TSR - 7509 - GW6 - Alpha Factor

8/7/2019 TSR - 7509 - GW6 - Alpha Factor

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SCIENCE FANTASY ROLE-PLAYING GAME

Alpha FactorBy Kim Eastland

Credits:Designed by Kim Eastlanddited by Karen S. MartinCover by Keith ParkinsonInterior art by James HollowayCartography by Dennis Kauth, Keith ParkinsonTypography by Betty Elmore and Carolyn VanderbiltGraphic Design by Colleen O'Malley" '1 9 86 TSR , I nc . A I .IR . ig h rsR e s e rv ed,G AMMA WORLD is a registered trademark o wn ed by T SR , Inc .Distributed to rhe book trade in rhe Uni ted States by R an dom Ho us e, Inc., a nd in C an ad aby R andom H ouse of C anada, L td, D istributed to the toy and hobby trade by regionald is trib uto rs . D is trib ute d in th e U nite d K in gd om b y T SR (UK ) L td .P rin te d in th e U SA .This book is protected under the copyright law s of the U nited States of A merica, A nyreproduction or other unauthorized use of the m aterial or artw ork presented herein isprohibited w it ho ut t he e xp re ss w ri tt en p ermi ss io n o fTSR, Inc.The n ame s o f t he c ha ra ct er s u se d h er ei n a re f ic ti ti ou s a nd d o nO I re fe r t o a ny p er so ns l iv in g Ord ea d. A ny d es crip tio ns in clu din g similarities 10 persons living or dead are merelycoincidental,F ir st P ri mi ng A u gu st 1 98 6P le as e s en d a ny q ue stio ns a bo ut th is G AMMA WORLO a dv en tu re 10:GAMMA WORLD < !> Questionsclo TSR, I nc .P OB 7 56L ake G en ev a, W I 53 14 7

P le as e i nc lu de a s elf -a dd re ss ed , s tampe d e nv el op e w it h y ou r q ue st io ns .

7509XXX1501ISBN 0-88038-294-5

Table o f ContentsRandom Loot Table .. , , .. ,'., , " , inside front coverINTRODUCTION ", , , , ,' 2Background , .. " , .. , , , , _ 2Maps " , , , , , .. , , . , " 2Getting Lost , , .. , , .. , , ................ , , . . .. 4Weather ., " .. ".. . , , , ,.... 4THE ADVENTURE BEGINS ,. 6Where to Go ' , .. , , , , , , 6Encounters .. , , , , .. , , , , .. ' , ' . . . . .. 7

Random Encounters .. , , . , ' , , 7Pre-Programmed Encounters , " " 7Ermon the Hermit , . , , , , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8The Village of Oskar , . , , , , , . . . . . . . . 9

MIND KEEP . , , , , , . , , . , , . , , , , ..... , . .. 10Background ." .. " .. , " ,......... 10Mindkeep Plateau , , .. , , , ', ' 10Mindkeep Island , , ,............ , . , .. , . , 12Mindkeep Installation , , .. , , , .. , , , , , , . . . . .. 13

Mindkeep Encounters .. , , .. , , , , , , . . . . . .. J 5Mindkeep Type A levels , ' , , 15Mindkeep Type B Levels , , , . , ' ' , 16Mindkeep Type C Levels , .. , , . , ., ,., " ' 17Mindkeep Roof Level ., , , , ,', ,.', .. 19Mindkeep Subterranean Levels , , , , , , , 20The Complex , , . , . , , , , , ........... 21Cliff Caverns """"",.,' .. " , .. , , , 21Wrapping Up Mindkeep , , , . . . '. ., ,' 22MISCELLANEOUS ENCOUNTERS ', " , ," 22

THE QUEST RJLFILLED , , , 25MAPS . , .. , , . , , , , , . . . . . .. . 26NEW ITEMS, .. , .. , , .. , , , , , , 35NEW RACES .. , , , , .. , , . . . . . . 36NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS .. , , "., , 37NEW CREATURES , , .. ,.... . , , 38Random Encounter Tables , .. , , , inside back cover


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elcome to the first module designed for theewly revised GAMMA WORlD Scienceantasy Game. Within these pages is a com-lete adventure, starting points for manyther adventures which the GM can develop,xtensive maps for use in both this and otherdventures, new items, races, non-playerharacters, and creatures. This adventure cane run alone, worked into a present campaignhe GM is running, or used as the startingoint for an exciting new series of GAMMAORLD modules coming from TSR. Loca-ions on the large area map, the Flower Lands,ill be briefly covered when they pertain topcoming adventures. If the GM wishes to ig-ore them, he can pick up the adventure seriesater on from other maps that will be providedth those modules.The adventure in this module is an "open"dventure; that is, it is not designed for spe-ific player characters. No predeterminedlayer characters are provided for your use.he GAMMA WORLD character a player nor-

mally uses is perfect for the adventure. Whilethere are some preprogramrned encountersand a basic theme to the adventure, much ofthe Flower Lands map is unexplored and readyfor the GM to develop, using his talents for hisown unique scenarios. Some of the futureGAMMA WORlD module maps will connectwith the Flower Lands map, providing theGM with a large, defined area in which he canbase his campaign.So buckle on your blaster and keep an eyeOUtfor the dreaded bu' daan, You are about tocross the decidedly unpastoral Flower Lands todiscover the truth behind the Alpha Factor,the reason mutants came to exist in GammaWorld. Only the staunchest, fastest, andluckiest will survive.BACKGROUNDThe adventures in this module take place in asection of Gamma World called the FlowerLands. This vast area can be placed

'anywhere the GM desires in his campaign.The land is a bizarre mixture of a variety offlora and fauna which extends well off thesouthern end of the map. The main focus ofthe adventure takes place on the small plateaunear the junction of the old highways, calledMindkeep Plateau. All other encounters takeplace on the map. Some of the informationand clues provided by preprogrammed en-counters help in this adventure; other piecesof information exist to further clarify the causeof Gamma World and the real dangers thatstill exist within it. Still more information isprovided as introductory clues to futureGAMMA WORLD modules planned for re-lease by TSR; these will alwa ys be listed assuch. And, of course, there are always someundefined details, rumors, and names pro.vided that the GM can develop into his ownadventure.In preparing this adventure, the GM shouldfirst study the maps.

p of H ow et L an ds' The large map includedith this book represents an aerial photographat is supplied to the player characters (seehe Adventure Begins). This map can behared between the players and the GM. Notehat there is no scale on the map, no way fore players to figure Out how far they can go inne day. This is done on purpose, because dif-erent types of terrain require differentmounts of time to cross. All traveling timesentioned in the following text are for auman-sized, bipedal character in reasonablyood health in good weather. The GM shouldake into account the weather, the character'size and mode of transportation, etc., whendjusting the movement rate. The rate is al-ays listed as how many minutes or hours itakes to move an inch on the map.Anyone wishing to play in this campaignhould not read any further than this para-raph in this booklet.owerland Terrain Typesor Lake: This term includes the shorelineurrounding the river or lake. The travel rateor the shoreline is 30 minutes per inch. Theivers run from east to west in this part of theountry. Anyone traveling against the currentravels at 4S minutes per inch. Anyone travel-ng with the current tr-avels at 10 minutes annch. Characters on the lake move at a rate of0 minutes per inch.All rivers and streams are considered rapidnd strong for purposes of calculating theime needed to cross them and figuring the

chances of drowning (see the advancedGAMMA WORLD rules). The rivers and lakesare inhabited.Ancient Freeways: These long stretches ofroad are remnants of the civilization that ex-isted here before the holocaust. They are theequivalent of modern four-lane-wide high-ways, but are made OUt of some strangeceramic/metal alloy that resists weathering.At one time there was a coating over the road,but that has long been chipped away or eatenoff by the local denizens. The road now ap-pears to be metal. It has rusted and appearsfrom great heights to be a dull, red ribbonthat runs through the valiey. If the weather isclear, the road heats up within an hour aftersunrise and becomes hot enough to cook orbake on within a few hours. Anyone walkingon the road during the middle of the day(noon to four p.m.) receives 2d6 of damagefor every minute they are on it if they are walk-ing in bare feet. If they are wearing some typeof normal footwear, damage is reduced toId6, but the footwear will be destroyed afteran hour of this type of treatment. Only specialheat resistant footwear is capable of traversingthis road with no ill effects,Travel time along the road is 10 minutes perinch. North of Mindkeep Plateau are the re-mains of the intersection of all of the oldroads. The intersection has been floodedmany times and is in shambles, many piecesbeing dislodged and carried away by roaringfloods. The rivers have now cut their waythrough the intersection, making continuedtravel along the road difficult. The western

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end of the Old Road goes into an old tunnel,but the tunnel collapsed some time ago. TheOld Road passes through a radioactive blastarea. That stretch of road has a permanent ra-diation intensity level of 16. The northern endof the North Road is lost to the shifting fieldsof the plains, but actually 15 picked up againfarther north, off the map. The eastern end ofthe Wet Road once went down a hill, intowhat is now a lake, and cannot be found. Thesouthern end of the South Road has mysteri-ously disappeared altogether. Not a trace of itcan be found in the Ice Forest, the Hot River,or East Neverdark (it was scavenged by peo-ples to the south of the Flower Lands longago).Cliffs & Plateaus: There are three plateaus inthe Flower Lands; The Last Friendly Lands, tothe west, Mindkeep Plateau, and Blue FoodFlats. Mindkeep is an artificial plateau, man-made to add to Mindkeep's security. The LastFriendly Lands is a natural plateau and even-tually leads to a mountain range to the west,off the map. Both plateaus take three hours toclimb. An extension of the South Road leadsup to Mindkeep, This road takes only 15 min-utes to ascend. A twisting footpath. safe fromrockfalls or slides, descends from the LastFriendly Lands plateau. Characters can de-scend this in one hour. Blue Food Flats is thetallest natural structure in the Flower Lands, Ittakes four hours to climb (there is no otherway up), and is covered by blue mushrooms.There is a cave in the very center of the flat, in-habited by Ermon the hermit (see New NPCssection).


