Mutant on the Loose!
Time for a tumultuous tale of turmoil!
World Building:
Numerous underground labs are hidden throughout Altasharon, where illegal experiments are carried out for a myriad of twisted reasons. And there are mad scientists working in illicitly shady labs who are hungry for pride, perversion, and power. Their insatiable appetites yearn for wicked ways to make themselves superhuman, immortal, to enslave others, or worse!
Whereas Light Strikers gain their powers from the Divine, criminal scientists seek ways to obtain what they want through unnatural and corrupted means. Whether acting alone or as part of a criminal network or organization, these scientists’ goals vary, but ultimately have the same result: falling victim to evil..
Main Plot Backstory:
A doctor-scientist named Nakapoli {nah-kah-poe-lee} was caught stealing chemicals from the Altasharon Kingdom’s medical labs. After escapting to Lorapor, he began performing illegal experiments on his patient named Glabug {gla-bugh}.
Glabug was fooled into believing he was being treated for his crippled arm. He broke his arm in an accident while chopping down trees for building materials when one of the larger trees fell on him.
Nakapoli started using a chemical concoction on Glabug, and lied about it being a medicine that eases pain and has regenerative properties. The chemical mix was actually concocted to transform Glabug’s body into an animal mutant. It also makes his brain impressionable so Nakapoli can control him.
Nakapoli was eventually discovered by Saryovee {Sah-ree-oh-vee} (Imagizard Light Striker), a member of the board of doctors who is in charge of regularly inspecting Lorapor’s doctors to make sure they are not performing any sort of malpractice. She noticed strange notes he had been hiding and inspected Glabug for herself.
Realizing he was found out, Nakapoli fled town. He connected with the criminal organization known as “The Deadclad Brethren.” One of the world’s most feared groups, many Light Strikers consider them to be the most powerful. Their top leaders and founders have never been discovered or seen. Even their lower-level members operate with cunning and secrecy as much as possible.
Nakapoli met with one of the lower level criminals after being approached by her. She has never seen an official Deadclad Brethren member, but communicates with one of their faceless members who bears one of the organization’s marks which are impossible to fake. Nakapoli was on the Deadclad Brethren’s radar.
Desperately, Nakapoli offered to do work for them if they help support him.
After giving him their terms, the Deadclad Brethren started to supply Nakapoli with a small underground lab on a nearby island along with the minimal things he needs to carry out his experiments. If his work proves useful, they will proceed with the next steps.
Nakapoli’s Backstory:
When he was only eight years old, his parents died when his village was attacked by a humongous land wurm. After, he was raised by his village in a community home. He started working as a food-gatherer and studied science text books from his library until he was able to move to achieve a scholarship to a school near Altasharon Kingdom.
He mostly kept to himself and was very quiet throug his teens. Then things changed as he became an adult into his twenties. Fear, loneliness, and anger gripped him, and he withdrew from people, remaining quiet and reclusive as he completed his schooling and education.
Lured by evil, Nakapoli wants to create slave-warriors to obey his every word, worship him, and be willing to protect him by sacrificing their lives for him at any given moment. His chemical formulas turn his victims into mutants who no longer have any sense of self.
It took him years to create his formula which is not yet perfected. The chemicals are difficult to attain, mix, and mixing it takes months.
Light Striker Players Adventure:
Nakapoli transformed Glabug into his slave-warrior mutant. Now, it has been set loose upon Lorapor so Nakapoli can collect data on how well his slave-warrior mutant obeys and performs. The players will encounter the Glabug mutant and must put a stop to its terror!
Sage Commander Game Setup:
In this Light Strikers adventure, your group of heroes will encounter Nakapoli’s mutant—Glabug.
This story is recommended to be played by up to five Light Striker hero players, levels 1 through 2. You can also modify the difficulty by the number of players if your hero players are higher level by changing up the mutant’s rank and abilities.
Glabug / Mutant (Rank 3)
*(at this rank, on their turn, they take 2 actions + 1 movement. 1 action is either a basic attack, special ability, or custom action)
Description: Glabug was turned into a deformed mutant with karkanoka animal parts. His head grew larger, along with big bulging eyes and crooked arms due to his strengthened bones and larger muscles. He has increased strength equal to that of 5 adult men, a large round bone protruding from the top of his head, and long, wide chiseled bones from the tops of his hands.
