New Super Plants?

[Pepsi Jedi]

You have to dig for it a bit, but if you look in the After the Bomb, you can find some genetically engineered plants that answer some of the questions that aren't directly addressed. I always thought something had to have hit the cutting room floor on that account.

In the back of the ATB book, you find...

The Gasoline plant. The implications of this one alone are HUGE. Settlements can have and tend these plants and have self replicating Gasoline stores. This cuts out the need to gather the gas and refine it. Again, in a post apocalyptic setting, this is absolutely massive. All communities would have these and I have a feeling they'd be treated like absolute gold if not more. Severe penalties in many communities for damaging such plants.

Also.. the plants themselves are likely volatile and lol, highly highly flammable. Making them relatively easy targets to destroy. Book says 160 square feet and produce 3 gallons a day. That's a pretty big space. One flaming arrow, or guy with a zippo could ruin the plant and the wall/building that it's growing on. So while any community or house hold would want/need one of these (( if not many cultivated together)) they would be dangerous to keep around. Again the implications of this plant alone, out of all of them, is huge. You could do entire storys or campaign's based around acquiring, planting, cultivating, defending, ect this plant.

Meat Potato plant. Another massive implication that seems to have been lost along the way. In the world where the animal you see in your yard, might be fully sentient, and not only that but highly psionic, 'eating meat' is going to be dangerous at best, and down right horrific at worst. Any people play predators. Lets face it it's more fun to play the tiger, or wolf or gator mutant than the cow or sheep mutant. These predators often still have their predatory nature and natural weapons. But when running across a field and leaping for a cow might result in the cow screaming profanitys at you, or.. standing up on it's hind legs and spray you with a chain fed machine gun..... well you get the point. Many communities would ostrisize mutants that ate meat and other animals if they insisted on eating meat. Remember Predator to non predator numbers are very very small. It might be more fun to play the predator but in nature there's like one wolf per 500 deer or something. (( don't have the actual numbers on me, but it's very very high))

This is touched on in two ways but only barely. First... mutant insects. They've gotten bigger and are farmed. The book doesn't come out and say it but beetles and ants and such have taken the place of cows and pigs. They're raised as food and beasts of burden. The book is pretty PC and doesn't quite say it but if you read between the lines it's there. The other barely touched thing, is this plant. The Meat Potato. It's a fast growing plant that grows between 3 to 18 POUNDS of 'roast' a weak. Sure it's a plant but there's some meaty plants out there, and this one was genetically engineered to be more meaty. Now.... again poof if you read the write up it seems neat and then you go on to the next item in the look table. But if you stop and think about it. 3 to 18 POUNDS of meat can feed a family for a weak easy, from one plant. If you have two or three of these.. well you're set. You pick your 'roasts' and save what you don't eat. Be it smoking and drying or canning or what ever you do with genetically created roasts potatoes you don't consume. This could easily feed you and your family through the winter if you planned ahead. I'm sure there are breeding programs for more flavored meat potatoes too. Some that (( pardon the implication)) Taste more like beef, or more like pork, or more like chicken. A few of these plants (( Only 50 bucks each!)) could easily feed a family of 4 year round. Even if they don't bloom in the winter. As stated above you pick and plan ahead.... This little plant also allows those mutant predators to exist off of meaty protein with out EATING their neighbors. This would allow predators a bit more leway in the mutant animal society.

So between the meat potato and the mutant bugs, predators (( and omnivorous mutants)) can be fed. This plant is a HUGE deal. That it's glossed over with less than 3 collum lines in the book, wow.

Third, the Serum Plant. A plant, that when you soak it's seed in a drop of your blood, produces CUSTOM Genetically engineered medicine. Even today, this plant would have worth that's almost unchartable. In a post apocalyptic setting, 100 bucks for a plant that heals your sickness... is staggering. Now... it could be that the other prices for things in after the bomb are 'low' to symbolize how little money people have, But still. I think the implication here is that these plants, while miricles in green form, are relitivly common. (( same as the above gasoline and meat plants)). In a post apocalyptic setting where you might live your entire life and never meet a doctor, these things would be godsends and are massive in the implications to the society. Again. Every family would cultivate these. One (( If not two or three)) Per person. (( Just in case one of the plants died or something)). You'd be trained from a young young age to take care of your Serum plants, Your Meat Potato plants and your Gasoline vines. These are glossed over in the book (( Infact you only find them in loot tables in the back)) but are ----major---- aspects of After the Bomb society.