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MAPS

Any character climbing the cliff face can beseen for miles and has very little cover underwhich to scramble.Mindkeep will be covered later in its ownsection. The Last Friendly Lands is a lush plainwith a few small forests and a good-sized vil-lage just off the map to the west.Radioactive B la st A rea s. ' There are numeroussmall radiation areas on the map. Some arecovered by vegetation, others are wide andopen, like the Great Glow and Little Glowcraters, The small patches always have randomradiation intensity levels (3d6), rolled by theGM when encountered. The Great Glow cra-ter is intensity level 21 at the center, lesseningto intensity level 15 on ir s fringes. The LittleGlow crater is intensity level 15 in the center,lessening to intensity level 7 on its fringes.Nothing natural grows in these areas. If anycharacters wan t to cross these craters, the GMmay stock them with radiation- loving mu-tants and plandife. The craters both glow inthe dark like the umbrella of light above mosttwentieth-century cities.. Travel time across the Glow craters includesdescending and ascending the cliff-like sidesof the crater. The sides take 45 minutes toscale either up or down, and crossing the cra-ter floor requires 10 minutes per inch.P ra ir ie s aDd No rma l G ras sla nd s: These landsare wonderfully normal stretches of 30 centi-meters to 1.5 meter tall green grass that cansupport livestock and, unfortunately, hide anarmy of predators. navel time across thesestretches is 15 minutes per inch. Sometimesvision is great! y lim ired by an excessively tallgrass field. The GM should always tell theplayers how tall the grass is through whichtheir characters are wading (he can alter theheight every scale inch).Great Trees: The great trees are primarilyfound in the White Woods surrounding theGreat Glow. They are from 10 to 100 meterstall (ldlO x 10 meters). Their bark is light grayand their leaves are mainly white. Even theground in this area is light tan. Most of thewildlife found in these woods have adapted anatural white or light earthtone pigmenta-tion, including any intelligent creaturesfound within. The woods are very beautifuland dense. Travel time through them is oneand one-half hours per inch. If the GMwishes, he can develop an entirely new race oftree-dwelling creatures within the WhiteWoods, as the great trees are capable of sup-porting a village.Strangely enough, the White Woods seems

to be capable of defending itself against overlydestructive creatures. Creatures that could beconsidered monsters or extremely dangerousseldom last long in the White Woods. Mostoften, a tree or a massive branch falls on them.Unbeknownst to everyone, this this massiveforest has a collective consciousness and de-stroys anyone who wishes to ruin it or turn itinto another Gamma World monster lair.Some predatory plants and animals exist, butthose preserve the balance of nature.G low in g Fun gu s F ie ld s; West and East Never-dark are large expanses of land covered byglowing fungus. The glow is not ascertainableby day, but lights up the land at night with aneerie, pale yellow glow that is the equivalentof dusk. Travel time across the land is slowerthan one might expect (30 minutes per inch)because the fungus grows unevenly and onemust be careful where one steps, The fungusitself is harmless and extremely comfortable towalk or sleep upon. Itgrows very quickly, cov-ering a man-sized object in eight hours, andcan be lifted up from the ground like a blan-ker. Unfortunately, many predators use this asan excellent means of disguising themselves.Once the fungus is detached from the groundit glows for three days. A torch-sized piececasts a glow with a radius of three meters.Badlands: The Golden Barrens isa huge stretchof badlands. Travel time across the badlands iscwo hours per inch, The name "Golden Bar-rens" comes from the covering of goldenrodthat lasts most of the year. This herb is relatedto daisies. I t is fairly tall (up to one meter) withlittle bright yellow flowers. The GM should rollpercentile dice to see if a character has an al-lergy to goldenrod (40% chance for pure strainhumans, 33% chance for everyone else exceptplant characters, which are immune). Charac-ters with this allergy must turn back after onehour in the Golden Badlands - the sneezingand watering eyes are so bad that they cannotcontinue. The badlands are riddled with nu-merous caves.B lack O rchid F ield , the P urp le P la in , S tra w-b er ry F ie ld s, a nd M us hr oom F ie ld s.' These ar-eas are huge spreads of normal-sized plantlife.Traveling across any of them requires 20 min-utes per inch. The plants grow low, makingvisibility high here.The Black Orchid Field is full of deeppurple-black orchids that release a narcotic.Anyone trying co cross it must make one Con-stitution saving throw every inch or suffer oneof the following defects (roll Id6) during thetime spent in the field and for a day after:

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1 - Diminished Sense, 2 - Fear Impulse,- Insanity, 4 - Phobia, 5-6 - Vision Defect.The Purple Plain is a huge plain of leaflevines laden with purple grapes. These grapes wigrow in any weather but prolonged cold. Seenty percent of all grapes eaten are fermentedand intoxicate the consumer. Drop all the abilitscores and column ranks for actions by -1 Cfor every 10 minutes of eating the grapes. Thimmediate effects last two hours for every 1minutes of eating, but even after this has passeda hangover (-I CS for any action) remains foanother 12 hours.The Strawberry Fields are hundreds of sma

strawberry patches stretched out in one vast epanse, The strawberries draw many insects anbirds. Itis impossible to sleep or camp out herbecause of the constant noise and bug bites.The Mushroom Fields, also called the BluFood Flats: are located on the top of the plateaeast of the Golden Barrens and northwest of thGreat Glow. These mushrooms are all differenhues of blue. They are neither poisonous noverynutritional, but can be used asa food sourcfor a short time (weeks). They cover the entirf lat, except for the cave in the middle.Norma '! Fo re st : The normal forest areas arJUStthat, stands of trees that resemble norma20th century forests. The GM can decidethey are deciduous or evergreen forests anthe like. Most of the forests in the FloweLands are dense, Travel time is one hour pescale inch.Giant Flower Fields: These include the RainbowForests, the Ice Forest, the Fire Forests, and thRoseFields. All of these stretches of land are coered with dense fields of flowers from 1 to 2meters high (GM should roll Id20 for height imeters every inch). These flowers provide a bzarre and wondrous atmosphere to the world below their blossoms, as the sunlight streamthrough in different colors and the flowers rlease their fragrances, The effects of these frgrances, along with the existence of any gianvariety of normal insects found in a normaflower garden, is left to the GM.The Rainbow Forest is the largest gianflower field. It is primarily composed of gian

petunias and literally forms a rainbow oground cover as it changes hues every 1 1 2 incof travel. Travel through these giant petuniafields isvery slow (two hours per inch) becausof gnarly, twisting trunks and roots that musbe climbed over or around.The Ice Forest is the name given to a largarea of giant blue daisies. The daisies hav

been known to last all through the winte


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heir hardiness, along with their color, earnedem the name of the lee Poresr. Travel throughis area takes 4) minutes per inch, as the stalkslow easy passage, but absolutely no visibility.The Fire Forests are actually one forest ofany different shades of orange and red giantIf anyone tries to climb these tall,eelike plants, he has a 15% chance of acciden-lly "snapping" a dragon-headed blossomosed on his hand, foot, etc. for idio damage.herwise, these forests are harmless and travelme isonly 30 minutes pe r inch.The Rose Fields on the eastern edge of the

map are filled with variations on th e red rose.They are huge expanses of bramble and are com-pletely impenetrable to anyone taller than 40centimeters tall. Myriads of Lil live there.Please note that there is an unnamed patchof flowers to the north of the Mud Slide. Thisarea has not been explored and is left for the

GM to fill with his own strain of giant flower.Mud Slide: The Mud Slide is a large section ofland that cannot support plant l ife. Because ofthis, the land is always either a huge mud hole(in the wet season) or a dry area that resembles

a lake bed. During the winter months the areafills with water, then ices over. Movementthrough this area when it is muddy, as it isduring the season of this adventure, is ex-tremely slow (three hours per inch) as theground is slippery and deep with muck.The Village of Oskst Map: This map will becovered in the encounter with the Village ofOskar.The Mindkeep Maps: These maps will be cov-ered in the Mindkeep sections.

ETTING LOSThough the player character adventurers mayexperienced veterans, they would easily be-ome lost in the Flower Lands if not for theirmpass and Bokshee, their guide. If they loseoth the compass and guide, or if they haverther adventures in this area in the futureithout a guide or compass, they can easilycome lost. To handle characters wanderingbout on their own, the GM should first lookt where the characters are. If on a plain, bar-n, or low field, they may be able to see a pla-au, river, or parallel forest landmark thatill help orient them. But if they are inoods, giant flower forests, etc. they must beithin an inch (map scale) of these landmarkssee them.Wandering characters should inform theM of their chosen direction. If they enter anrea where their vision is obscured, the GMould first roll td 10. A result of 7 through 10dicates that they have wandered off theirurse. This roll should then be made forvery inch traveled with obscured sight. Thisll is alrered at night, when a result of 3-10dicates that they are wandering.For every inch they wander, the GM shouldll lds. The results of the roll, listed below,dicate their actual direction. This directionn never be the exact direction from whichey came, but instead indicates that they areoving aimlessly (perhaps in a circle).Die Roll Direction

1 North2 Northeast3 East4 Southeast5 South6 Southwest7 West8 Northwest

Characters who wander for four consecutive

inches are considered lost, and the GM shouldmention to them that they no longer believethey know where they are going.WEATHERThe weather of Gamma World is, to say theleast, a bit unusual. Though the four seasonsstill exist, they are frequently interrupted byunnatural weather phenomena, sometimes ofa bizarre nature. The season for this adventureis either late spring, summer, or early fall. Thetemperatures are usually in the high 70s or low80s, but at night can drop down to the 50s andsometimes upper 40s. The GM should rollpercentage dice on the following table atabout noon (game time) to see what theweather will be like for the next day. This way,if the party isusing the alien weather predictorthat isprovided for them, the GM can providethe information for that artifact.

