[DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules

somecallmetim · 11-23-2011, 07:10 PM

I was just thinking that I don't get enough use out of the radiation rules in my DF game. So, what would be some fun ways of irradiating characters? Poisonmetal mines, Plutonium Dragon breath, Elder Thing technology all come to mind. Maybe make up some rules for Gamma World style mutations. Anyone else think this sounds like fun?

aesir23 · 11-23-2011, 07:13 PM

Perhaps the gnomes have struck Uranium, and learned that the dense metal makes excellent Sling bullets.

Flyndaran · 11-23-2011, 07:29 PM

Vampires. They don't take much blood. The wasting away comes from their radioactive presence.

Refplace · 11-23-2011, 08:21 PM

I have built Things man Was not Meant to Know as reality destroying creatures and used innate attacks with radiation as Auras/Emanations or blasts.
Fortunately the gods have created defenders to fight them with radiation tolerance and radiation regeneration and their clerics can cast spells that temporarily bestow these benefits.

Johnny1A.2 · 11-23-2011, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by somecallmetim

I was just thinking that I don't get enough use out of the radiation rules in my DF game. So, what would be some fun ways of irradiating characters? Poisonmetal mines, Plutonium Dragon breath, Elder Thing technology all come to mind. Maybe make up some rules for Gamma World style mutations. Anyone else think this sounds like fun?

There are such things as natural nuclear reactors, and if some process had concentrated ore that happened to include a lot of uranium, a mine in such a place could potentially be dangerous. It might be an interesting experiment to let characters or NPCs get sick from some inexplicable curse, and see how long it takes someone to realize that no sort of countermagic works...

Psychotime · 11-23-2011, 11:41 PM

Er...a "realistic" treatment of radiation sounds so out of genre for Dungeon Fantasy. But then again, I'm not a fan of the genre in the first place.

PseudoFenton · 11-24-2011, 03:11 AM

DF8 introduces Poisonwood and Poison Metal for weapon qualities which seem very much based around the idea of having irradiating properties in them. Not very useful for local to find them, but having a whole area which is inhospitable to normal life due to everything being irradiating, but the local wildlife as adapted somewhat could be interesting.

A few radioactive badgers, a lot of undead who don't care about cancer, and a forest of poisonwood trees and deep mines exposing poison metal veins for some evil guys new armaments for their army. A perfect area for you to strike into in an attempt to disrupt their evil plans, but really can't afford to linger in (and no army would dare to march on), although loot would be very very thin... which may annoy some, throw some ancient temples with writings on their walls which will teach you untold secrets and long forgotten (but useful) knowledge and you've got a form of loot, this also plays well into the Elder Things domain.

EDIT:
Infact, having a DF setting with large swaths of areas like this, perhaps saying poison metal is some kind of skymetal/meteorite originated ore, would be a really good reason for a bunch of violent hobo's to go about doing what they do.

Many many generations ago the gods cursed the lands and sent thousands of burning curses from the heavens destroying the sinful and cursing their lands so that none may ever enter them. In present day noone but "adventurers" are insane enough to enter the cursed lands (where all but a few races perish within days of entering, or having lasting ailments for the rest of their lives), however the cursed kingdoms of old still reside in these cursed areas, their temples and cities turning to ruin with the ravages of time. Their wealth and recorded knowledge just sit around waiting to be reclaimed for anyone daring enough to try it.
Of cause, the various "monstrous" races and badguys are immune to this curse (or have a better resistance, allowing them to survive on the edges of these areas), which is why they are now shunned when they enter the civilised worlds as they must be cursed along with the lands. They manage to survive alongside significantly more organised and sophisticated groups as no army would ever dream of trying to eradicate them in their cursed home lands, but adventurers can be hired to deal with any potent threats when they arise!
Although few people would buy or accept loot found from the cursed lands, most coins are hard to distinguish from one another so can generally be worked back into circulation, or perhaps alchemy has found a way to neutralise them of any curse they've acquired (making the alchemist guilds the most powerful forces in civilised lands).
Magical items and the like however, especially potent ones, tend to be viewed with massive distrust... fearful that they may be left as tests from the gods or assuming anything so powerful must have acquired potent curses too, as such only adventurers dare to use them. Which is why they tend to amass the power of demigods... at least until the curse starts to set in and they die a premature death. Any magical items like this which have made their way into the civilised lands but had their owner die of curses would be buried deep in tombs designed to keep others out, least they share the same fate (because who wants to put them back where they were found originally??) which makes for good low level questing sites!
There's also short cuts through monster inhabited cursed lands which cuts days or even weeks off of travel times and trade route which low level adventurers might perform, or even just the classic defending the wagons as they take the three week meandering trail between cursed woods full of ambushing monsters!

By god if I'd thought of this before I started my campaign I'd totally have done this! It totally allows much wider Fantasy elements into your DF world, politics and economies can easily co-inside with this premise! Bah, I should've kept my mouth shut and written with up as a Pyramid piece! =D

bcd · 11-24-2011, 04:44 AM

Plutonium golems do come to mind. As do some nasty new quirks for magic items. Fatigue cost? No, but rad cost, sure!

The main question to ask, I think, is how easy will it be to heal rad damage in your campaign? If Resist/Cure Radiation aren't available (which typically they wouldn't be in a fantasy setting) can other more general healing spells substitute for them; or is rad poisoning simply very very hard to deal with? It doesn't seem unreasonable to let Remove Curse or even Cure Disease have good effect on the problem in a setting in which rad poisoning essentially is a curse or unexplainable disease.

Anders · 11-24-2011, 04:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcd

Plutonium golems do come to mind.

Wouldn't they have to be very small? Like 25 lbs. or less to avoid a critical mass?