Fourth, the Pheromone flower. While neat, and I'm sure used in cites and stuff in restraunts and stores, this one isn't quite as earth shattering as the previous three. What it does though, is open up the door for other types of pheromone plants. The one in the book makes people generally happy. You know... people have made ones that make people sad or enraged or aroused. You plant a 'suicide plant' out side your enemy's window... and in a few weeks they're wrecked. Feeling like their life doesn't matter and might even up and kill themselves. You plant a few fear plants around your house to scare off people (( but hopefully eat fruit from it or something to make your self immune. OR... You grow fear plants and use the fruit as a bio weapon, could go either way on that one.)) This is pretty cool but more for what could be, than what is printed.

Fifth, Guardian Ivy. Pretty scary plant. The implications that the plant can learn you and snatch people with in 12 feet of it if it doesn't like you ( not kidding. If you pet it while it grows, it doesn't snatch you later), is pretty big. You can do alot with this plant and it's relatives. They DID do more in Mutants Down Under. I highly recommend that book to anyone that has After the Bomb. Still. This is a pretty big thing. Though not as earth shattering as the first three. Still pretty impressive and you can do alot with it during storys.

Sixth, The Everfruit tree. Kinda like the Meat Patato but .... meaner. I can see where they were going with this one. And it's pretty scary. Some people would have one, but the fact that it kills everything, in a 160 foot diamiter circle around it is pretty big too. "No big deal" most people think and brush it off. Till you realize this ONE plant, could kill everything in your yard. And the way that it's roots go so deep and stuff you can't kill it easy. Even flame would only kill the surface. You'd have to dig 80 feet down in a 160 foot circle to get it all out. Miss one bit of root and it grows again. 160 foot circle of death.

Want to mess up a colony? Take a bit of the root of the Everfruit, sneak in at night and plant it in a hole at the base of their gasoline plant. Plant a few in the middle of an enemy's field and ruin their crops for ever. These things look like food. But they're not. Well they are. But that's not what they're "FOR" you have the meat potatoes for eating. These things are biological weapons. They're terrorist weapons. And they're pretty scary.



So here's the question. Above are 6 very impressive plants. Earth changing when you look at them.

What other plants have you come up with for your After the Bomb Game? The above show that if plants can produce gasoline and food roasts to the tune of 18 a week, and genetically tailored custom medicine plants, can be produced, made and have now spread and are growing wild.

What sort have YOU made for your games?

[glitterboy2098]

there was a whole thread in the splicer's forum about 'green warfare' and using spliced plants for various effects. don't remember too many of those though.

how about variations on the gasoline vine idea?
Nitroglycerine producing Tubers (grow your own dynamite..)
still-tree.. variant maple tree producing drinkable alchohol instead of syrup..

or continuing in the "food" concept..
all weather pygmy coconut trees that produce actual cows milk?


for more out there ideas, Larry Niven's known space books had "booster logs (small bushes that grew to tree like, saturn V sized, organic solid rocket boosters), as well as the Sun-flower (a plant with highly reflective petals to concentrate sunlight on a central core of photosynthetic tissue..or create a heat beam for defense)

[Rali]

These are glossed over in the book (( Infact you only find them in loot tables in the back)) but are ----major---- aspects of After the Bomb society

Probably because they are very rare and highly prised by those who have them. It may also indicate the difficulty in growing them since plants are susceptible to disease and bug infestations. Maintaining viable crop yields may be extremely difficult, or dangerous in the case of the Gasoline Vine. Meat Potatoes may attract so many feral animals that they may be more trouble than they are worth to raise. Serum Plants could have their own problem - the seeds may only work if they come from a "Heirloom" plant; one that hasn't been used to cure someone already. And Guardian Vines and EverFruit Trees are a nuisance to many.

