MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM: ZINI EDITION

 Earlier in the week I posted a play report of a PARIAH mini-game-within-a-game I finally got to the table, Mutagenic Hive Swarm. Players take on the role of pariahs undergoing an intense and terrifying psychedelic experience: re-manifesting inside a bio-mechanical reptilian hive swarm ship in another dimension... as bugs.

I've put a first draft of the "zini" edition up on itch.io. They'll be a few more updates, with the ultimate goal of this transforming into a zine-length mini-setting/adventure/sandbox.

MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM: OUT[BREAK OF HIVES] NOW!

The zin is designed to be printed on two-sides of an A4 sheet and folded in the middle to make a mini-zine (that's what a zini is, right?). The individual pages look like this:

First page showing character types and essential play procedures

Second page describe encounters, combat, healing and mutation

Third page explains and outlines the procedural generation method

Final page detailing brood encounters, random events and outcomes

All of the images above have their text attached as alt-text, but if you would like a plain-ish text version of the game I'm going to paste it here:

***MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM***

Old-school roleplaying In THE NIGHTMARE world BEYOND - ZINI EDITION

**BEGINNINGS**

You are a stone age psychonaut apparently occupying the body of a Transdimensional Insectoid Reptile, a bug.

But who you were is less important than where you are: you must navigate the bloody, alien meatscape of the MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM and find a way back to the Here & Now... before memories of who or what you fade completely

Roll 1d12 to determine your initial form:

Slayer-Seeker 

Dog-sized, 6-limbed lizard 

HD D4 | ST A13 F14 M13 Ph16 Ps15  

hands; parasite gun; 2 further mutations

2-3 Ripper-Tearer

Scythe-armed bipedal xenomorph

HD D6 | ST A12 F13 M13 Ph15 Ps16

carapace; maw; scythes;  

4-8 Horror-Watcher 

Four-armed, bug-eyed psyker

HD D8 |  ST A13 F14 M13 Ph14 Ps13

claws; hands; psionics

9-11 Terror-Stalker

Giant bipedal dinosaur spider

HD D10 | ST A12 F12 M13 Ph14 Ps14

claws; hands OR tentacle; parasite cannon: 

12 Killer-Screamer

Huge scythe-armed nightmare

HD D12 | ST A11 F11 M12 Ph15 Ps14

horror-scream; maw; scythes; scythes

Roll your HD to determine starting HP

Note number of limbs you have and what they do: you get one attack for each pair. 

NB: you only have hands if it says so

**PROCEDURES**

Each turn you and the other bug players roleplay the exploration of the MUTAGENIC HIVE SWARM, as generated by another player known as the Hivemaster (HM). This evolves into a dialogue: bug players describing the actions of the characters and the HM describing what happens, or asking what YOU think happens.

Sometimes there is a risk of those actions going wrong: in such cases, a saving throw (ST) is made.

*SAVING THROW (ST)*

Roll 1d20: meet or beat the number next to the appropriate save type:

ACID (A) resist corrosive fluids and ichor

FORCE (F) all other physical trauma

MUTATION (M) avoid or instigate change

PHEROMONE (Ph) ignore external hormones

PSIONICS (Ps) avoid psychic manipulation

FAILURE

Failing a save results in damage to HP (see below), loss of time or other narrative effect.

Failed saves can be ignored by making a sacrifice of greater value than the cost of failure, if it makes narrative sense (i.e. taking a bullet on another character’s behalf).

Additionally, success can be purchased with humanity. This isn’t a “codified” attribute or ability score, but each time humanity is sacrificed (or lost through inhuman activities, see overleaf) the player narrates a lost memory such as....:

Performing a magical ritual to conjure or invoke a spirit (loss of a magical power)

Playing an instrument at a mass tribal gathering (loss of a real world skill)

Spending time with a friend with a lover (loss of an emotional connection)

**ENCOUNTERS**

Roll 2d6 to determine the reaction of any brood members encountered:

2 Hostile and /or afraid

3-5 Wary

6-8 Neutral/ambivalent/disinterested

9-11 Mildly curious

12 Friendly/attracted

You can’t communicate verbally with brood numbers (bugs can only “talk” to each other).  

Combatants act in random order (popcorn initiative).

*ATTACKING*

targeted creature makes ST

If save fails, attacker rolls damage

Damage is usually the attacker’s HD.