PseudoFenton · 11-24-2011, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Wouldn't they have to be very small? Like 25 lbs. or less to avoid a critical mass?

Could just have an internal core of plutonium and then more standard materials to make the rest of the golem... or have small studs of plutonium all over their body. Of cause a swarm of tiny plutonium golems is also quite a funny idea.

11-23-2011, 07:10 PM	#1
somecallmetim Join Date: Oct 2006	[DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules I was just thinking that I don't get enough use out of the radiation rules in my DF game. So, what would be some fun ways of irradiating characters? Poisonmetal mines, Plutonium Dragon breath, Elder Thing technology all come to mind. Maybe make up some rules for Gamma World style mutations. Anyone else think this sounds like fun?

11-23-2011, 07:13 PM	#2
aesir23 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vermont	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules Perhaps the gnomes have struck Uranium, and learned that the dense metal makes excellent Sling bullets. __________________ My ongoing thread of GURPS versions of DC Comics characters.

11-23-2011, 07:29 PM	#3
Flyndaran Untagged Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Forest Grove, Beaverton, Oregon	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules Vampires. They don't take much blood. The wasting away comes from their radioactive presence.

11-23-2011, 08:21 PM	#4
Refplace Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Yukon, OK	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules I have built Things man Was not Meant to Know as reality destroying creatures and used innate attacks with radiation as Auras/Emanations or blasts. Fortunately the gods have created defenders to fight them with radiation tolerance and radiation regeneration and their clerics can cast spells that temporarily bestow these benefits.

11-23-2011, 11:41 PM	#6
Psychotime Join Date: Jun 2009	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules Er...a "realistic" treatment of radiation sounds so out of genre for Dungeon Fantasy. But then again, I'm not a fan of the genre in the first place. __________________ Who is this kid? [link] Last edited by Psychotime; 11-23-2011 at 11:46 PM.

11-24-2011, 03:11 AM	#7
PseudoFenton Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Land of the Britons	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules DF8 introduces Poisonwood and Poison Metal for weapon qualities which seem very much based around the idea of having irradiating properties in them. Not very useful for local to find them, but having a whole area which is inhospitable to normal life due to everything being irradiating, but the local wildlife as adapted somewhat could be interesting. A few radioactive badgers, a lot of undead who don't care about cancer, and a forest of poisonwood trees and deep mines exposing poison metal veins for some evil guys new armaments for their army. A perfect area for you to strike into in an attempt to disrupt their evil plans, but really can't afford to linger in (and no army would dare to march on), although loot would be very very thin... which may annoy some, throw some ancient temples with writings on their walls which will teach you untold secrets and long forgotten (but useful) knowledge and you've got a form of loot, this also plays well into the Elder Things domain. EDIT: Infact, having a DF setting with large swaths of areas like this, perhaps saying poison metal is some kind of skymetal/meteorite originated ore, would be a really good reason for a bunch of violent hobo's to go about doing what they do. Many many generations ago the gods cursed the lands and sent thousands of burning curses from the heavens destroying the sinful and cursing their lands so that none may ever enter them. In present day noone but "adventurers" are insane enough to enter the cursed lands (where all but a few races perish within days of entering, or having lasting ailments for the rest of their lives), however the cursed kingdoms of old still reside in these cursed areas, their temples and cities turning to ruin with the ravages of time. Their wealth and recorded knowledge just sit around waiting to be reclaimed for anyone daring enough to try it. Of cause, the various "monstrous" races and badguys are immune to this curse (or have a better resistance, allowing them to survive on the edges of these areas), which is why they are now shunned when they enter the civilised worlds as they must be cursed along with the lands. They manage to survive alongside significantly more organised and sophisticated groups as no army would ever dream of trying to eradicate them in their cursed home lands, but adventurers can be hired to deal with any potent threats when they arise! Although few people would buy or accept loot found from the cursed lands, most coins are hard to distinguish from one another so can generally be worked back into circulation, or perhaps alchemy has found a way to neutralise them of any curse they've acquired (making the alchemist guilds the most powerful forces in civilised lands). Magical items and the like however, especially potent ones, tend to be viewed with massive distrust... fearful that they may be left as tests from the gods or assuming anything so powerful must have acquired potent curses too, as such only adventurers dare to use them. Which is why they tend to amass the power of demigods... at least until the curse starts to set in and they die a premature death. Any magical items like this which have made their way into the civilised lands but had their owner die of curses would be buried deep in tombs designed to keep others out, least they share the same fate (because who wants to put them back where they were found originally??) which makes for good low level questing sites! There's also short cuts through monster inhabited cursed lands which cuts days or even weeks off of travel times and trade route which low level adventurers might perform, or even just the classic defending the wagons as they take the three week meandering trail between cursed woods full of ambushing monsters! By god if I'd thought of this before I started my campaign I'd totally have done this! It totally allows much wider Fantasy elements into your DF world, politics and economies can easily co-inside with this premise! Bah, I should've kept my mouth shut and written with up as a Pyramid piece! =D __________________ ...like a monkey with a wrench. Last edited by PseudoFenton; 11-24-2011 at 03:34 AM.

11-24-2011, 04:44 AM	#8
bcd Join Date: Aug 2009	Re: [DF] Getting some use out of the radiation rules Plutonium golems do come to mind. As do some nasty new quirks for magic items. Fatigue cost? No, but rad cost, sure! The main question to ask, I think, is how easy will it be to heal rad damage in your campaign? If Resist/Cure Radiation aren't available (which typically they wouldn't be in a fantasy setting) can other more general healing spells substitute for them; or is rad poisoning simply very very hard to deal with? It doesn't seem unreasonable to let Remove Curse or even Cure Disease have good effect on the problem in a setting in which rad poisoning essentially is a curse or unexplainable disease.