Science Fantasy Role-Playing Game of Mutants, Ruins, and Radiation By Daniel Proctor and Ryan Denison Goblinoid Games ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Special thanks are owed to Tom Moldvay, Dave Cook, Steve Marsh, E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, Frank Mentzer, James M. Ward, Rob Kuntz, J. Eric Holmes, and many, many other individuals who created the foundation of fantasy role playing games. Special thanks also to Ryan Dancey and Wizards of the Coast, Inc., for making the Open Game License and system reference documents available. This work would not have been possible otherwise. This work is dedicated to the memory of E. Gary Gygax. PLAYTESTERS: We wish to thank the following playtesters, who were indispensible in helping us get Mutant Future into its final form: The Whartheheckarewe Players (Sally Abravanel, George Adkins, Kevin Clement, Emilie Gardner, John Gardner, Bryan Gibson, Doug Grimes, Nadine Miller, Kim Schoeffel, Mark A. Siefert); Marv "Finarvyn" Breig (MutantMaster), Alan Bean, Anna Breig, Dardrae Breig, Kaylina Breig, Ryan Breig, and Paul Luzbetak; Moritz "Mutant Lord" Mehlem, Berny "Where's the Radiation? I want new Mutations!" Hofer, Timo "Wow! Great Game! Can I be the Mutant Lord?" Mölich, Peter "Creative use of Mutations has a name" Polcher, Vanessa "Strange Game" Schüler; Jilleta J. Jarvis, Rosalynde E. Jarvis, William F. Jarvis, Thomas Niles, Miles Whitener, James D. Jarvis; Ben Sánchez; Antonio Eleuteri, Lida Vecchiarelli, Luca Eleuteri, Emilia Eleuteri, Francesco Cascone; Russ Westbrook, Alethea Westbrook, Carmen Westbrook, John Davis, and Richard Jones; CS Barnhart, Landon Stephenson, Harry "Todd" Stoops, Daevid Brown, Robert Sheets, Brian Rankin, Travis Homen, Christopher Rosario, Adam Propst Cover illustration by Mark Allen Back cover illustration by Mark Allen Mutant FutureTM logo design by Mark Allen, based on a font by Ray Larabie Interior art by Mark Allen, Steve Zieser, Andrew Taylor, Jason Braun, Jeremy Pea, and Nate Noble Editing and continuity by Ryan Denison, Daniel Proctor, and Lavanya M. Proctor Layout and design by Daniel Proctor Copyright 2008-2010, Daniel Proctor and Ryan Denison. All rights reserved.¡Some artwork Copyright Andrew Taylor, used under license¡Some artwork Copyright Jeremy Pea, used under license¡All artwork is Copyright of its respective artist, and is used under license¡Mutant FutureTM, Mutants & MazesTM, Labyrinth LordTM, and Advanced Labyrinth LordTM are trademarks of Daniel Proctor¡This product is released under the terms of the Open Game License Version 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Third Release, December 2010 2 FOREWORD As I write this the Mutant Future manuscript is in the final stages of layout. This project could not have been completed without the previous work presented in Labyrinth Lord, and therefore a great debt is owed to the works and people from which I draw so much inspiration. Much as I stated in the foreword to Labyrinth Lord, Mutant Future is not an innovative or “new” game; it represents a reimagining of past and present games. We’ve taken game rules from old-school games and combined them with open game content from a number of sources, so that in the end we present a game with old-school sensibilities built upon a solid foundation of past work. I’ve heard from many people who are reluctant to give older play styles a chance, because their proponents are sometimes perceived as being too dogmatic, that is, too inflexible in adhering to “tenets” of out of print games. I want to communicate that Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord have not been created as examples of how games “should be,” or even as a commentary on the way modern games have diverged from their roots. There is some debate about what degree modern games have gotten away from not just the rules of earlier editions, but also the “feel” or spirit of those games. This discussion is far too long to get involved in here, but it is my opinion that so long as you are having fun, it doesn’t matter which edition you are playing. However, while it is true that there is nothing “wrong” with the modern games, it is also true that there is nothing “wrong” with the older games. Some of us just prefer older editions of games. Sadly, a new edition of a game is sometimes released not because it needs to be “fixed,” but because a new edition is the only way to bring in new revenue for a game publisher. From a business perspective this is understandable, but nonetheless, Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord are reactions to this