Die WeatherRoll Pattern(* indicates that the GMshould see description below)01-35 Sunny and clear all day36-40 Partly cloudy skies41-50 Partly cloudy skies with a randompercentage chance of rain51-55 Overcast skies56-60 Overcast skies with a random

percentage chance of rain61-65 Thunderstorms66-69 Thunderstorms with dangerouslightning"70-71 Thunderstorms with flash floods"73-76 Monsoon conditions"77-79 Hailstorm"80-84 Tornado conditions"85-89 Unusual cold fronr"90-93 Ice storm"94-97 Acid rain'"9S-00 Black snow*

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Weather Conditions DescriptionsThunderstorms with dangerous lightning: Asnormal thunderstorms, but with an excessiveamount of high voltage lightning. If a PC isstanding out in the middle of a field, on highground, or is up in a tree, he has a 10% chanceof being struck by lightning for every 10 min-utes he is there. Damage done is 6d6 resultingin unconsciousness for 1d 10+ 2 action turns.The only safe place is inside. The GM maywish to use this to further destroy ruins, erc.,frightening the party. Storms on GammaWorld are powerful forces and should befeared.Thunderstorms with flash floods: As Thun-derstorms with dangerous lightning, but theamount of water is so excessive and comesdown so fast that the rivers swell and quicklyturn into raging torrents. The rivers and lakesin the Flower Lands all swell one scale half-inch wide on either shore. Anyone campingnear the river (including in the Village of Os-karl is in danger of being swept away anddrowned. Usually the PCs have to swim for it,losing all of their gear. If a watch is posted, hecannot help but notice the dangerously quickrise of water. The party then has no more than20 turns to reach higher ground. This torrentis so great that if can rip up trees and giantflowers in its path (70% chance of this if acharacter has climbed a tall plant or tower inhopes of escaping).Monsoon Conditions: AsThunderstorms w i thflash floods but with extremely high windsand lasting Id6 + 1 days. The rivers swell OUtone scale inch on each side during this periodand for four days following the monsoon. Inaddition, the Little Glow, East Neverdark,and the Meadows are flooded and become asmarshlands. It is impossible to see where onestarts and the other Stops.


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HE ADVENTURE BEG NSe premise for this adventure can be alteredthe GM to fit into an existing campaign.e player character adventurers are consid-d to be working independently at thise. Their background connections with var-s Cryptic Alliances may only serve to spicethe adventure, and is left entirely to the's discretion. The adventure begins withcharacters in the northwest corner of thest Friendly Lands plateau, as it appears onlarge map.The characters (hereafter referred to as "the

rty," "party members," or "PCs") haveard of a small village which isseeking to hireexploring party. The party has heard of thewer Lands (called the Burning lands incades past, before rampant foliage growththe valley), a beautiful valley full of gianters where there is l itt le animosity amongpeoples living there. Upon their arrival,PCs are warmly welcomed and discovert all that has been said about this wonder-

s land is true. The village, called Haven, is adium-sized community that seems veryll off and well-defended. The occupants ofvillage include the full range of peoples inmma World: pure strain humans, mutants,tated animals, and even a few intelligentnt people. A Restoration Council, one ofoldest on Gamma World, directs the mainorts of this village. Other leanings in then include the Healers and the Brother-od of Thought, but most of the people areendly towards everyone. The leader of thelage is a pure strain human named Genel characteristics are 16, except Charisma,ich is 22) who is the liason between theuncil and the adventurers.Gene has "advertised" for a party becauseneeds neutrals to travel the lands. He ex-ins to the party that various rumors haveched Haven concerning many potentialoblems: an upcoming military conquest ofe valley (see the Village of Oskar), a strangestallation to the south that the Restoration-s have claimed (a future module; thisould only be used for rumor" mongering atis point), a newly discovered temple or simi-ancient place (an upcoming module, alsofered for the rumor mill), the computer ofe ancients, and, of course, Mindkeep.Mindkeep, he tells the party, is on a plateau ine east central area of the Flower Lands. It ispposedly anancient installation of some sort,ere wondrous events occur. However, itmighto contain some great power that can be usedr good, or evil, in the Flower lands. This isthetimate destination Gene plans for the explor-s. He desires a complete report on the locationd its potential for colonization. Since the party

will have to travel through the zones of controlexerted by other villages, it is best, he believes,that the party be neutral. Also, any other infer-marion concerning any rumors would be greatlyappreciated.The p~ymem for success is membership inHaven's community for whatever length oftime the PCSso desire. They would, of course,be used as explorers on other missions for thegood of the village. Lest the PCs underratethis offer, it should be explained co them thatthis is a marvelous chance for them to have ahome base they can trust, and that is one ofthe most beautiful and comfortable villagesthey have ever seen. Various pieces of equip-ment on display show someone with a skill inrepair and maintenance of artifacts must livehere. The people seem to be peaceful, butready to defend themselves. Tolerance ofother beliefs and peoples is unusually high inHaven. Overall, it should be an offer they can-not possibly refuse.Once the PCs have agreed to explore forHaven, they are introduced to Bokshee , whois to be their guide to any destination they

choose. He is one of the few explorers Havenhas now, and has traveled extensively throughthe Plower Lands (the GM should now famil-iarize himself with Bokshee's description inthe New NPC section). It is not Bokshee's jobto make decisions on where to go, bur merelyto help the party get there and back again.The PCs are also given complete lodging andmeals while in Haven so they may rest (theycan also be healed of past wounds). They areeach supplied with twO weeks of rations, plas-tic canteens full of spring water, and any othernormal supplies they desire that the GM feelsare reasonable (including some weapons ofthe GM's choosing).In addition, the parry isgiven three items ofimmeasurable worth. The first is a handmade

map of the Flower Lands, complete with la-bels and a key (show the players the large colormap). This map was designed from an aerialphotograph that was lent to Haven by a her-mit named Erman. Bokshee and other explor-ers filled in the details as best as they could.The PCs may take this map with them on theirjourney. It is kept in a waterproof screw-topduralloy canister. The second item is theweather detector that is described in the NewItems section. The third item is a compass tobe used by the PCs in case Bokshee cannot ac-company them. Every party member is shownhow to use the compass. As long as a charactercan see the compass, the PCs cannot becomecompletely lost. Gene expects all of theseitems to be returned to Haven.

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The Ultimate Goal: Gene catches up with thePCSafter they are about an hour OUtof Haven .He believes there are spies in Haven fromother villages and could not speak with corn-plere freedom there ..He tells the PCs the ulci-mate goal of the party is to find and recoverthe memory core and a functioning term malfrom a non-functioning computer. The Resto-rarionist Council believes that these items canbe found in Mindkeep. If, for some reason,the PCs cannot recover the entire memory coreintact, they are to attempt access to it and askthese twO questions:"Where are the Cities of Man)""How can people reach the Cities of Man?"The party is to write down any information

provided to these questions. A select individ-ual in the party is given an indelible ink penand a plastic sheet notebook for this purpose.Gene ends his final briefing with this farewell:"Fare you well and remember that on yourrmssron rests the future of man- and mu-rantkind,"WHERETO GOThe decision on where to go first is left to thePCS. Gene can give them the following infer-rnation: The Great Glow is a radioactive waste thatwill kill them before they cross it. A friendly hermit who lives on the BlueFood Flats, named Ermon, often (fades withthe people of Haven. He seems to be a purestrain human, but claims to have been mu-tated by the machines in Mindkeep. He abosays he knows the secret to the Alpha Factor,whatever that is. The village of Oskar is a peaceful settle"rnenc, but is now run by a mutated wolverinenamed Timon. He is a member of the Ranksof the Fit, but seems to tolerate members ofother Cryptic Alliances. His is the closestfriendly settlement to the Mindkeep plateauand some of his people may have been upthere already, so maybe the party would wantto talk to him first. The White Woods is completely unknownterritory. The Black Orchid Fields are the home ofthe bu' daan, who are said to love to roll in thefields (this is a false rumor). Gene will fill thecharacters in on the bu 'daan (the GM shouldgive them enough facts to make the PCs terri.fied of the bu'daan).


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THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

Walking the ancient toads is courtingdisaster, as many creatures use it as a huntingground. The Golden Barrens conceal many placesin which to hide and camp at night. The Badders are reponed to be massing ingreat numbers in the Rainbow Forest (this is afalse rumor). Gene warns them that the weather in thevalley fluctuates greatly this time of year (hedoes not go into great detail as he does notwish to frighten the characters away from themission).

Their legends describe Mindkeep as asacred temple of the ancients, filled with hor-rible machines and creatures, yet brimmingwith treasure and a chance for glory. Ermanonce told Gene that" the secret location to thesouthern installation lies within Mindkeep."Erman also mentioned that bad mutations(defects) could be erased in Mindkeep. One final quote from Erman has alwaysstuck in Gene's memory: "Mindkeep was oneof the ancients' last bastions against invasionbefore the Shadow Years. We who workedthere felt Earth had a chance as long as it stoodand was open to mankind" The party should now decide where itwishes to go first, and begin the journey assoon as it is ready. No time limit is set for theadventure; the party can travel over the entirecountryside, seeking Out dues to the true nat-ure of Mind keep. If they desire, the adventur-ers can make many excursions to the plateauin case something amiss happens, but thesooner the information is gathered andrelayed back to Haven, the better for all con-cerned.ENCOUNTERSThe Flower Lands hold many encounters forthe party members. Some are "pre-programmed" adventures, those encountersthat are laid Out in detail either in the book orby the GM prior to the game. However, themajority of encounters the party will experi-ence are random encounters, which are notnecessarily pregcnerated (though the GM cancertainly roll them up in advance ifhe has thedesire and time). The main encounter, ofcourse, is Mindkeep. That will be handled ingreat detail later in this section.