** Some Thought On These Plants **

The volatile nature of the Gas Vine could be overcome by having to ferment the vine's sap (or secretions) to create the "gasoline". This would mean the that vine would not be anymore flammable than a normal plant in its natural state. Though having a volatile vine is pretty interesting.

Also, three gallons a day (per 160ft sq.) patch isn't all that much, so you would need a vast vineyard before a community could have enough to be a threat to anyone. Which makes for an interesting plot idea...


Here's your first generation meat potato. "Now a new genetically-modified potato has 1.6 times the protein of normal potatoes and way more amino acids."

As for the predator/prey and the idea of communities ostracizing meat eaters, while it may be true among some "mutant" animals, I take the stance that evolved carnivores and omnivores would look at their "feral" brethren as a viable food source, through that may be blocked by cultural taboos in some areas. Though the presence of animals that may have evolved intellectually, but not physically (a character type I enjoy playing) would pose a difficult conundrum that could be exploited by an imaginative GM.

I doubt you could engineer a meat potato to taste like beef, chicken, or pork [LINK: Where Does Meat Get It's Flavor] unless you were to introduce some flavor additive while preparing the meal (beef stock, chicken stock, etc.) Also, regarding smoking the meat potato, I don't think that curing a vegetable would do much to preserve it. Pickling or drying might work though. Meat Potato Chips anyone?


The Serum Plant, since it takes months to grow after being introduced to the patients diseased blood, wouldn't be a quick fix for any immediately fatal illness and may not be able to cure every ailment. Also, only someone skilled in Botany, Herbal Medicine, or Identify Plants & Fruits (maybe Wilderness Survival) should be able to locate/identify these plants in the wild. I also tend to like the idea that you need to use the seed of an heirloom or parent plant that hasn't been used to cure someone in order for the plant to produce a working serum. Thought he biggest handicap these plants have is still the time it takes to grow them.


Pheromone Flower is the next best thing to a love potion, and a skilled Pharmacist may actually be able to create one from it. I like the idea of the different variations (sorrow, fear, rage, suicide (The Happening anyone?)).


I'm sure a good Botanist or Mad Scientist could turn the Guardian Ivy into something anyone would come to fear. Carnivorous Guardian Ivy?


The thing I think of when it comes to the EverFruit Tree is the animals that would come to have a symbiotic relationship with the tree. Feral birds are a given since the tree sounds to be evergreen; "The immense root structure allows the EverFruit to continuously produce leaves and fruit." Other animals may also come to depend on the year-round supply of food and defend it from anyone who approached it, or did it harm.

Also, since it's almost impossible to kill, small burrowing animals may create a sizable home within the tree itself. Kind of a minature version of the Millennium Trees from Rifts.


I created some new plants in "The Garden of Evil", and made a plant-animal hybrid package based on a LiveScience article I read. There are other "mutant" plant ideas I have tucked away in some old notebooks somewhere; I'll post them if I can find them.

[glitterboy2098]

here's something i could see some people developing pre-crash, and being a major godsend post crash...
Fur bearing trees. a tree that produces bark or leaves that has 'hairs' like animal fur and can be processed to make various types of clothing. Leather-bearing plants might also be a good idea.

pre-crash, it owuld something the "fur is murder" crowd dreamed up, post crash it solves a number of ethical issues regarding clothes.

[Pepsi Jedi]

These are glossed over in the book (( Infact you only find them in loot tables in the back)) but are ----major---- aspects of After the Bomb society

Probably because they are very rare and highly prised by those who have them.

Not really. If you look, some of them are 100 bucks of cheeper. They're not that rare if you can get them for that much. And they pop up in the loot tables.

It may also indicate the difficulty in growing them since plants are susceptible to disease and bug infestations.

Again. I don't think so. They're genetically surperior things built 100 years ago, before the bomb, that exist even now through no cultivation and pop up in the wild to the point where one only costs $50.

