By Samantha Webb
Fight a Brand New Mutated Creature in This Fallout Quest Line
The Winter of Atom’s main quest line is going to give players of this expansion for the Fallout tabletop RPG a unique challenge fighting a maniacal sect of the Church of Atom, with a radical megalomaniac leader at its helm. In this third chapter of the book—the middle part of the campaign—the Last Son of Atom’s followers unleash an all-out war on the Commonwealth, while the Last Son seeks out his real objective buried somewhere deep in the Glowing Sea. They say war never changes, but since when did a fighting force like this use a gargantuan mutated centipede as a siege weapon?
The Gigapede
The gigapede, a massive, mutated monster, is the primary weapon of the Children. Deadly, impervious to most weapons, and easily controlled by the Children’s handlers—the beast seems undefeatable. Able to burrow surreptitiously and then strike by surprise nearly anywhere, its existence makes the entirety of the Commonwealth unsafe.
The gigapede is a huge, level 18 legendary creature, capable of rending entire settlements to scrap and posing a massive problem for its inhabitants let alone a group of player characters. With its debilitating mandibles attack, and a ranged caustic radio-spittle attack, it can inflict large amounts of damage to several targets a turn thanks to its Monstrous special ability. Not only that, but its Monstrous nature gives critical hit against it a whopping 14+ threshold rather than the usual 5+. When it uses its mandibles attack, the GM can also throw a target within Medium range for a couple of AP, causing even more trauma.
Not only that, this gigapede is capable—like most mutated creatures—of burrowing into the ground to strike at its attackers. It can burrow up to two zones in a turn, and gain’s a boost to its damage dice when it re-emerges.
We’re Going to Need Bigger Guns
The Children of Atom are determined to wage war on the Commonwealth in this chapter, and their primary targets of devastation are the very settlements the player characters have been allying themselves to during the first part of the quest line.
When the PCs first tangle with the gigapede, they may feel woefully under-armed. If they ask around about better weapons, a helpful scavenger can direct them to the ruined American Heritage Museum in the small ruined town of Stow, west of Boston. Inside could be the arms and armor they’re looking for, but the group will need to keep scavenging the wasteland—and quickly—in order to stave off the attacks.
If their own efforts aren’t fruitful, the PCs may have to turn to their new allies in the various settlements for a final showdown with the colossal monster, or—if they can unlock the secret commands of its handlers—perhaps they might even be able to tame it?
Winter of Atom, the first expansion for the Fallout tabletop roleplaying game, will be available to pre-order in May, and make its way to store shelves in July.
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