More fun with PostApoc! This time, Mutant Epoch by Outland
Arts!
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The "Hub Rules" are 246
pages in PDF format, and while the PDF isn’t bookmarked, it has lots of links
built into the table of contents. The PDF is $12.99 and POD softcover and
hardcover editions (and bundles) are available at
DriveThruRPG. In addition to
the normal slate of supplements, The Mutant Epoch is also supported by the
Excavator Monthly Magazine. The setting is pretty standard: It’s the year 2346
and society has collapsed. Mutant, robots, clones and more now roam the earth.
If you need something other than the gradual erosion of society, culminating in
a great war, then they provide other options: Alien invasions, portals to other
dimensions, zombie apocalypse…whatever you need. The game uses the standard
D&D array of dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20).
Part one is character creation, and it uses lots of random
rolls. There are a few options for picking character types, rolling stats and
assigning them as you will, etc., but the default it “roll on a bunch of
charts”. There are three “character type” charts, based on your experience
level (as a player). Eight Traits are used (Endurance, Strength, Agility,
Accuracy, Intelligence, Perception, Willpower, Appearance). You use d100 tables
for those that are capable of producing a range anywhere from 1 to 120 (those
most Traits will fall somewhere in between). Then you roll the character’s
Pre-Game Caste, which provides modifiers to your Traits. For instance, you may have
been a Pirate, which gives you bonuses to Strength and Endurance, the ability
to navigate by the stars, 2 Criminal Skills, 2 Warrior Skills and a
Miscellaneous Skill. Also, it is assumed that your old crew is cranky about you
abandoning ship. Each of the backgrounds have little hooks like that built in.
The available character types are Pure Stock Humans,
Bioreplicas (organic, artificial humans), Clones (based off of the DNA of
specific individuals), Trans-Humans (engineered to be better, faster, stronger),
Cyborgs, Ghost Mutants (Mutants who show no outward signs of mutation), Mutants
(Mild, Typical, Severe, Freakish Horrors), Bestial Humans (I CAN MAKE A HONEY
BADGER!).
Interestingly, the game is level based, and while things
like your Strike Value advance on a track, you also roll Rank Gain Bonus Matrix
to see how else you advance. For instance, at Rank 2 your Cyborg may increase
his Agility by 2d6, but gain a Minor Mutation at Rank 3. There is no upper
limit to the leveling. You can also gain skills just by finding a teacher,
regardless of where you are at on your advancement.
And then we get to mutations. First, the Prime Mutation
table is a d1000 table. It includes tidbits like Berserk Rage, Multi Head,
Poison Bite, Telekinesis and Wings. Then there’s the Creature Mutations table,
with options like Acid Blood, Crab Pincers, Limb Regeneration, and Tusks. Ghost
& Latent Mutations are less obvious, and include Coma Inducement, Heal
Touch and Telepathy. Minor Mutations are bits like Blood Color Alteration and
Eye Lights. Of course, there are Flaw Mutations (Baldness, Hemophilia,
Increased Aging, Sterility and more). There are a LOT of options.
As if that’s not enough, there are Implants (like Razor
Allow Claws, Grappling Hooks, Radio Scanners and Weapon Arms). Starting
equipment is based off of the Outfitting Code that each background has. Escaped
Slaves may be unlucky enough to start off wounded…while Wealthy Adventurers may
actually have mounts. Starting weapons and armor are based on random roll tables
with a die modifier based on the Outfitting Code. The gear section runs the
full range from clubs, chains and animal hide armor all the way up to full
tactical armor and laser weapons.
Combat is pretty simple. Roll 1d10 for initiative, roll
under your Strike Value (minus the opponent’s defense) to hit, roll damage and
take it off of the opponent’s Endurance. There are various modifiers that can
apply here, and rolling a 2-5 is an auto hit, with a 1 being a Critical hit.
Similarly, 95-99 is an auto miss, with 100 being a Fumble. And yes, there are
tables for those. EXTREME differences in Strike Value vs Defensive Value can
turn attacks into Auto Hits or remove the possibility of criticals. There are
combat modifiers for various tactics (Called Shots, using other people as
shields), and NPCs use Morale as well. Your Proximity to Death is determined by
both Endurance and Willpower, so one can compensate for the other.
Chase rules are provided, with a number of random tables depending
on what’s happening in the chase (running up a mountain, shooting behind you, flying
through the air)…you use these tables every four rounds, just to jack with the
chase.
Hazard checks are used for a variety of things…resisting
traps, drowning, hypothermia, poisons, radiation, diseases and so on, and are
handled pretty simply: Cross check the hazard rating (A through M) with the
relevant Trait, and this gives you a percentile to roll against. If you fail,
apply the effects.
The Encounters Table has charts for random encounters and
random events, with random events including things like storms, loot, traps and
rare encounters.
The bestiary starts off simple enough: Bears, cattle, fish,
that sort of thing…as well as creatures like Horrlify (bio-engineered patrol
beasts), moaners (essentially zombies), Reptili (lizard men), Skullocks (who
are kinda like goblins) and giant worms. Even better…many of these (including
the stock animals) have their OWN mutation tables! Robots and androids get
their own chapter, it’s just not as cool as the monsters.
Most of the weapons and armor in the Relics section have game stats in the
first chapter, and this one is full of descriptions of everything from
chainsaws to stun sticks to .22 pistols to body armor to dune buggies.
Chapter Eight is NOTHING BUT TABLES. Find a corpse? Roll on
the table to see what it has. Religious icon in a ruined church? That’s a die
roll. There’s even a d100 treasure table that includes plastic samurai swords, plastic
food wrap, doggy bowls, toy pianos and even Elvis busts.
The appendices include: Metric conversion tables, a bit
about the Society of Excavators (an online vault of resources for Mutant Epoch
GMs), common vehicles of the Epoch, scrap vehicles, barding for mounts, siege engines,
GMing tips (they recommend that each player controls multiple PCs, with one as
the “Lead”), adventure seeds, printable hex and grid maps, character sheets and
printable dice you can assemble. Oh, and a clickable index.
WHAT WORKS: Random tables for EVERYTHING just shy of an
adventure generator (which seems like an odd oversight, given the amount of
random rolling). Mutations for all the monsters, flexibility in the setting,
tons of support.
WHAT DOESN’T WORK: If you hate random rolls and feel like you
need a lot of game balance, I’m not sure this game is for you. The setting, as
presented in the Hub rules, is nothing you haven’t seen before.
CONCLUSION: My advice? Roll up a bunch of characters and
have fun. Don’t worry about game balance, don’t worry about stuff making sense…for
pure gonzo PostApoc fun, Mutant Epoch is one of the better options I’ve read.
It doesn’t have the heavy metaplot/back story of
Reclamation or
Hell on Earth,
but it has a lot of cool, old school stylings without being tied to a D&D
base. If you know what you wanna do with a PostApoc game, but not HOW you want
to do it, get this and go nuts.