At 0 HP all entities roll 1d6 on the WOUND CHART

*WOUNDS*

1 Gain a cool scar- otherwise, no additional effect

2 Stunned: miss next round

3 Lose hand/claw/eye-stalk can be re-attached later 

4 Lose limb or tail, possible to re-attach later

5 Decapitation: STvM to continue previous actions/round

6 Explode into multiple smaller entities/arthropod swarm

7 Collapse into sentient ooze-puddle

8 Obliterated out of existence

Further damage at 0 HP is added to next wound roll.

*HEALING*

Bugs may spend an exploration turn eating deceased enemies to heal 1HD of HP. 

If HP already full roll STvM: success = MUTATION

EATING ENEMIES IS AN INHUMAN ACTIVITY

**MUTATIONS**

1 ANTENNAE extra-sensory organs growing from head

- Improve STvPh and STvPs by 1 each. 

- Evolve: continuing improving saves, antennae grow

2 BUD miniature clone budding from shoulder 

- Evolve: bud becomes Slayer-Seeker but still attached

- Evolve again: Slayer-Seeker detaches, loyal follower

3 CARAPACE chitinous armour covers body

- Re-roll any STvF(force) OR STvA (acid) once per round

- Evolve: improve force and acid saves by 1 each (stacks)

4 CLAWS one pair of limbs terminates in talons

- Claws do HD damage, limited fine motor skills

- Evolve: venomous claws; save vs. acid or paralyse

5 EYE-STALK eyes on stalks. 

- No mechanical benefit, but stacks with each re-roll.

6 FORM form evolves to next step in ladder

- e.g. Slayer-Seeker to ripper-tearer, but retaining all mutations

- Increase HD: roll it and add to HP total

7 GLANDS slime-secreting glands appear in visible place

- +1 STvA; allies lick to heal your HD no. of HP

- Evolve: silk glands excrete 10’ rope/round/HP +1 StvA

8 ICHOR-SPIT make a ranged saliva attack at an enemy

- Ichor does no damage but entangles and slows opponent 

- Evolve: save vs acid or receive HD damage

- Evolve 2: melt opponents to 0 HP, re-absorb in 1 round 

9 HANDS one pair of limbs terminates in humanoid hands

- Full motor control, hand punch/slap inflicts 1 HP damage

- Evolve: hands detach from limbs at will, remote operation

10 LIMBS a new pair of limbs appears, terminating in hooves

- Kick inflicts die damage below HD (i.e. 1d6 HD = 1d4 dmg)

- Can accommodate future claw/hand/scythe mutations

11 MAW grotesquely enlarged jaw and sabre-like teeth

- Auto bite when grappling, 1 die down from HD (no save)

- Evolve: damage done increases by one die 

12 OVIPOSTOR grow an egg-laying, tube-like organ

- 1 egg sac/3 turns;  HD no. insect swarms hatch in 2 turns

- Evolve: with tongue, implant eggs into enemies

- STvM to avoid implanted eggs hatching for 2d12 damage

13 SCYTHES pair of limbs terminates in curved bone-blades

- Damage 1 die higher than HD; no fine motor skills

- Evolve: die improves 1 step; also roll 2 dice pick highest

14 PARASITE GUN-> bio-firearm launches parasite larva

- STvF to avoid hit (HD damage), then STvM each round to avoid additional damage as the parasite burrows

- Evolve: to parasite cannon, increase damage1 die

15 PHEROMONES influence behaviour with hormones

- +1 STvPh; +1 reaction rolls with all other brood creatures

- Evolve: +1 STvPh; all reaction rolls with favour (3d6 drop lowest); all friendly reactions become followers

16 PSIONICS psionic cortex enlarges, unlocking power

- +1 STvPs; communicate telepathically with brood creatures

- Evolve: +1 STvPs; induce fear/confusion in targets

Evolve 2: +1 STvPs; possess/control targets

17 SCREAM release a shrill, targeted sonic blast

- target STvPs or else stunned 1 round

- Evolve 1: HORROR SCREAM as above + HD HP damage

- Evolve 2: STARSCREAM as above + all within 10’ of target

18 TENTACLE a squid-like tentacle or whip-like tail

- prehensile; sensitive; too weak to attack

- Evolve: Gain 1d4  tentacles. Att for 1 HP damage each

19 TONGUE tongue enlarges to five feet

- prehensile; sensitive; too weak to attack, as tentacle

- Evolve: gains razor-edge or mini-mouth, HD damage

- auto-hits grappled opponents, stacks with maw 

20 WINGS dragonfly or pterosaur-esque flying appendages

- Mostly useless, but you are protected from fall damage

- Evolve: fly for short bursts at walking speed, rest after flying

HIVE GENERATION: Bugs start with 0 PROGRESS at DEPTH 0 in a fleshy CELL with 1d6 exits. Roll 1d6 + depth to generate TISSUE, FEATURES and BROOD. Depth = no. cells distance from 1st cell

MAP your bugs’ progress on a 25MM hex grid, with each hex representing a cell. Draw across hex edges to indicate passages between cells. Keep track of progress score (below) on  map..

