PLAY REPORT: MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM

This is a play report of a PARIAH sub-game that takes place in the Hive Swarm aspect of The Beyond

However, in truth it is my homage to the now-nerfed forces of Hive Fleet Kraken and my brief, intense love affair with them back in 1998. I miss you x

Prayer to GW: please don't sue me for using this image, nor what you are about to read...

From Sketches for My Sweetheart, The Beyond:

Wisewomen speak of the chaotic immediacy of Dawn in contrast with the rarefied reptilian intelligence of Dusk: within the Beyond, these two realms have conflated. 

The plague swarm is a complex, technologically advanced culture of monstrous insectoid reptiles driven by the insatiable hunger of Dawn to replenish and reproduce. Biomechanical monsters driven by the desire to assimilate all life and reform it in their own image

The civilisation spans millions of worlds and represents the amalgamation of trillions upon trillions of species, dreaming of a reality in which no single element exists outside of their domain, working in unison towards their goal of multiversal omni immortality

The Players

• Edd0 https://www.instagram.com/snailedlyndenbell/?hl=en
• Eugene
• Oisín https://tirnanoggames.blogspot.com/
  
• Sofinho (the "hivemaster")

The Characters

Players were told to they were welcome to bring a pre-existing character to the table, but no game stats would be used: only a name would be required for identification purposes:

• Sunfish
• Quiet One
• Cuckoo

Whether through design or misadventure, the pariahs transcended the Here and Now and emerged in a new environment.

Roll 1d12 to discern starting form:

• Sunfish, Giant bipedal dinosaur 
• HD D10 | ST A12 F12 M13 Ph14 Ps14
• claws; tentacles; parasite cannon:
• Quiet One:Giant bipedal dinosaur
• HD D10 | ST A12 F12 M13 Ph14 Ps14
• claws; hands; parasite cannon:;
• Cukoo: Scythe-armed bipedal xenomorph
• HD D6 | ST A12 F13 M13 Ph15 Ps16
• carapace; maw; scythes;

Sketch by Edd0

Turn 1

Tissue:

The cell comprises walls of ribbed red flesh: somewhat similar to the interior of a whale (at least as envisaged by Walt Disney). Patches of brown/green slime. High, domed ceiling. Exits (some above floor level) flesh-curtains, not easily spotted. 

Feature:
The cell constant droning, like a long low note, resonating from the walls of the cell.

Event:
None rolled first turn

Sketch by Edd0

The party attempt to come to terms with their new form, and the fact they are unable to speak... but soon find they share a telepathic connection which they use to communicate. 

Sunfish asked for an explanation of the light source, to which I replied it wasn't entirely clear: the environment appeared to radiate its own luminance 

Quiet One aims his "bagpipes" (parasite cannon) at a wall, launching a stream of bile and a vile parasite shaped like a human hand, which burrows into the wall.

HIVEMASTER NOTE 1:

Initially the PARASITE was described as "about the size of a human hand" but Eugene misheard me and thought it was shaped like a human hand... I went with that because he then came up with a reverse-engineered method of estimating his own size based on the emerging human hand.. also, creepier and weirder for it to be a human hand, somehow

The bugs discover there are  5 exits to the chamber:

Turn 2

Tissue:

As previous

Feature:
The cell constant droning, like a long low note, resonating from the walls of the cell.

Event:
Brood encounter: "Jellyfish"

A "valve" opens and 3 (1d4) jellyfish drift in, their bells floating 5' from ground. The party split, after some attempts at communication and note that the 3 jellyfish seem to be homing in on each party member.   

HIVEMASTER NOTE 2:

Reaction roll: 10, "curious"... the jellyfish would just follow at a safe(ish) distance if left to their own devices, but the party were understandably wary (and have no way of knowing the motive of the brood members they meet... yet

Quiet One attempts to coax "his" jellyfish toward the northern valve, while Sunfish and Cuckoo conspired to have their jellyfish follow a trajectory toward one another, ultimately by standing at opposite sides of the chamber

I explained that there was an interminable period while the slow moving jellyfish advanced towards their respective targets, during which time they were able to pick up on fluctuations in the droning sound corresponded to subtle variation in the jellyfish's colour.

Eventually, I present Quiet One with a game of chicken: his jellyfish is within one foot of him and the valve/door has not yet opened... Quiet One scrapes a bit of flesh off the wall with his claws and is preparing to toss it at the  jellyfish

HIVEMASTER NOTE 3:

The core mechanic in the game is the saving throw: bugs have 5 saves (ACID, FORCE, MUTATION, PHEREMONE,PSIONICS), all of which are 1d20, roll high. Something similar to Dreaming Dragon Slayer's synthesis of Maze Rats and Into the Odd is at play here:

I give him the chance to witness the outcome of jellyfish collision before asking if he wants to toss the flesh-ball: when the other two jellies bash into one another they immediately burst in a shower of acid, necessitating saving throws  from the pariahs: they were all were far enough away that damage would have been a mere hit point, but they all succeeded.

This did make it clear to Quiet-One what would happen if the jellyfish touched him, and instead of tossing his flesh-ball, he elected to duck out early, knowing that I will probably make him roll a save if he leaves it until the last minute.

 

Diagram via Dreaming Dragonslayer

Turn 3

I'm a little hazy as to how this precisely worked out, but I'm sure it began with Sunfish opening the northeastern valve and peering into the chamber beyond:

Tissue (depth 1 +1d6)

Damp, old compost odour. Slimy, muscular, like the inside of a grub. Beige, white and orange, lit dimly. Exits are sphinctoral, lined with tiny spikes. Bitter and acrid.

