Mutants in the Now is a little more difficult to make species for than TMNT & OS, but has the advantage of an actual system for it. So this is going to be a mixture of the Mutants in th Mix Patreon article and my worked example.
First you start off with the classification. This can be any familar class. Since some classes contain very few species or the next class they share with others is really far up th tree of life. The more species that can be grouped together, the more certain biological-class traits can key off them.
Most specis should have 2 physical attributes and 1 mental attribute for enhancements. This isn't a strict rule though.
You can then start determining GOO-P. The default is 25. This presumes the following default anthropomorphic traits, or "free" anthropomorphic traits that are always noted under the creature's basic traits (noted here with an asterisk [*]):
- Diet: Carnivore* or Herbivore*
- Movement: Quadrupedal, Hexapodal*, Octopodal*, Myriapodal*
- Prehensility: Locomotors
- Speech: Nonvocal
- Mask: Bestial
- Respiration: Air-Breathing or Water-Breathing*
- Senses: Sight, Hearing, and Scent
The default GOO-P amount also presumes a size rating of 10.
Then take the cost of any anthropomorphic or zoomorphic traits the species may have by default, and subtract them from the starting GOO-P total. Diet is the most most common. No extant natural species will have Speech: Vocal or a Mask trait other than Bestial.
You determine size rating based on the average weight of the species. If the species has a size rating greater than 10, subtract the cost of that size (starting from 10) from the GOO-P total as well. If the species has a size rating lower than 10, then you add the amount of GOO-P necessary for them to reach size rating 10.
Rarely, a species may also have animal traits under their basic traits, typically mythical animals that require them for their unique trait (like the Unicorn's horns trait). The cost of these are subtracted from their GOO-P total.
There are a handful of rare traits which either adjust GOO-P or are worth clarifying:
- Tentacles reduce GOO-P by 2.
- Diet: Inedivore increases GOO-P by 1.
- Movement: Aquatic or Movement: Limbless increase GOO-P by 10.
- Movement: Forelimbs increases GOO-P by 5 (rather than decreasing it).
- Movement: Hexapodal, Octopodal, or Myriapodal do not adjust GOO-P.
- Exotic diet traits (Astravore, Dynavore, etc.) decrease GOO-P by 2.
- Prehensility: Chelipeds decreases GOO-P by 5.
- Sense traits increase GOO-P by an amount equal to the cost to advance to full Sight, Hearing, or Scent.
Unique traits are had to make up and I'm mostly waiting for a more detailed Patreon post. They have a minimum cost of 2 GOO-P, and are generally capped at 10 GOO-P; while they can be very, very potent, they shouldn't be utterly dominating outside of a very specific use case. They need to be things that aren't just common to a group but indivual species.
Simple unique traits can include things like:
- +A or +HA to a specific task, removal of +D from a task, gaining +HA on a task be spending WILL, etc.
- 1 T-WILL gained at the start of a scene under certain circumstances, or when unusual events happen (typically limited to 1 / scene).
- An additional weapon trait or damage benefit (added dice, increased dice, rerolls, etc.).
- Adding new ways to use contacts, values, etc.
The Patreon post said simple bonuses or WILL gains shouldn't be overused if you're creating a lot of species. Finding new ways to utilize situational benefits or drawing upon underutilized mechanics instead. But in that case a detailed knowledge of the rules is required.
Making Homebrew Mutants
Starting with the Animal
The Deathclaw from the Fallout Franchise
What can be seen in game is that they are carnivorous,
bipedal (but some depictions have them charging on all fours for increased
speed)
Size-wise they ae described as being the size of 3 men,
model sizes in F3/NV say 9-10 feet tall, the wiki says 6m (20 feet) lengthways. No details on weight though.
They are clearly aggressive, territorial and have a pack
structure. Though that's more F2+, the ones in F1 were at best loners or a
mother with children. They apparently avoid dense human civilization because of
they are sensitive to bright lights and sound.
Now we have their core attributes STR, AFF and PER, their
toughness we can model with SR and natural SHT. If we were going on F1 alone I
would say END instead of AFF. Of course they are also described as having the
intelligence of an 8 year old even when not engineered to be higher. So COG
could be one too.