Random EncountersRandom encounters are generated by the GMthree times per day (game time): in therna rning / earl y afternoon, in th elateafternoon/early evening, and in the twilighthours. These encounters are rolled in additionto any pre-programmed encounters, unlessthe party is in a village or on Mindkeep pla-teau. The GM must remember to also roll forthe weather in advance of each day, because apouring rain might force the PCs into a cavewhere they will miss a flying encounter, Simi-larly, the encounter and weather rolled mightcombine to make an interesting situation,such as a single dabber who is stealing fromthe camp on a drizzling evening when no onewants to stand watch.When the GM rolls the random encounters,he must first look at the terrain in which thePCs currently are or will be shortly. If multiple

types of terrain exist, then he should justmake a guess at what terrain he believes willbe most likely to hold an encounter. He thenconsults that terrain on the Flower Lands Ran-dom Encounter Table on the inside backcover, and rolls percentile dice for the result.A "no encounter" roll means that absolutelyno creatures encountered the party duringthat time period. A "harmless encounter" (allmeans that they may have been surprised byan encounter or suspected a creature was lyingin wait, but it turned out to be a harmless sce-nario (beavers gnawing down trees, elk bat-tling over a female, etc.). An "empty caverns,ruins" roll means that the party has tumbledonto a natural cavern that may be inhabited(there is an empty cavern map provided in themap section for this use). The GM should rollagain on the same table to se e if the cavern iscurrently inhabited; if not, he can fill it withcreatures of his own choosing (he can evenplan the cavern encounter in advance, if he sodesires). Other rolls indicate the types of crea-tures or plants the party encounters. Roll forsurprise as normal to see if the encounter islying in wait, is surprised by the party, and soon. Of course, the GM can decide whether it ispossible for the PCS to sneak around anencounter they have surprised.As is coded on the table, certain rolls indi-cate that the creature encounter is actually asmall village or tribe of creatures, thus becom-ing a major encounter. Certain encounters will

always take place inside a cave or ruins, inwhich case the GM simply mentions that thePO; se e an overgrown building and, if theycheck it out, they encounter the creaturewithin _For this reason it is always good to tossin harmless encounters along the way, so the

7

party does not get suspicious when the GMstarts describing a building or cave in detail.Many encounters on the river or lake actuallytake place on the shore, usually when theparty is crossing, resting, bathing, etc. As arule of thumb, non-aquatic encounters areconsidered to always attack on land or, if theyare flyers, on land or water by swooping downon the party.After a hostile encounter is completed, theGM should decide if the party deserves loot orexperience. This is a purely objective decisionon his part. He should consider matters suchas whether the PO; attacked a lair or a village,whether the creatures were intelligent andwould have loot, whether the charactersearned loot because of valor, desperation, etc.If the GM feels that the pes deserve loot, thenhe should roll on the Random Loot Table (onthe inside front cover), All the items there arein perfect working condition, so he shouldalso add broken and worthless items andmementos. The GM decides on the amount oloot based on the difficulty of the encounter.The GM should remember, however. that ieasier to give more loot to a deserving partylater on than it is to take it away from a partythat he has oversupplied.Random encounters may be a source oinformation for the PCs. This information.spread throughout the adventure encountersand background, can be used like loot by theGM.Pre-Programmed EncountersThere are only a few pre-programmedencounters provided in this module asidefrom Mindkeep, but all have something to dowith it. Any other pre-programmed encount-ers must be provided by the GM in advance othe adventure. This is a perfect chance for theGM to introduce his own creatures, racesCryptic Alliances, and so on. He should assignthem to a specific locale (or type of locale) andwait for the party to come across them. If hewishes, he can include clues to their existencein other encounters in this module. The GM'scustom-made encounters will work better ithey fit into the basic storyline of this module,but could easily be used for a "launchingpoint" for a GM's future adventures and campaign plans.A good example of this would be a GM creating a race of intelligent beaveroids (buckers)who inhabit the Living Lake (hence its name)The buckers are industrious builders who arknown for their incredible structures, darnsand bridges. They have little or no informa-tion about Mindkeep, but could tel! a f riend I


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rty that Timon tried to hire them to trains own people in how to build bridges acrossvers. When asked how large the bridgeould be, Timon replied, "large enough forarmy to cross." The buckers have been pru-ntly stalling him with their answer. Theyay also tell of a "structural wonderland" toe east, where huge, ancient wheels andn brellas of steel still exist (referring to ancoming module, in this case).The use of a GM's pre-programmedcounters in an established module providesunique and personalized campaign, withoutquiring the GM to take the time to draw andfine an entire adventuring area and fill inl the encounters.The following pre-programmed encounterse essential in order for the entire Mindkeepventure to work as a whole. As statedefore, other concepts can be added by theM, but the essence of the scenarios shouldt be altered.rmon the Hermithis encounter is centered around a characterving in a cave on the Blue Food Flats. TheM should now look over the characterescription for Ermon the Hermit in the NewPC section, if he has not done so already.rmon has a long, rich life history, scraps ofhich slip out if he trusts the pany members.owever, he does not say much, being used tois seclusion, and never tells his whole talenless he feels a character is a close friend.Ermon looks to be about 70 years of age,ure strain human, and, judging by hiseech and comments, quite intelligent. Histtention slips now and again, but he is farom senile. He carries a staff with him alwaysnd lives in a simple cave that is shallow, butrotects him from the elements. The cave alsoontains a natural spring and sinkhole thatrovide him with all of his water and sanitaryeeds. Ermon lives on the highly nutritiouslue mushrooms that grow on the Blue Foodlats, and has even introduced a new grow-in-e-dark strain to the inside of his cave. Theavern opening is a crawlspace and is easilyncealed by the tall , thick mushrooms (about0 centimeters tall). If necessary, Ermon canemain motionless for hours in his cave andever be detected. He was once hunted byissers years ago and camped inside, silently,or a week without being detected.If the PCSclimb the Blue Food Flats plateau,hey are noticed by four n'thlai who are alreadyp there, picking mushrooms for use in one ofheir religious ceremonies (see New Races forescription of the n'thlai). The n'thlai are afraid

of any party member who is heavily armed andterrified of the party if there is a pure strainhuman in it. Ermon is aware of their presence,but they are far from him and he is staying in hiscave until they go. He knows that they are peace-ful and afraid of humans.The n' thlai do not attack the PCs as they areclimbing, but lie in wait until they aresecurely on top with their backs to the cliffs.Treat the encounter as a mutual surprise, butthe n'thlai allow the party members the firstreaction to see if they attack. At the first attackfrom the party, the n'thlai unleash their men-tal powers. If the party does not attack, thefourth mern ber of the n' thlai party communi-cates with a random PC and tries to establishpeaceful contact. Peaceful talks lead to then'rhlai telling the party about themselves. Ifthe PCs explain they are looking for an oldman, the n'thlai tell them about the old manwho hides up here and does not believe theyknow about him. (They know of him throughempathy and can pinpoint his location for theparty). If the party is extremely friendly withthe n'thlai, they tell the PCS of their beliefthat their origins lie in Mindkeep. They con-sider the ground sacred to themselves and donot climb the plateau, but do not mind if any-one else does. They do know that there is alarge, cylindrical temple on top of the pla-teau The n'thlai, finished with their mush-room picking, then leave the pany and climbdown from the plateau. See the end of thissection for the ri'thlai statistics.If the PCs engage the ri'thlai in combat and

destroy them, Ermon will be wary of the party.He always comes OUto f hiding if Bokshee iswith the group. If Bokshee is not with thegroup, there is a 7)% chance Ermon comesout if his name is called, or a 40% chance ifthe name Mindkeep is called out. Otherwise,he remains hidden. His cave can only belocated by a search and a successful yellow orbetter Intelligence check by the searcher.Searching the entire plateau takes two days.Once he is found and reassured, he talks halt-ingly with the party members.Ermon's Story: (The GM should only reveal bitsand pieces of Errnon's history to the parry, espe-cially those that hint at Mindkeep's true nature.These facts are not included in Ermon's characterdescription lest a player stumble on to thern.)Ennon Coot is one of the last two members of ahuman society that grew up in Mindkeep. Theother member is hi s brother, Jeremiah, whom hebelieves still livesthere. That society wasmade upof the descendants of the original staff thatworked at Mindkeep (see the Mindkeepencounter background for the exact nature of