Base HP: 55 (can increase or decrease based on hero players levels and number of group)
Basic Attack Actions:
Close-range/melee: Bind 7+, Base damage 3, +1 damage for each point over a successful clash 9. Ex. If Glabug attacked a hero, and their Clash was 9, then that is successful since it’s over the Bind of 7. Since it’s +2 over the Bind, The attack does 5 damage in total, 3 base +2 for exceeding the Bind by 2.
Charging ram: choose a single target within 15 feet, Clash vs Bind 9, Victim is moved up to 15 feet and takes 5 HPD and is knocked down. If this successfully hits the victim, the ram can continue traveling in a straight line and can hit multiple victims along the path. Any victims along the path must Speed Clash 6+ or they take 5 HPD and be carried along the path. If any victims are carried into a solid object like a wall during or at the end of the charging ram, they take an additional 3 HPD.
Special Abilities:
Rapid Regeneration: Heal 6S+2, can only use this ability 3x per day (need a full 8 hour rest)
Custom action ideas
Ramming large objects to knock things on victims (calculate HPD)
Trying to knock a civilian off a dangerous height to distract the Light Striker players
Karkanoka {kar-kah-no-kuh} (land mammal)
Description: Karkanokas are four-legged animals that are 5’ tall for the males and 4’ tall for the females. Their heads are wide with a clear bone that curves over the top of their eyes. It gives them a protective covering and a blunt weapon for self-defense or ramming things down (like dying trees or obstacles).
Their muscles and bones also have enhanced regeneration properties. Broken bones, blunt impacts, and certain types of cuts or pierces to their muscle tissue can completely heal over time.
Two large bulbous eyes protrude from the sides of their face and their point snout has a crooked, wavy extension that grows every month (the older the karkanoka, the longer their snout). Layered and curly, Karkanoka hair is thick, rough, and coarse, and is colored in shades of orange; from pale yellow to dark brown.
The top of their snout has an extended chiseled bone to carve out chunks of tree trunk wood. Up to eight long flat teeth (half on top of mouth, the other half on the bottom) show from their mouth and are between 2-4 inches in length. Overall, they have thick bones and composition that makes them comparatively high strength and fortitude.
They eat wood from trees by pecking and biting at it on different levels. Their excrement produces fertilized seeds and are embedded back into the ground to grow into new trees.
These animals mate during the winter and the females give birth a month later to 4-8 babies.Their average lifespan is around 6 years.
Story Ideas:
There are multiple ways you can run this story into your campaign. It can be the first mission assignment for new Light Strikers that you can break up into several encounters with the mutant. For example, the heroes might lose the first few encounters only to survive and get stronger each time until they defeat Glabug with teamwork and strategy. It can be part of a main storyline in your campaign or a side quest that bridges together other major plot points in your campaign. Here are some more ideas:
For a quick start combat scene:
On the outskirts of Lorapor, on a rainy late evening, an eerie scream is heard on the south eastern border of town. One of the neighbors calls the town guard and watches from her window as the mutant breaks into the neighbor’s home and attacks.
For a longer mystery story:
Glabug attacks late at night, takes an innocent person back to Nakapoli’s lab, will only live a few more days before being experiment on and possibly becoming another mutant (weaker or stronger?) The Light Strikers need to search for clues and either track down Nakapoli’s lab or catch Glabug during another night attack for another victim or just to attack and test its strength.
Ending:
The Light Strikers might have to eliminate the mutant during combat to survive. They can try to capture it, but when they bring it back to the Powergrounds, their prof explains that in 50% of the cases, mutants or victims of similar conditions cannot be fully cured or reverted back at this time. Their best shot would be reversing the formula if Nakapoli would give it to them. As a mutant, Glabug no longer has any conscious of his former self, and would need to be sent to a new place in Altasharon Region 1 where mutants are kept, fed, and attempted to be trained to do work, known as “Monhaven.”