The Mutants in the Mix article tells us the GOO-P starts at
25 and is not modified for Diet: Carnivore, Prehensility: Locomotors, Speech:
Nonvocal, Mask: Bestial, Respiration: Air-Breathing, Senses: Sight, Hearing,
and Scent with a default SR of 10
10 feet high or 20 feet long can be interpreted as SR 12 for
height or SR 15 for length. Since they are bipedal and tails don't usually
count unless very muscled in my opinion, I'll say SR 12 (-10)
Bipedal costs 10 overall (-10) and they can grasp things
(-5)
Base GOO-P in total is 0
This is our trait shortlist going by what they show and what
I feel they can do in the wasteland
Major traits: AGGRESSIVE (5 GOO-P), RAKE (Claws + 5 GOO-P)
or SCYTHE (Claws + 2 GOO-P)
Maybes: FEARLESS (5 GOO-P), NIGHTSIGHT (5 GOO-P), SHARP
SIGHT (5 GOO-P) SWIFT (8 GOO-P): Sprint (-3 GOO-P, universal), TOUGH HIDE (5
GOO-P), SHEAR (Teeth + 2 GOO-P), CRUSHING GRIP
Minor: APEX PREDATOR, CLAWS: must decide between Mauling,
Slashing or Talons, COMMUNAL, HORNS: a choice of Antler, Blunt, Charging,
Dueling and Outward, SCALES, TEETH: choice of Crushing, Gnawing or Slaying,
TERRITORIAL
Maybes: BLOODSCENT, CAMOUFLAGE, CRUSHING JAW, ENHANCED
HEARING, HEAT SENSE, HEAT TOLERANCE, INFRASONIC HEARING, NEARLY HUMAN, PACK
HUNTER, RED SIGHT, ROCK CLIMBER, SPRING LEAP, ULTRASONIC HEARING, ULTRAVIOLET
SIGHT, VIBRATION SENSE, WATER STORAGE (edited)
We need to cut this down massively
As MitN doesn't have a Jackson Chamleon or any Chameleon to
compare, we check Wikipedia. Jackson Chamleons are not very territorial but do
use their horns to duel other males. Well Deathclaws are very territorial, but
don't attack with their horns except implied in Fallout 4. But they are
genetically engineered for combat. So we can trim Horns down to HORNS:
Charging, Dueling
Jackson Chameleons do have ultraviolet vision like many
non-mammals, and certainly these things were designed to operate in all
conditions. I would be willing to ditch SHARP SIGHT for a more varied range of
minor traits.
Deathclaws swipe to attack, with their claws, so ditch
things that require grabbing. The difference between Rake and Scythe is hard
but the Rake attack is about grabbing things. So we will just go with Scythe.
Types is difficult, But they are deathCLAWS so consistent damage.
Teeth-wise, they clearly have big teeth for tearing through
flesh but kill primarily with their claws. The exposed teeth are a trait pretty
much only found in crocodilians. So checking Alligators and American Crocodiles
in Now, we see crushing jaw and either crushing or gripping teeth. We also see
Unnerving Vocalization (3 GOO-P, Bellow +5 GOO-P) Which fits with F3+ roaring
prior to attacks. That overrides SHEAR
While chameleons can camouflage, Deathclaws seem to just be
shaded for the wastes. There are changing color Deathclaws in F4, but they
don't camouflaged at all.
They jump but not very high.
SCALES give Resistance 1 but they already have Resistance 1
from SR and that doesn't stack. Also the original models look fairly scaleless
but that might mean fine scales.
Senses, they probably can but never stated to smell blood.
Infrasonic more the ultra.
They ae reptiles but look lean and not big on storing
things.
This gets us:
Major traits: AGGRESSIVE (5 GOO-P), FEARLESS (5 GOO-P),
NIGHTSIGHT (5 GOO-P), SCYTHE (Claws + 2 GOO-P), TOUGH HIDE (5 GOO-P), SWIFT (8 GOO-P): Sprint (-3 GOO-P,
universal), UNNERVING VOCALIZATION (3 GOO-P, ROAR +5 GOO-P)
Minor: APEX PREDATOR, CLAWS: Mauling, COMMUNAL, CRUSHING
JAW, ENHANCED HEARING, HEAT SENSE, HEAT TOLERANCE, HORNS: Charging, Dueling,
INFRASONIC HEARING, NEARLY HUMAN, PACK HUNTER, RED SIGHT, ROCK CLIMBER, TEETH:
Crushing, TERRITORIAL, ULTRAVIOLET SIGHT
Nothing to do with potentially being a reused Tarrasque
model from Planescape Torment. As shown by a version done by the amazing Tony
DiTerlizzi who probably contributed greatly to keeping VtM from just outselling
D&D.
Full write up
Deathclaw
Size Rating 12
GOO-P: +0
Enhance: Strength, Endurance, Perception
Basic Traits: Chamaeleonidae, FEV, Carnivore
Movement: Bipedal
Prehensility: Grasping
Speech: Nonvocal
Mask: Bestial
Respiration: Air-Breathing
Senses: Sight, Hearing, and Scent
Major Traits: AGGRESSIVE (5 GOO-P), FEARLESS (5 GOO-P),
NIGHTSIGHT (5 GOO-P), SCYTHE (Claws + 2 GOO-P),
SWIFT (8 GOO-P): Sprint (-3 GOO-P, universal), TOUGH HIDE (5 GOO-P),
UNNERVING VOCALIZATION (3 GOO-P, ROAR +5 GOO-P)
Minor Traits: APEX PREDATOR, CLAWS: Mauling, COMMUNAL,
CRUSHING JAW, ENHANCED HEARING, HEAT SENSE, HEAT TOLERANCE, HORNS: Charging,
Dueling, INFRASONIC HEARING, MIMICRY, NEARLY HUMAN, RED SIGHT, ROCK CLIMBER,
TEETH: Crushing, TERRITORIAL, ULTRAVIOLET SIGHT
Legend of the Wasteland (5 GOO-P): Spend 1 Will to gain +HA
on social rolls
Now there is some quibbling you can do here
While Nearly Human covers the broad range of intelligence
pack hunters. Where did the whole drop and run on all fours go from Fallout 4?
We could split this into a East and West coast
breed. Make one more social and one more combative. Dropping to all fours would
replace the Unique Trait but should probably split Charging or Dueling HORNS as
well since F4 Deathclaws had thick forward curving horns.