8

Mindkeep). All of the other pure strain humandied from inbreeding, but Ermon and his brothehad experimented on themselves with thMindkeep machinery and the hidden mutationthat resulted made them immonal (see thedescriptions in the New NPC section). They agveryslowly,and are both over 500 years old.Ermon knows how and why Mindkeepexists, but knows very little of the machinery

there. He has not been there for over 10years, so he does not know what kind of shapthe place is in currently. He left because hbrother went mad waiting for "the aliens" treturn. Ermon has never seen proof of any alens, which for all he knows may have beenterm for America's enemies at that timeAfraid that he would go insane like hbrother, Ermon decided to find an isolatedlocale and live the life of a hermit until hdied, however long that took. He met Genand Bokshee years ago, and lent them his aeial photograph of the area. Ermon has othetreasures from Mindkeep that he lends to thpany members if they are nice to him, offehim some fair trade for the use of his itemsand if he knows their mission and intent. Hwants to keep the Flower Lands at peace anknows Gene will assure that anything founin Mindkeep will be used to that end.Ermon's treasures are buried in a spot onl

he knows, and are impossible to find withouhis help. They include a distant ancestor'identification badge (reading "COOt, Hyram13067S4B"), a Code III gray ID bracelet, anan early version of the black ray pistol. Thversion was sealed and cannot receive a nebattery. Erman says it has one shot left (it actually has tWOshoes left, but there is no wayanyone knowing that). It cannot be rechargeand is worthless after the two shots have beefired. The effects of this black ray pistol arenormal. Ermon expects all of his items to breturned to him. He will not leave his plateauN'thlai CharactersAll of these n'thlai have a Morale of8, a natural Armor Class of - 30, and a land Speed12/900/36. They all have three tentacle slaper turn, for three points of damage.MU(leader) LARPS: 12 MS: 19 (+ 3) PS: n (+4) MS: 15 (+OX: 12 CH: 9 (-I) ox: 10 CH:) (-2)CN: 18+2)JN: 9(-1) CN: 12 IN: 16{+2)Empathy, Intuition ConfusionEquipment: Rations, Equipment: Rations,water skins, 30 water skins, spikesmeters rope, stun and hammer, energygrenade, needier with mace, extra chemicalfull clip, sack of energy cell, sack ofmushrooms mushrooms


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ENCOUNTERS

KUR SHUPPS: 16 ( +2) MS: 21 (+ 3) PS: 10 MS: 13 (+ 1)ox: 18 (+2)CH:11 OX 9(-I)CH:17(+2)CN: 9(-l)IN:7(-1) CN:15(+J)IN:18{+2)Mental Blast PyrokinesisEquipment: Rations, Equipment: Rations,water skins, grappling water skins, 30hook, frag grenade, meters rope, Mk Vslug thrower with full blaster, two extraclip, sack of hydrogen energy.mushrooms cells, sack of

mushroomsVillage of OskarThe setting of this encounter is a prosperousvillage located in the Oasis grasslands on theSouth river. If the PCs take time to reconnoi-ter the place first, the GM can show them theVillage of Oskar Map: otherwise they mustwait until they spend some time in the villageto see the full layout. The GM should studythis map at this time. Note that it is a villagesurrounded by barriers; a river, ditches, earthworks, and a small marsh that is not visible onthe aerial photograph map. The citizens ofOskar, called Oskarians, have also constructeda drawbridge-like structure on the northwestside of town so they can cross the river at will,yet continue to use it as a defense barrier. Thestructure consists of rwo towers, on oppositesides of the river, with steel cables runningbetween them. Fixed along the cables are slatsthat can slide. These slats are drawn from theOskar side to the other side when the Oskar-ians desire, somewhat like a horizontaldrawdrape. When they wish to cross, theycrank the pulleys to extend the bridge over theriver. A counterweight system draws it backquickly when a release is thrown.In addition, the town is surrounded by aseries of towers, eight meters high, with

ancient cannon mounted on them (two rurosto load, a range of 400 meters, damage of 30pain ts over a wide area, fired at the rank of thecrew commander who is familiar with theiruse). The cannon are mounted on swivels.Old banery operated floodlights can also beseen on the towers. Outside the village is thetown's main crop field. Inside the earth worksis the town's livestock, an orchard, and emer-gency crops. Most of the structures in the townare made of baked clay brick, except for thewooden corral, the steel towers, the tWOhugeconcrete cylinders in the middle of town, anda weird structure at their base.The Village of Oskar was a railroad townduring the time of the ancients, featuring "tWOgrain storage elevators and a railroad spurbetween them. All that is left of the spur is a

short section of track with a modified flatcaron it. The rest of the rails were either takenlong ago or went into the construction of thetowers. On top of the flatcar a small shrine hasbeen built out of an old refrigerator. Insidethe refrigerator is a small food processor inperfect condition. It is this item from whichthe village takes its name, as the name Oskar isprinted clearly on the side. The little machineis used to make a special bread during reli-gious festivals here (to operate it must be con-nected, to a portable hand generator thevillage has).Upon studying the village, the party mem-bers will note that there are two basic groups

living here, apparently in harmony. Onegroup is mutated animals (many in variousuniforms) who man the towers and are con-stantly drilling. Among these mutated ani-mals bofs, mutated buffalo , seem mostprevalent (see Timon's description in the NewNPC section for bofs). These creatures areobviously members of the Ranks of the Fit. Allof them carry at least one sort of edgedweapon and at least 30% are armed with dis-tance weapons. Around 100 of them live inthe circular structures. The other group con-sists primarily of humanoids. They are tend-ing the crops and the livestock, but also carrysmall edged weapons, like short swords. Theyare definitely not slaves. It is they' who showthe most reverence towards the railway car,bowing as they pass it. There are around 75 ofthem, all of whom live in the square struc-tures. Menial and necessary jobs (sanitation,fixing structures, etc.) are done by both fac-tions.The party members are closely watchedfrom the towers as they approach the village,the cannon always swiveling to keep them inthe sights. Before they can get too close to thefields or earth works, a large bof trots out andgruffly asks them what their business is here.If they stammer or are intimidated at all, hetells them to "move along, no drifters areallowed in these parts," then plods off. If theymention anything about Gene or Mindkeep,they are invited in to meet Timon.As mentioned in his character description,Timon has successfully combined members oftwo different Alliances into one society. Thevillage is one of the most successful the partyhas ever seen. Those granaries are full and thisfood is used for barter and trade with outsidesocieties. The Oskarian traders are quite suc-cessful as they have the bofs as guards and thedried grain isan excellent trading commodity.Timon' has controlled this village firmly, butfairly, since he first arrived with the bofs fromthe north ten years ago.

9

Timon acts very pleased to meet and hethe party. He lends them a mortar, a grapplinround, a flare round, and an explosive rounfor their ascent up Mindkeep plateau (sthese item descriptions in the New Items stion). All he asks is that they bring the mortback to him as soon as they are finishedMindkeep. He tells them that he has lost tof his people to the mined road up the easteside of that plateau and he believes thclimbing up is the best way (this is a lie, butwants them to feel indebted to him and truhim). He also provides board and roomthem for a couple of days while they rest.does not send any of his people with themsaying that two are enough to lose. Howevhe sends two dabbers in his employ to follothem and report on their progress, as heinterested in what they find.Timon is a wily 01 ' wolverine who wantsknow what is in Mindkeep without appearinoverly curious. He is planning a militatakeover of the Flower Lands within the netwo years (including Haven) using recruitedabbers. badders, bofs, and other Ranksthe Fit and Archivists. He needs all the fipower he can muster for this campaign aalmost drools at the thought of findinancient artifact weapons or a machine whimakes super-soldiers in Mirtdkeep. If heever asked any questions concerning his vlage's military might he simply says a wedefended village is a safe village Aaccusation of expansionism is hotly denied.Timon has great interest in Gene's plaand desires more information about the valin general. This is where the GM must behis best in role playing. Timon must nappear toO eager for information. He provid

some facts himself to start conversation aappears as though he is taking the PCs intoconfidence. He then tries to gently pumpparty members for facts. The GM should flow this course of action and mentally kenote of what party mern bers tell him, as it mhelp his future campaign. He tells the pathe following. The lands to the north of Flower Landsdangerous and not roo developed technologcally (true). The Oskarian traders make a decent livtrading with societies to the south, who pvide them with doth and other basics (parally true, the southern peoples have also beproviding him with weapons and the Oskians have also been trading heavily with lomutated animals).


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A balloonist who came by h ere m an y y earso told him there are many building on thendkeep plateau (true).He wishes to make an alliance with Havend possibly stan a joint colony effort on

indkeep (false; he wanes Mindkeep for him-

If mentioned, he has never heard of Er-n (true), but wishes to hear more.He was involved in too many battles in thewhere wars still rage between Crypticliances, and decided he could never go tor again (totally false).If parry members keep their ears open, andke successful green or better Intell igenceecks, they will pick up the followingatches of conversation while in the village.Bof toa dabber whom he is drilling, "Suckt chest in, boy. Don't wane to get soft andss the action."Disgruntled humanoid to another, whileging OUta ditch, "Those cursed bofs thinky have it sogreat. . .wait' ti l they have to digfor a siege and see how they like it."A young ark mother to her pup, "Yes dear,'ll be going back to our people soon, whenur father signs the treaty with General Ti-A badder soldier coming off duty to a dab-r, " ... even mind the arks. But how can youSt a hoop not to run away in battle? Espe-if they're fighting next. to arks."A young bof to another young bof who arearpening bayonets, "Timon is the greatestder of our times. He will complete the nat-al process that Emperor Napoleon Ifore-An old humanoid to another loading up an, "You be careful down south ... they can

to be mean down there' cuz they knowmon needs their goods for his plans. Wheree can he get that kind of steel?"A young humanoid to his girlfriend, "Awck, he ain't so tough. If he didn't know the

cret to the sacred machine we wouldn't fol-w him." (This refers to the blade Timoneps carefully locked away in his possessions,ch is invaluable to the operation of thed processor.)Timon wines and dines the parry for a fewys, especially Bokshee (if he is with therty) who seems a bit more withdrawn thanrmal. When the PCs are ready to go, Timonain asks that they bring the mona! back onei r retu rn trip.