**TISSUE**

1 Crimson, luminescent fleshy polyps separated by fibrous pith: the inside of a pomegranate. Exits translucent wet. Citrus odour. Tasty and sweet.

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

3 Ribbed red flesh, throaty, lined with teeth. Patches of brown/green slime. High, domed ceiling. Exits (some above floor level) flesh-curtains, not easily spotted.

4 Spongy, ochre-beige, mildly acidic: the inside of a stomach. Puddles of bile scattered here-and-there. Sphincteral exits.

5 Rancid and wet-full of rotting shit, a rubbery intestinal tube. Scattered bones in amongst flesh piles. Damp, hypoxic decay.

6 Sharp bone spikes erupting from scaly skin-flaps. Air is dry and warm. Spikes can be removed. Doors like pits on reptile skin with thin membrane

7 Smooth, hard and warm xylem, oozing sweet sap. A tree stripped of its bark, but alive and warm like animal tissue. Doors creak like old boats.

8 Iridescent dust-flakes, a butterfly’s wing. Translucent windows into chambers beyond must be hacked through, they heal in 1d4 turns.

9 Every surface is a bright blue compound eyes separated by black hairs. Usually reflective, sometimes showing glimpses of other possible worlds. Red-eyed doors.

10 Iridescent chitinous shells, smooth and slimy beneath. Smell of salt like the sea. Impossibly hard.

11 Muscular, violet-and-pink tentacles, a cephalapod. Doors are unyielding pink sphincters that must be squeezed through at great effort.

12 A warm salty ocean full of coral, a kind of amniotic sac. Fluid refills the room from a large central gland whenever the kale like curtains are parted.

13 Dense baleen plates full of tiny parasites, each one part of a complex and elaborate culture, each one looking for a new host. Looser plates form exits.

14 Phosphorescent fungus forest: psychedelic mushrooms, the closest to the Dawn Realm this place gets. Floor is wet leaf mould, exits are worm-burrows.

15 Hot, wet ,bloody beating heart: veins pulse along the walls, blood spurts if they are cut (thought they are hard to cut)

16 Gravity free black void, no apparent exits other than where the bugs entered. Only light emanates from them. Somehow...

**FEATURE**

1 Intermittent droning, like a long low note, resonating from the walls of the cell.

2 1d6 small screens recessed into cell wall, display video footage of life in the Here & Now, +1 progress ea player description

3 Slime farm: delicious edible slime; healing incurs no cost to humanity; 2d4 portions, regenerate in 2d4 turns

4 Digestion pit: contains a sentient slime at the bottom of a deep, mucus-covered shaft. Good trap

5 Hibernation chamber: brood encountered are hanging from the ceiling, 1-in-3 chance of waking each turn spent here.

6 Teleportation stream: one exit is a portal into the hyper neural network. Bug dissolves on entry, reconfigured in previously visited cell (2/3) or random new cell (1/3)

7 Egg chamber: 3d4 eggs, hatch if touched, roll 1d4+1 to determine brood type. Gain 1d6 progress if eggs don’t hatch or are all eaten.

8 One exit is a portal to the realm of Dawn: bugs see a psychedelic forest lit by flitting globes. Pass through to reincarnate in the Dawn Realm. 

9 Cocoon walls: various creatures, including humans, are cocooned in the wall-slime and undergoing mutation. Will be recognisable: +2 progress for ea player description.

10 One exit is a portal to the realm of Dusk: gateway to a sandstone labyrinth lit by phosphorescent insect-lanterns, alternating warm and cool draughts, chanting.

11 Incubation chamber: 2d4 eggs, hatch if touched, roll 1d10+2 to determine brood type. Gain 1d8 progress if eggs don’t hatch or are all eaten.

12 One exit is a portal to the realm of Beyond realm of Polaris; bugs can see a red sky and a white sun. Passing through results in reincarnation in a vat.

13 1d8 small screens recessed into cell wall, display video footage of alternative timelines, locales and cultures in the Here & Now, +2 progress ea player description

14 An exit is a portal to the Beyond realm of The Nightmare Watchers: familiar yet something is out of place. Pass through to begin another nightmare...