Maintaining viable crop yields may be extremely difficult, or dangerous in the case of the Gasoline Vine. Meat Potatoes may attract so many feral animals that they may be more trouble than they are worth to raise. Serum Plants could have their own problem - the seeds may only work if they come from a "Heirloom" plant; one that hasn't been used to cure someone already. And Guardian Vines and EverFruit Trees are a nuisance to many.

** Some Thought On These Plants **

The volatile nature of the Gas Vine could be overcome by having to ferment the vine's sap (or secretions) to create the "gasoline". This would mean the that vine would not be anymore flammable than a normal plant in its natural state. Though having a volatile vine is pretty interesting.

Also, three gallons a day (per 160ft sq.) patch isn't all that much, so you would need a vast vineyard before a community could have enough to be a threat to anyone. Which makes for an interesting plot idea...

3 gallons of gas, in post apocalyptic setting is --alot-- of gas. And that's per day. 21 gallons of Gas a week. And 3 gallons of gas growing over a wall of your house or on your property starts a right nice fire. Not to mention plants burn on their own. Ones soaked in gasoline very much so.

People don't understand how difficult it is to gather and refine gas to the point it's viable. In an after the bomb setting this thing solves a TON of problems, and was likely purposefully put in for just that reason. That was kinda my point. These plants were put in to solve alot of the 'unseen' problems of the game and are big deals.

Here's your first generation meat potato. "Now a new genetically-modified potato has 1.6 times the protein of normal potatoes and way more amino acids."

As for the predator/prey and the idea of communities ostracizing meat eaters, while it may be true among some "mutant" animals, I take the stance that evolved carnivores and omnivores would look at their "feral" brethren as a viable food source, through that may be blocked by cultural taboos in some areas.

What do you mean by 'feral' though? As pointed out in my example. How do you know the cow you're running towards is feral or sentient? What if it has full human level intelligence but looks none, hands none, biped none, but psionics? And you eat him. You've murdered and eaten a sentient being. Conversely as the random encounter tables show, the inverse is true. You can have animals with human looks full but animal level intelligence. Well they're just animals that look humanish. Can you eat them? What about the other 99.9% of the animals in After the bomb that are in between. Where do you draw the line on who's edible and who's not? Do you give your food IQ tests?

Though the presence of animals that may have evolved intellectually, but not physically (a character type I enjoy playing) would pose a difficult conundrum that could be exploited by an imaginative GM.

I doubt you could engineer a meat potato to taste like beef, chicken, or pork [LINK: Where Does Meat Get It's Flavor] unless you were to introduce some flavor additive while preparing the meal (beef stock, chicken stock, etc.)

They've engineered vines that produce 3 gallons of gas a day, and a plant that produces up to 18 one pound 'Roasts' a week. Not going into the science of where that mass comes from, if they have the plant that can do that. Flavor is a minor thing. Your McDonalds food doesn't tastes like it does because the food they hand you tastes like that. McDonalds has a chemistry lab with food scientists that develop the flavors that the food is later given. (( Pretty horrific I know)). If we as a people have advanced to the point that plants can produce enough gas for one car per day, I'm pretty sure they can make their 'roasts' on their 'meat' plant taste like meat.

Also, regarding smoking the meat potato, I don't think that curing a vegetable would do much to preserve it. Pickling or drying might work though. Meat Potato Chips anyone?

That part was a bit tongue and cheek, but my point remains. In a world that has these items and they're producing a great ammount of protein for meat eating animals and others, and if one plant produced 18 POUNDS of meat a week, then they would find a way to preserve the roasts, for the winter when the plant may not be producing.

The Serum Plant, since it takes months to grow after being introduced to the patients diseased blood, wouldn't be a quick fix for any immediately fatal illness and may not be able to cure every ailment.

Thusly, as I said, it's conceivable that most people would have these synced to them at a very very young age. If not two or three. Just in case one gets sick or something. You don't wait till you get sick to grow your super medicine plant. Just like you don't wait till you get a headache to drive to the store to get aspirin. you have some in the medicine cabinet. Sure adventurers traveling all over wouldn't benifit as much from this, but in every day life these solve alot of problems. Namely the one doctor in 500 square mile problem.