If the Pcs return after their adventures onMindkeep, Timon boards them again andgives any needed medical aid. He is all sweet-ness and light, trying to gain informationfrom them. If the PCsact as if they are greatlydisappointed by what they found, he suspectsthey are lying, but he does nothing. If theytell him what they found in Mindkeep, he al-lows them to leave, then sends his own expe-dition to Mindkeep to loot it. The valuablesand information that he gains from Mindkeepwill move his war plans ahead a year. If theparty members act as though there is some-thing up there that isvaluable, but do not tellhim what it is, he finaily loses his patience andimprisons them until they talk. He offersthose who talk a chance to join his forces. Theothers he eventually kills if no one stops him.However, Gene has an agent secretly plantedin the village who brings him word concerningany party members who are imprisoned. Geneattacks Oskar with his own people (300 Strongwith Tech II, III, and IV weapons) by comingdown the river in inflatable rafts by night andlanding at Oskar, If Gene's forces win, thosewho held OUt for him are gready rewardedwith tide, position, and loot. Those who wentover to Timon's side are banished from theFlower Lands.MINDKEEP. BackgroundProject Mindkeep was the name of a secretAmerican government project in the last yearsof the battles that led to the holocaust whichcreated Gamma World. The governmentgathered its most brilliant genetic scientistsinto one location, built them an ultra-moderninstallat ion for their research, and instructedthem to find the Alpha Factor, the key to cre-ating 'genetic mutations which might eventu-ally produce psionic soldiers, super-powerfulbeings, and an entire race of new humanswhich might turn the tide of battle. ProjectMindkeep had almost reached its objectivewhen the holocaust threw the world into a nu-clear nightmare.The Project Mindkeep installation was de-signed to survive a nuclear war, so most ofthe

staff who were there on that fateful day livedand stayed there to try and complete their.work. When they realized it was hopeless un-der the reigning anarchy, they carefully pre-served their machines and work, hoping thatsome later generation might benefit fromtheir discoveries. The survivors eventuallyformed their own society and tried to remainracially separated from their mutant neigh-

10

bors. But this inbreeding eventually spelleddoom for the Mindkeep peoples. Disease andinsanity wiped them out in almost one genet-arion, and only a scam bit of their knowledgewas passed to the two surviving brothers. Eventhe Think Tank eventually ceased to functionand immortality began working against thebrothers. The eldest, Jeremiah, finally wentinsane, wait ing for the "aliens" to invade. Er -mon, fearing for his life and realizing thattheir own experiments on each other had mu-tated them into a physically hardier, but men-tally weaker stock, fled Mindkeep and soughtsolitude.Over the next century many myths grewabout Mindkeep, not the least of which in-cluded abundant treasure troves within themain building, now referred to as a temple.Many tried to pry Mindkee p 's secrets from her,but a combination of bad luck, Jeremiah'straps, and native creatures kept the curiousfrom ever reporting their finds. In the end,curiosity was not enough to counter the rumorof certain death, and explorers stopped travel-ing there. Mindkeep is now an ancient site,partly ruled by a living artifact, steeped inmystery and legends. But it is still one of thelast great bastions of knowledge for mankind,holding more potential for good in GammaWorld than any other single source.

Mindkeep PlateauThere ate two routes of ascent up Mindkeepplateau: either climbing the plateau's cliffsides or taking the road up the east side of theplateau. If the PCs are using the latter ap-proach, show them the picture of the EasternView of Mindkeep Plateau on the page withthe Elevator Shaft Blow-Up Illustration.(Make sure that the blow-up is covered whenthe eastern view is shown.)Timon, the leader of the Village of Oskar,insists that the eastern ascending road ismined. He knows that the road is actuallysafe, but wants the pany to feel as though hehas warned them of a grave danger. He alsowants them to weaken themselves somewhatagainst the plateau cliffs. This rumor of themined road has been widely spread and thePCS may hear it from a number of sources intheir travels to Mindkeep. Climbing the cliffstakes the party three hours; taking the roadcuts that time down to 15 minutes. If the PCsuse the cliffs, the G M should roll theencounter for that time period on thePrairies / Grasslands Random Encoun rerTable. If the party is using the road, the GMshould roll the encounter for that time periodon the Ancient Roads Random Encounter


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MINDKEEP

Table. No random rolls are made and no ran-dom encounters occur while the PCSare ontop of the plateau, but once they descend theGM should immediately begin rollingencounters again.GMNo: The GM should look at the map ofthe overall view of the top of Mindkeep Pla-teau at this time. He should not show it to theplayers, but should describe what they seefrom their viewpoint. Locations like theSoutheastern Footpath and NortheasternPlastics Pile are hidden from some points ofview.The specific encounters on the plateau arelisted below. The encounters are listed clock-wise, starting with the Eastern Approach. Theactual Mindkeep Island iscovered in detail inthe next section.The Eastern Approach: Mostof the MindkeepPlateau cliffs are covered with shrubs androcks, but offer very little cover. The easternrim of the top of the cliffs are covered withcactusthat cause ld6 damage per turn to any-one traveling through them in less than anfunAC 4 cuit. Persons traveling up the easternroad are completely surrounded by the cactusonce they approach the top (the last two min-utes of the ascent). Look at the overall viewmap of Mindkeep Plateau's top on page 29.The first preprogrammed encounter onMindkeep Plateau isset in this area.Lying in wait in the cactus are twovene'a'rnub (add one more for every threeparty members over a party size of seven).They were sleeping under cover of the cactusand heard the party coming. They are quitehungry and want the bone marrow the party issponing. They gain complete surprise on theparty, as they are in cover and lying perfectlystill. Each runs out and tries to grasp a victim,striking with its tail if possible. If they firmlygrasp their victims for two turns, they thenrun back into the cactus (in opposite direc-tions) to devour them at leisure in their shal-low caves under the cactus fields. Each lairholds one random TechLevelIII item and twOrandom TechLevelII items.Footpath: An overgrown footpath leads fromthe southeast comer of the plateau top downamidst the cactus for 75 meters and into asmall cave opening in the southern cliffside.The path is so well hidden that within fivemeters of it a successful yellow Intelligencecheck is needed to locate it. The GM shouldnow look at the Cliff Caverns/MindkeepUnderground Map. This map should not be

shown to the players. This area is fullydetailed in the Mindkeep Installation sectionbelow.Main tenance Bu il di ng : The southern ridge ofthe plateau tOP is dominated by a 7~ x 30meter building, 15meters tall. The buildingis made of reinforced concrete and is com-pletely without windows or doors, except forthe north face, which has a huge 30x 12metersliding metal door. This was the maintenancehangar for all the land and air vehiclesused byMindkeep. No vehiclescan be easilyseen out-side, but a mint condition military ground carlarge enough to carry 10passengers and 1000kilograms of equipment is visible to anyoneopening the door. Itis located in the southeastcorner of the building. There isno fuel in thetank, the battery is dead, and the keys aregone. There are four ba'sleds who make theirlair in this building (five if there are over 10party members). Sincethere isno wayto openthe doorwithout making a racket, the ba'sledsknow when their lair is being entered. Theyimmediately attack any who are visiblewithinthe door. Since there are miscellaneousboxes,tables, and crates around, the bs'sleds haveplenty of cover to hide behind. The lights inthis building do not work and there are nowindows, so the ba'sleds are at a distinctadvantage in here.In addition to the car, there are numerousmechanic's tools strewn about an empty tool-box. These are invaluable in keeping the vehi-cle running.The large patch of concrete to the east ofthis building wasonce the parking lot for theMindkeep vehicles.Hangar Building: The eastern side of the pla-teau is the landing strip and hangar forMindkeep's operational flight vehicles. Thehanger building is an L-shaped, 30-meter-tallconcrete structure. There are the remains of acrashed vehicle that looks like it tried to land.The remains stretch along the entire length ofthe strip, through the broken hangar door,and through the southeast side of the build-ing. This wreck looks decades old and,strangely, has not been touched. Upon closeexamination, there isa thin layer of blue fun-gus under most ofthe wreck.It smellslike COt-ten meat. In reality there is nothing wrongwith the fungus. It is harmless, but no crea-ture has wished to bother it. Absolutely noth-ing of value can be found in the wreck or inthe hangar. Ifthe PCs searchthe hangar theydisturb a sre'froth that isasleep on the ceiling.It swoops down on the closest character.Around the western faceof the budding isa

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huge bramble patch. This bramble is at le3.~meters tall and verydense, but the glintsomething large and metallic can be seen inThe something, upon investigation, provesbe an ancient, abandoned aircraft. It isruand useless, except for its fuel tank whichquite full (if anyone bothers to check it). Tfuel can be used to power the car in the maitenance building. If anyone checks undeneath the plane, the large chotslith hidithere attacks. Exceptfor the intact glasswinshield and thin cables running through tplane, nothing else of value can be found.Heather Field: A large heather field coverstnorth central part of the plateau. Within tfield are the remains of a death machinOnce someone getswithin fivemeters of it,can tell that it has been completely strippdown. Hardly a bolt remains, and there acertainly no weapons, batteries, or anythielse useful. Nothing else is in the heatherthis time, though a flockof 52shez'ur neststhe ground underneath. They come out oif a large explosion or sonics are used in theather. If they do fly OUt, they attack anyoin the heather and Ior anyone who isattackithe heather from a position on top of the pteau.Stone Hues: There is a small cluster of stohuts on the north by northwest ridge of tplateau. These structures, measuring arou20 meters in diameter and five metersheight, were housing for the scientists wlived on the plateau itself during Mindkeeheyday.The structures have been looted agand again, and none of them has a wind(four windows in each hut) or door (one doeach) intact. They were quickly-built dwingswith onlyone huge roomfor all the scitists' needs, except a bathroom whichlocated within a windowlesscloset. All ofhuts have been exposed to the elements aare filled with rubble, dust, and dead leavIf the huts are carefully searched, the folloing is found:Hut A. Nothing but trash.Hut B. A name badge reading "Carson, Ja676901" and a pen knife.Hut C. A sheezu brood (mother, father, atwOyoung ones). No loot.Hut D. The structure isready to collapse. Amovement inside can bring it down. AlloDexterity check to jump out through a wdow or door and escapedamage. The collacauses 10d6 points of damage to anyoneinside.Hue E. Nothing but trash.Hut F . Three blackuns have set up their w