Feature:
Rolled but not immediately obvious to Sunfish from the doorway (they didn't check it out but they might in a  future session, so I've left blank)

Event:
None generated

Perturbed by the smell of rot, Sunfish suggested looking through another valve/door, so Quiet One and Cuckoo inspected the southwest portal, with the jellyfish slowly drifting after Quiet One,

Tissue (depth 1 +1d6)

Smooth, hard and warm xylem, oozing sweet sap

Feature:
3d4 eggs, hatch if touched, roll 1d4+1 to determine brood type.

Event:
None generated

Quiet One pushed a claw into the wall, cracking the xylem open and receiving a steady, sticky spray of viscous sap. Cuckoo tasted some, and was reminde dof hunger and the pleasure of eating: it was sweet and nutritious. Quiet One forewent the pleasure Sunfish watched from outside, conscious that there were no apparent exits to the chamber.

Quiet One positioned himself so that the remianing jellyfish would approach him, while trailing its tentacles over the tap of one of the colourful, semi-tranluscent globes. Great pains were taken to ensure everyone was as far as possible from the potentially exploding jellyfish.

Turn 4

Event:

Brood encounter 1d6+depth (1) "acid  grabber"

As the jellyfish eventually arrived at the first globe and its tendrils made contact, an aperture appeared in the southern wall of the chamber, accompanied by a creeeeeak as the woody material prised itself apart. Unperturbed, the jellyfish burst, raining acid down on most of the eggs.

A dog-sized arthropod, somewhere between an arctic crab and a tarantula, scuttled into the room, glanced at the three bugs with eyestalk, before making its way over to the acid-wrecked egg (reaction roll: ambivalent.

A creature similar to the arthropod emerged from the egg, though evidently mortally wounded by the acid-splash. It heaved a sigh and died, at which point the first creature began to eat it.

I informed Cuckoo's player that the sight made them salivate. Though under no mechanical compulsion to eat, Cuckoo ventured over and began to tuck in, much to Sunfish's disgust.

The large figure of Quiet One stomped over and aimed a kick with one of its scaly hooves...

HIVEMASTER NOTE 5:

Volent actions are simple: PCs roll a die to see how much damage they do, targets make a save to avoid or mitigate damage if appropriate. On this occasion, the target was successful

The creature scuttled out of the way, but continued to eat the egg-mess from the floor.

Sketch by Edd0

Cuckoo was informed that the biomass they were ingesting felt nourishing and empowering, and I gave the option to continue to eat their fill if desired. By spending the remainder of the turn eating, Cuckoo would be able to heal any wounds or afflictions currently suffered. As they had a clean bill of health, the act of eating had another effect: mutation...

"Cuckoo-Eats-the-Egg"... a curiously germane name for a xenomorphic pariah

HIVEMASTER NOTE 6:

Ordinarily, when attacked by mutagenic effects, bugs have to make a save vs. mutation to avoid or mitigate that effect. Conversely, when eating biomass to transform themselves, they have to make a save to gain the benefits of a mutation. However, in this instance I removed the necessity of a roll to illustrate two of the games core elements: transformation and loss of humanity.

The second element, loss of humanity, is mainly just for narrative flavour: the act of eating raw flesh while wearing the form of a transdimensional insectoid alien dehumanises their soul. This manifests by the player recounting a memory the human version of their character might have been fond of, and accepting that this memory s now lost. This could also manifest as a loss of a s kill or ability if we wanted to get mechanical about it. 

Oisín recounted his best recollection of an incident from a previous campaign featuring that character. There was some poignancy there, in that the incident now forgotten had been integral to Cuckoo retaining their humanity!

As for mutation.. a roll of the die resulted in:

• PSIONICS psionic cortex enlarges, unlocking latent power...
•     +1 STvPs; communicate telepathically with brood creatures

While Sunfish was especially put off by this, Quiet One reached down and easily crushed the arthropod feeding on the flesh of its brethren. Curiously, mutation had been a key feature of Quiet One's banishment back on the Here & Now, and here he was embracing it...


Quiet One's memory was of taking the blame for an act of theft that his friend had committed: it was the act leading to his exile, knowing that life within the tribe without his friend would be unbearable. Quiet One was already an "outcast" and a "freak", but he should great humanity in shouldering the blame.

Humanity now lost...

...but at least he got to grow a tentacle!

Sunfish shook his head...

 To be continued?

Additional notes

• Depth is calculated as distance from the first cell
• There is an abstract progress score: when it hits "16" a portal materialises in an adjoining chamber, possibly leading back to their sleeping  bodies in the Here & Now 
• Working on an option just to run this as a dungeon crawl, but really like the psychedelic aspects (especially as this can mean as humans pop up)
• Trying to keep a set of procedures and rules on to two sides of  A4 (a zini) without dependence on other products or systems (though of course it is implied that this takes place in the Pariah multiverse 

Links

The Beyond!
https://aloneinthelabyrinth.blogspot.com/2020/12/sketches-for-my-sweetheart-beyond.html 

Skerples' tyranid army (would love to read more about this)
https://coinsandscrolls.blogspot.com/search/label/tyranid

Advantage and Impact, Dreaming Dragon Slayer:
https://dreamingdragonslayer.wordpress.com/2020/03/28/advantage-and-impact/

Final note

Following False Machine's lead, I have established a new mailing list on substack. Please subscribe!

https://aloneinthelabyrinth.substack.com/