15 Brood chamber: as incubation chamber but contains sleeping Hive Queen, roll no other brood encounters here.

16 One exit is a portal back to the Here & Now: the bugs see themselves in human form, unconscious.  

Appears automatically AT progress 18

2D4 RANDOM EVENTS (ROLL 2d4 each turn)

2 Whisper from Here & Now, +2 progress

3 Brood cries out in human voice. +1 progress

4 Nothing happens

5 Roll a brood encounter

6 Re-roll cell tissue as chamber mutates

7 Roll two brood encounters

8 Space dwarfs/marines/elves arrive with lasers

**BROOD & OTHER ENTITIES**

Sentient slime pool 10’ radius, immobile

HD 2d12 | ST A8 F6 M6 Ph15 Ps15 | ML - |

STvsA or 2d12 acid damage; slippery; god-like intelligence; only communicate with psionic bugs

Arthropod Swarm 5’ radius, slow

HD 3d8 | ST A13 F14 M13 Ph16 Ps13 ML 11 |

Crawling mass, 1d8 damage no save on contact

1d6 Acid-grabbers Lobster-sized spiders

HD 3d8 | ST A12 F15 M14 Ph16 Ps13 ML 7 |

Dog-sized crustacean, hungry. Obeys ripper-tearers 

Exploding jellyfish Float 5 ft from ground, slow

HP 1 | ST A11 F16 M13 Ph16 Ps15 | ML 12

Suicide bombers, 2d10 acid damage 30’ radius if damaged. Heads towards bugs if curious, friendly or hostile. Only makes physical contact if hostile.

1d6 Slayer-Seekers Dog-sized, 6-limbed lizard 

HD 1d4 | ST A13 F14 M13 Ph16 Ps15 | ML 7

hands; parasite gun; 2 further mutations  

1d4 Ripper-Tearer Scythe-armed bipedal xeno

HD D6 | ST A12 F13 M13 Ph15 Ps1 | ML 9

carapace; maw; scythes;

1d4 Horror-Watcher Four-armed, bug-eyed psyker

HD 3d8 | ST A13 F14 M15 Ph16 Ps13

claws; hands; psionics

2d6 slayer-seekers and 1d8 exploding jellyfish

Human sorcerer Neolithic magical psychonaut

HD 1d8 | ST A17 F13 M17 Ph5 Ps13

Uses magic and psionics. Out of their depth.

1d4 Terror-Stalker Giant bipedal dinosaur spider

HD 4d10 | ST A12 F12 M13 Ph14 Ps14

claws; hands OR tentacle; parasite cannon: 

Human sorcerer, 2 mutations + roll 1d6 for brood

Killer-Screamers Huge scythe-armed nightmare

HD 5d12 | ST A11 F11 M12 Ph15 Ps14

horror-scream; maw; scythes; scythes

2d4 Horror-Watchers and 2d6 human thralls 

2d4 Terror-stalkers + roll 2d6 twice for brood

2d8 Insectoid Monks from the realm of Dusk OR 2d4 spirits from the Dawn realm

Hive Queen, roll 2d8 twice for brood

HD 6d10 | ST A8 F8 M9 Ph5 Ps8

glands (Ev); maw; ovipostor; pheromones (Ev); psionics (Ev2)scythes; tentacles; tongue (Ev); 

Increase morale of other brood member by one. Wants to lay more eggs. Looking for friends. Secretly more intelligent than you.

MORALE

Each encounter has a morale (“ML”) score

Test with 2d6 before its turn in combat if it’s suffered any damage (or its close allies have)

...rolls higher than ML result in the entity fleeing

SORCERERS

Usually Neolithic but also other realities/timelines

Sorcerers can make one low-powered, free-form magical effect in lieu of a combat action etc.

Additionally, use psionics (Ev2)

PROGRESS

HM award progress to you as indicated in features and for other interesting discoveries

Bugs keep track of score for the whole group

Reaching 18 means the next new cell will contain the portal back to the Here & Now

RETURN

Loss of humanity is carried into Here & Now

Option: this manifests as retained mutations

Offspring (from ovipostor etc.)remain as bound spirit, to be agreed with GM 

DEATH

Reincarnate as slayer-seekers in one turn...

...lose a human memory...

...soul cannot return to Here & Now

Download the PDF from itch.io now!

(if you want)

https://atelier-hwei.itch.io/mutagenic-hive-swarm

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