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19. This security robot appears to be intact,but isvery old and weathered. If left alone it iscompletely harmless, but for every item that isdisconnected from it, there is a 15% chance .itshort circuits and explodes its battery, whichstill contains some power (Intensity 20, Dm'" 8 to everyone within seven meters).20. This robot looks brand new, but is com-pletely gutted inside Long agoJeremiah scav-enged its innards, but left it there to frightenaway intruders, That has worked up untilnow.21. This wilderness ceo-bot is holding a laserrifle and seems to be pacing back and forth,then standing in place, as though it is lookingfor intruders. In fact, it is holding a toy gun,and a small servo-motor inside causes it tomove occasionally. This bot acts as a scarecrow,asJeremiah has a small garden planted aboutthe robot. PCs must walk right up to the botin order to see the garden.22. This isa fully operational security robot. Itis programmed to activate if a being touches itor if the infrared detector # 11 signals it some-one is approaching door #25.2.3.This is a ground-based radar structure. It isa three-meter square concrete building with aradar dish on top. The door to the building isnot locked. Inside are two krea that have takenrefuge after teleporting across to the island.The ancient remains of a human are alsoinside, along with a badge reading, "Lynn,Caitlin- 403999." a rnedi-kit, and a Code 1lIwhite ID bracelet.24. A round metal door that used to open intoan underground freight lift is barely notice-able in the tall grass (see Level Type A mapand description). There is no external methodof opening this duralloy hatch.25. This is the entrance to Mindkeep. It is asliding lD lock door that was broken long ago.Now all it takes is a character with a PhysicalStrength of at least 7 to slide the door open ordosed. When the party finds it, it is open andappears to have been so for at least a couple ofweeks.26. This large bramble is ful! of harmless rats,rabbits, and squirrels that are descendants ofthe ancient creatures who inhabited this isle.They live off of the vegetation on the isle orthe leftovers of the yexil that do not quitemake the moat. A patty member easily canhear the creatures scurrying around inside the

bramble.27. This bramble contains a zarn that tele-ported across the moat.28. This mutated bramble can move when itdesires and has a symbiotic relationship withthe single nep eps from which it hangs. Until acharacter touches the bramble, it appears tobe growing up the side of Mindkeep. Whentouched, however, the bramble pulls asidelike a curtain and the nep eps immediatelyattacks. The bramble can help the nep eps byacting as a net which pulls victims into thedeath tree (the bramble does this as a Column15 ability). Behind the nep eps, next to theinstallation, is the grave of one of theMindkeep survivors. The tree has pushed thecoffin OUt of the ground over the years. Insidethe coffin is a badge reading, "Plowman,Jennae- :> 32871." There is also a peculiar ringon her right forefinger. This ring is used onLevel 12, Room A of Mindkeep (the actualdescription of the ring is left to the GM).29. A massive skeleton lies on the beach here.This is the mate to the yexil that Liveson theroof of Mindkeep. It accidentally landed inthe moat three months ago and managed tomake it to shore, but it was covered with acidand soon dissolved while its mate looked on.This is why the yexil above is maddened andalways attacks (see Mindkeep Roof).30. A large patch of vibrating cactus hasgrown here. It does absolutely nothing andcannot harm anyone, but no party memberknows that, -Mindkeep InstallationMindkeep itself is a 57-meter-tall, 45-meter-diameter, cylindrical structure. It is made ofconcrete and dural loy. The outer walls androofare twOmeters thick and have the equiva-lent of 1000 hit points per square meter. Thisis also true for all walls marked Heavy Duty onthe level maps. Normal walls can withstandonly 200 points of damage. There are no win-dows in it and only one door, which opens into the third level. All of the electrical wiring,fixtures, plumbing, and air shafts are builtinto the wall and cannot be ripped out.The design of the installation is a hollow

cylinder with rooms around the entire circum-ference, a circular balcony outside the rooms,connected to a central core elevator by ramps.This design not only allows for increased secu-rity (as it is easier to seal levels) , but allows fora large open space inside the structure to pre-

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vent a feeling of being enclosed. The open aialso was used as a sort of huge vent for aircon-ditioning, heating, and so forth. The thickwalls and lack of windows provided excelleninsulation and to this day, the inside tempera-ture is.rarely uncomfortable.All of the service functions were powered b

nuclear generators. The lighting, plumbing,and many suppOrt functions still work, buthat is partly because there is not an unusualstrain placed on the system. Elevator cornpartrnents, ramps, and the balcony are alwaylighted. Room lights tum 00when the dooropened by any means. If a room does not lighup it is noted; otherwise treat all rooms as lby indirect lighting.All of the doors in Mindkeep are slidingmetal doors opened by ID bracelets. Typeand B Level doors require at least a Code II lDbracelet to open. If no ID bracelet isavailablethey can be jimmied open by a character making his Physical Strength roll and using at leasa 60-centimetet-long piece of hard metal oplastic alloy. Type C and roof level doorrequire at least a Code IlliD bracelet to opeor a jimmy plus a successful yellow PhysicaStrength. roll. The huge bay door to thfreight elevator rusted shut long ago and cannot be opened. The doors can sustain 15points of damage before being breached anare treated against lasers (completely invulnerable). .If, for some reason, the nuclear generaror ithe lower levels is turned off or otherwise ren

dered useless, all of the lights turn off and thdoors automatically shut and lock.The balcony that runs around the tubwhich the rooms open onto is always 2.

meters wide. It has a one meter high railinthat is made of high strength steel. Ramplead to the elevator core. The ramps in Typeand B levels are two meters wide, Type C levramps are only 1.25 meters wide. The rampalso are made of high strength steel and havone meter high steel railings. The heighbetween ramps and balconies is around foumeters.Each level has a restroom. Each restroomhas a toilet, sink, full length mirror, showeand couch in it. For some strange reason.jere-miah has kept all the restrooms spotless, possbly as some tie with the past. The gleaminchrome and shining white porcelain shoulshock most party members, who have nevseen anything like this.Marked 00 the level maps are communications bases. Each communications base can tinto any other on any level, if the systemnumbered buttons can be figured Out. Threquires a red Intelligence check. Party rnem


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bets can attempt to figure these out wheneverthey want. Once the PCs understand the but-tons. they can contact any comm-base unlessthe description states otherwise.The GM should take the time now toinspect the maps for all the levels of Mind keepand the blow-up of the elevator shaft.Eleva tor Shaf t: When the party members firstwish to inspect an elevator. they find that thedoors do not work. For that matter, neither doesthe elevator. All of the elevator compartmentsar e stuck on the top floor, with their lights 00.This is because the nuclear generator that ran theelevators broke long ago and they can neitherascend or descend. The doors to the elevators canbe pried open like normal doors for that level. Ifthis i s done. the GM should show the partymembers the blow-up diagram of the elevatorshaft. The two utility tubes hold all the electricallines for the elevators, al l of which are dead. Thetube in the middle holds the duralloy cables thathauled the compartments up and down. Thereare four elevator rubes within the shaft; threenormal ones for twO passengers (two meterswide) and a larger one for freight or mass evacua-tion (four meters wide). If the party memberssomehow cut into those tubes, they just findlong, hollow shafts. Note that there is a ladderaccess within the main elevator shaft. This wasplaced inside in case of emergencies. Handholdson each level run from the doors that open ontoit to the ladder. This is the only unaided way toascend Mindkeep. The other ways are to grappleand climb up with ropes, climb orfly up withoutropes, or land on the roof and drop through thetop. The GM should not allow the last option toexist for the sake of this module unless the char-acters use the mortar supplied by Timon to reachthe roof.The rooms are always curved. always sixmeters wide. and always three meters high.The length of the rooms differs among thethree level types. When party members wishto move a proscribed distance in a turn, theGM must use the scale printed on the levelmap to determine how far that distance is inrelation to everything else.All Type C levels are webbed with old ropesand vines. To the adventurers it looks like achaotic mess. a feeble attempt to keep outintruders. In fact it is an ingenious method ofJeremiah's for moving between levels quickly.He knows the location of every good and badrope or vine up here. He has designed nets ofthem, swings, counter-balanced ropes forpulling him quickly out of danger, and soforth. This all equates to Jeremiah being ableto move with unbelievable agility through thelevels. He can move up to two levels up or

down per rum. Anyone trying to strike at himor shoot him while he is on the ropes suffers a- 2 CS because of his unpredictable moves.Furthermore, any character trying to fight,shoot, or perform any other actions while onthe ropes or vines himself suffers a - 2 CS (if acharacter is on the ropes and shoots at Jere-miah, who is also on the ropes, the shootersuffers a - 4 CS). Movement on the ropes bythe uninitiated is very slow indeed (six turns toclimb one level). In addition, Jeremiah hastrapped many of them. Every turn a playercharacter is on the ropes and vines, he mustmake a percentile dice roll.0-25 indicates he has grabbed a false vine orrope and is suddenlyfalling (he receives twoDexterity saving throws per Type C level he isfalling through to grab another rope; other-wise he keeps falling into open space. See fall-ing damage in the GAMMA WORlD rulesbook).

