acidic Sand Storm: A terrible black wall of roiling acidic sand that can appear suddenly and almost without warning before eating away at flesh, wood and even metal. This hazard can easily find a place in a post-nuclear holocaust world and can often be a precursor to a wasteland rainstorm (described below),
Apocalypse Vine: A hardy brown plant that virulently spreads its thousands of small flowers. These flowers, when disturbed, release a deadly payload of poisonous spores that infect those unfortunate enough to be nearby with a new disease known as wasteland sickness. Wasteland Sickness covers its victims with gray rashes that leave them pockmarked, though rarely kills,
Glass Rains: Borne by winds, this sandstorm-like field of glass softly twinkles in the sunlight even as it tears across the landscape and through anyone caught in its path. This is a particular favourite of mine. I like the mental image of characters not realising that the oncoming 'sandstorm' is actually just as likely to tear through meager protections as it is through flesh.
Irradiated Zones: These zones, as the name suggests, are intense radioactive wastelands that glow at night and burn away at the very life of those creatures unlucky enough to pass nearby.
Wasteland Rains: A dark, violent thunderstorm that unleashes its acidic rains even as it infects its victims with radiation sickness.
The hazards continue in this vein and each hazard is accompanied by complete and solid mechanics. Most of the hazards are easy enough to drop in at a moment's notice and encompass a good range of CRs, ranging from CR 1 (Wasteland Rains) to CR 6 (Toxic Slime). The writing, as with most products by Philip Reed, is flavourful, engaging and evocative. This PDF lacks art but really does not need it, as the descriptions are vivid enough. Another selling point is that despite being targeted at D20 Future, the hazards should be adaptable to a broader range of games. After reading through the first time, I made a list of six hazards that could almost immediately find use in my own D20 games, whether D20 Modern, D20 Fantasy or D20 Future.
The layout is in standard two-column format and the flow of text is easy to read. The editing is good and, as always, Ronin Arts makes good use of PDF technology by including complete bookmarking for each hazard listed within.
Summary
13 Wasteland Hazards is an instant "must buy" for DMs running a D20 Modern post-apocalyptic game, but could just as easily find application in a D20 Future game where strange planets spawn unusual creatures and environments. Ease of use and adaptability are two of the key strengths of this product range from Ronin Arts. The editing is tight, the mechanics support the generous flavour and the inclusion of bookmarks is always a big plus. This 7-page PDF is packed with engaging and evocative material that does not just provide crunch, but also hatches several seeds for encounters and adventures alike. Anyone running a Darwin's World or Year of the Zombie game will love this. At $1.50, this product is a steal and will fit snugly into almost any D20 Modern or D20 Future DM's repertoire.
Review by Jason Lund (Anio)