latter philosophy. The rules of Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord will remain available indefinitely in an unadulterated form. Times change, and so do people and their tastes. That’s just a simple reality. But within this change there is a danger that people will forget where it started, and that our roots will be lost in the heap of new editions. This danger is only amplified since it is in the business interests of some to engage in revisionist history or rhetoric to sell newer editions. These comments are only observations, and are not meant to be accusatory or combative. The reality is that out of print copies of games may not be available forever, and their electronic versions may not be offered forever. Part of the point of writing Mutant Future and Labyrinth Lord is to preserve old games in an open format that allows anyone to tinker with them. This you can do under the Open Game License by Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and the free trademark licenses we offer for our games. If you are coming to this game as a player of newer games, please keep playing those games if you enjoy them! All I ask is that you give old-school gaming a chance. Maybe it can find a place at your table. If you are coming to this game as a player of older games, pull up a chair and pick up some dice. You’ll find a lot is familiar. Our goal in writing Mutant Future specifically was to create a simple old-school post apocalyptic science fantasy game that will be compatible with basic edition (or even advanced) games from the 1980s, while maintaining the same flavor of classic science fantasy games from this era. So, Mutant Future is not a retro-clone in the way that Labyrinth Lord is. However, even though it is not designed to maximize compatibility with genre-similar older games, it can certainly be used with these out of print games with little conversion. The biggest joy for me in writing this game has been to finally have the chance to work on a project (that we actually finish…I can think of a certain board game we can’t seem to pin down) with my good friend, Ryan Denison. Of course what this really means is that it has given us one way to maintain close contact even though we live far apart now. Ryan is a much more talented writer than I am, so I tried to take advantage of him as much as possible by having him write many of the new sections for this book. He is responsible for the majority of sick and twisted monsters (although I can claim a few), and if the playtesters’ comments reflect general opinion, I think Ryan’s spidergoats will prove to become infamous. This book simply would not have taken form without Ryan’s dark and fertile, yet light-hearted, imagination. It was with great sadness that I learned during the writing of this game that E. Gary Gygax had died. When I was writing Labyrinth Lord, Tom Moldvay died. It seems that as we try to bring old-school games back into the forefront we keep tragically losing the people who got it all started. I had only met Gary for the first time a few short weeks before his passing, but I found that everything positive people said about him was true. Despite having created the best known RPG, and the RPG hobby as a whole, and despite having such a huge impact on our culture, Gary was a humble and approachable man. I was delighted by his sophisticated sense of humor. When I played in the last session he would ever run of the original fantasy game he created, I won’t forget how narrowly my character escaped death from a giant spider and the mischievous look Gary had in his eyes when he declared someone needed to roll a saving throw versus poison. I have no more words other than to say that Gary will be missed not just by his family and close friends but also by the entire community of gamers he helped bring together. Mutant Future is made in an effort to avoid forgetting our past, and therefore this game is dedicated to the memory of E. Gary Gygax. Dan Proctor May 2008 3 “Do you remember when you talked about working on an old-school post apocalyptic game?” Not long after he uttered those words, Dan Proctor and I began work on what would eventually turn into this book. Mutant Future has been a fun project, but it has also been a lot more than that. Working on Mutant Future has allowed me to spend time with a friend doing what we do best: being nerds. I met Dan when he was running a game that one of our mutual friends was playing in. I played in a few sessions and I was hooked. I played in a lot of Dan’s games after that, and we became good friends. We’ve been friends now for about 15 years.