2 6 - 3 5 indicates he has tripped a snare (he ishanging upside down and completely sur-prised in the same turn; he can do nothinguntil he, or someone else, frees him).36-40 indicates he has triggered a damagingtrap (weight swings over and hits him, rope/whip strickes him, etc.), Dm :: 2 to the indi-vidual character.41-00 indicates the ropes or vines are nOI-mal.MINDKEEPENCOUNTERSAs can be seen by the maps. the structure foreach level of Mindkeep falls into three catego-ries. This makes it very easy for the GM todescribe the rooms, balcony, etc. Once theparty has been through more thao one level ofa.certain type CA,B, or C), the GM can allowthem to use the level map provided to indicatewhere they are going on a level, how they areapproaching a door, etc. Only rooms orbakony/ramp sections with unusual featuresor encounters are listed below. Other roomsare left to the GM to describe. The GM mustkeep in mind that this installation has notbeen fully inhabited for centuries and manymembers of the contemporary society died atonce and were never removed. Nothing ofimportance can be found on their persons, asJeremiah stripped them down after theirdeaths.Type A LevelsThe Type A Levels of Mindkeep are actuallylevels 1and 2, the below ground levels. Below

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them are only the huge nuclear generators(one is dead, the other active), the massiveventilation ducts that circulate the air, anddebris. Since the outside door was left open,and many of these doors were left open by anunbalanced jeremiah, some of these rooms arenow occupied. These are on the maintenanceand utility levels. Note that only the freightelevator went down to these levels and onlyone ramp exited.LevellRoom A: This large room was the receivingbay for freight arriving via the outside elevator. The outside elevator door isclosed, rustedshut, and the shaft has actually caved in on theother side .. Massive machine pans ace stilcrated in here, but no one understands theirfunction anymore.Room B: The door to this room is open. This ithe control room for all of the power systemsin Mindkeep. Anyone who is familiar withTech Level IIIor higher can tell at a glance thaone of the nuclear generators is cold, the otheroperational. They can also tell that anyonetrying to override or tinker with this controlpanel runs a risk of shorting the whole thingout (35 % chance if anyone starts pushing buttons, pulling levers, etc.), There are threeobbs here that flew in a few days ago and arnow quite hungry.Room C: This room was convened intomeeting hall a long time ago. Folding chairand tables are laid out helter skelter, alongwith paper plates and cups. Whatever was othe plates and in the cups is no longerecognizeable. A very unusual feature of thiroom is another door leading toward the outside. This door leads into the undergroundcomplex described after all the normal leverooms. The door requires a Code V 10 to openand cannot be jimmied. It can withstand uto 850 points of damage before beingbreached.Level 2Room A: The door to this room is open. Thiroom does not have the elevator door showon the map to the outside elevator shaft; thaonly exists on level 1. This room is coverewith glowing green fungus. The fungusharmless, but sticks like glue to anything tha[Ouches it. It glows in the dark for at leathree days after it detaches from the colonyAnyone walking through this (or worsebrushing against it) can be seen in the dar. twO levels away. The bathroom contains


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up and moldy. A ted flew in here this morn-mg.L e v e l 4Note: Whenever anyone ascends to this levelthe GM should run the encounter from RoomA.Room A: The door to this room is open. Thiswas a lunch room but is now serving as a nest-ing site for a family of arns. The two parentsimmediately fly Out and attack any pure strainhumans or humanoids who appear on level 4 .The only things of worth in this room are the15 ancient coins in one of the strange metalboxes with windows (an old vendingmachine],Room B: This room was the lounge area forthe staff. Ithas what used to be a large projec-tion television in it. Many optical and audiopans can be salvaged from it.Room E: The door to this room is open. Littlepink flowers grow on the ceiling in here,apparently some weird mold that floweredwhen the door was left open and the lightturned on. The flowers can be killed immedi-ately by water or any other liquid, but cannotbe harmed by fire or chemical defoliants. Iftouched, they emit little screams that add upto an Intensity 13 sonic shriek (Dm = 5 toanyone in the room and Dm = 2 to anyonewithin 10 meters of the doorway to the room ifthe door is open). Careful examination showsthat someone stuck a screwdriver in the doorand jammed it open. A careful search of theroom, which is another office, reveal rwohydrogen energy cells.Room G: This room. another stripped office,now holds a herp, The herp attacked the yexilon the other side of the moat and held on asthe yexil flew. It was eventually dislodged andlanded on the island. It crawled in here andtripped another one of Jeremiah's door wires.Having been in this room for fWO days, it isvery angry and very hungry.L e v e l 5Room B: This room, an examination room,has been trapped byJeremiah. Anyone enter-ing the room activates a sonic detector switchwhich is rigged to a large homemade crossbowmounted in the upper left of the room (Dm= 10), OUt of sight of the doorway. The bolt istipped with Intensity level 6 poison/critical.Room C: This is a doctor's office, but most

everything has been taken out of here exceptfor a huge oaken desk too heavy to move.Opening the top center drawer detonates afragmentation grenade set directly inside.Only pany members standing next to thedrawer are affected. The large bottom leftdrawer is actually metal lined; the top centerdrawer must be opened first in order to openthis one. This deep drawer contains a safe witha combination lock on it. The lock and safecan withstand 250 points of damage beforelosing their Structural integrity. If the charac-ters pull out every one of the seven drawersand search them carefully, inside and out,they find the faint pencil tracings of the safe'scom bination. The safe contains three scraps ofpaper: one reading "22-31-45," one reading"NW, S, N, S, S, SE," and one reading"Open the Pod Bay Doors, HaL" These are allto be used on other devices above. Jeremiahkeeps them here in case the roof is breachedand enemies reach the devices before thecodes can be found below (he will then havetime to destroy the codes).Room D: This room, a dispensary, is a sham-bles. Jeremiah has arranged a trip wire underthe mess. Anyone walking around in the roomdetonates a stun grenade. Normally Jeremiahwould hear this and investigate, bur he is toosick to check out traps tripped on this level.Levele.Every one of these rooms appears to be a hold-ing cell for a dangerous patient or experiment.Some of the cells have huge claw marks on thewalls, others contain the remains of somebizarre, unknown animal or humanoid.Nothing is currently living in them. All thedoors are closed. A small explosive charge(Intensity 18, Dm = 6) is set in each one.When the door opens, anyone within fivemeters of the door takes damage.Nothing valuable is found in any of theserooms.L e v e l 7Room D; This small operating room appearsto be completely normal and amazingly dean.Not until someone touches the white wallswill the PCs realize they are covered with purewhite fungus. If all the fungus is taken OUtofthis room, chopped up, boiled down, andinhaled (as a vapor), it restores hit points toanyone inhaling it (Constitution check. basehealing = 12). A character with herbalknowledge, medical knowledge, or botanicalknowledge knows this on a successful Intelli-gence check. The GM may wish for Bokshee or

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another accompanying NPC to know thisthe party desperately needs healing. Maxmum healing per week in this fashion ispoints.Room E: The door to this room is open anthe lights are all burned out. There are twsucslith perched above the door. The roomfull of hundreds of injectsules, all of thenow empty.Room F : A completely operational med-botin here. It asks if it can help and doesutmost to heal charac ters , if th e characteanswer its question. Upon entering the roomthe rued-bot activates and asks "Service coplease?" Giving the name and number of aof the badges found in a variety of placesthis module allows the med-bot to help tcharacter. He also records the image of aparty member with the name and numbeprovided (all of the old ones were accidentallerased). Thereafter, that party member takon that identity for the robot, regardlessactual appearance. If the robot isnot given tproper response he simply continues to ask hquestion. Once a name and number habeen recorded, they cannot be used by a seond Pc. The number of badges the party savand records is the number of party membethat can be healed.Room H: The door is open to this room. This a chemical storage area. There are all kinof glass and plastic containers filled withkinds of chemicals. The felt tip marker writinhas worn off of all of them and what they areanyone's guess. There is a 100 liter drumalcohol that was meant to be used for antisetic purposes, but can be used as fuel for thein the maintenance building if the party cget it down to ground floor.If the characters take the time to sthrough all the containers. twO things hapen. First. they suffer 1d6 damage from mchemical acids. Second, they find a stranring similar to that on the corpse found oside behind Mindkeep Island (encounter28). The fastest and easiest way to search troom is to dump all the chemicals on the flobut then no character with chemical knowedge ever pay a plugged damar for any ofType C LevelsThere are five Type C levels, levels 8 throu12. Each level has only four rooms and a baroom. but those four rooms are large. Note tthere are cworamps from the elevator to the bcony and that they are only 1.25 meters wide


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achine. There is a large window openingnto the contrivance. Inside is a sterile whiteoom with an unusual reclining chair. On theutside of the machine the characters recog-ize a microphone and speaker.This machine is the Alpha Factor Genera-It is covered with controls, but there is no

ossible way anyone could have an inkling ofow to set them. It is an intelligent machinend cannot be audibly ordered to do anythingor which it is not programmed. If a panyember asks the machine what it is, it replies"I am AFl, the Alpha Factor Generator. Dou wish access?" If the character wishes moreinformation, the machine just ignores him. Ifthe character requests access, AF-I replies"Security Access Code, please."The access door only opens if the characterrepeats the phrase "Open the Pod Bay Doors,Hal" (found on one of the slips of paper in5, Room C's safe). AF-l then says"Please prepare the subject." If asked how,

AF-l responds "Remove all articles of clothingand items from his person and seat him in therecliner." AF-I answers no more questions atthis time.Once a character sits down, the door closes,whether someone else is in the room or not(the Generator only affects the character inthe chair). AF-l then says "Scanning subject." If the subject is an intelligent plant, AF-lsays, "Botanical specimen. Random bom-bardment beginning." It then bombards thecharacter with radiation and immediately cre-ates one random mutation or defect (the GMcan choose a plant mutation or defect). If the subject is a mutated animal, AF-lsays, "Zoological specimen. Random bom-bardment beginning." The GM should rolliaro. A 1 result means a random defect isgenerated, a 2-7 result means a single newmutation is added, an 8-9 result means twomutations are added, and a 10 means thatthree new mutations ar

TSR - 7509 - GW6 - Alpha Factor

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