Also, only someone skilled in Botany, Herbal Medicine, or Identify Plants & Fruits (maybe Wilderness Survival) should be able to locate/identify these plants in the wild. I also tend to like the idea that you need to use the seed of an heirloom or parent plant that hasn't been used to cure someone in order for the plant to produce a working serum. Thought he biggest handicap these plants have is still the time it takes to grow them.

Hince you grow them before you become ill.

Pheromone Flower is the next best thing to a love potion, and a skilled Pharmacist may actually be able to create one from it. I like the idea of the different variations (sorrow, fear, rage, suicide (The Happening anyone?)).


I'm sure a good Botanist or Mad Scientist could turn the Guardian Ivy into something anyone would come to fear. Carnivorous Guardian Ivy?

Yeah the plants in Mutants down under are like this. I didn't go into much detail into those, because they're detailed a good bit in Mutants Down Under.

I created some new plants in "The Garden of Evil", and made a plant-animal hybrid package based on a LiveScience article I read. There are other "mutant" plant ideas I have tucked away in some old notebooks somewhere; I'll post them if I can find them.

I'll look over them and look forward to new ones! thank you.

[Pepsi Jedi]

I didn't make those up. lol. Those are cannon from the book.

[Pepsi Jedi]

Well that's likely what it is, but considering it's got like 2 column lines in a loot table in the back of the book and is easy to miss, I think it was done for ease and word count.

In the setting, we had technology advanced enough that children could make transgenic mice in their homes. While a gas plant is a heck of a stretch, with that level of genetics, it might be possible.

[Rali]

...some of them are 100 bucks of cheeper
...where one only costs $50

Apparently our in-game economics are way different. The way I run my setting that kind of money is an extreme investment for most people. Players may find that money chump change (depending on the GM), but the general population probably only make a few dollars a day - if that.

People don't understand how difficult it is to gather and refine gas to the point it's viable. In an after the bomb setting this thing solves a TON of problems, and was likely purposefully put in for just that reason. That was kinda my point. These plants were put in to solve alot of the 'unseen' problems of the game and are big deals.

I don't like making things easy in my settings, takes away from the post apocalyptic theme of hardship after the fall of civilization as we know it. May as well make a bullet tree so they don't have to worry about "problem" of running out of ammo.

What do you mean by 'feral'...
How do you know the cow you're running towards is feral or sentient? What if it has full human level intelligence but looks none, hands none, biped none, but psionics? And you eat him. You've murdered and eaten a sentient being.

When I refere to "feral" creatures in AtB, I'm talking about the un-lifted, non-sapient, normal animals. Those who were not affected by the virus that caused the Big Death:

"Some animals were affected as well. About 25% of all primates, and 10% of mammals, as well as 2% of other creatures showed symptoms of the disease. Of those animals affected, most died, but about a third seemed to mutate as they recovered."

That leaves a lot of animals that were never affected and are still "feral" or wild.

If you eat an animal and it showed no signs of "sentience" how would you know the difference until it's buddy showed up and told you? You wouldn't, so there's no conflict. If the cow were intelegent, it would certainly make some attempt to communicate or stop you. It may fail in that attempt, or be misinterpretted, but the result is still the same. Ignorance is bliss... and a full stomach.

Though, one way to make sure would be to employ a "Cell Reader". They would be able to tell the difference.

I'm pretty sure they can make their 'roasts' on their 'meat' plant taste like meat.

It's a game, so I'll give you this one. Though I still like the idea of having to add the meat flavor afterwards, kinda like tofu. As a funny idea, you could make it taste like whatever the character wants it to taste like. A psychic roast if you will.

RE: Syrum Plant
Thusly, as I said, it's conceivable that most people would have these synced to them at a very very young age.
You don't wait till you get sick to grow your super medicine plant.

The way I see it, you would have to grow the plant after you've come down with an illness (with a drop of infected blood) for it to create a syrum to cure you. Having one "synced" to you at an early age would only work on pre-existing conditions. How would the plant create the syrum if it didn't know what was wrong with you? It's the same reason scientists can't cure diseases before they appear.

A while ago I created the Panacea Goat which is pretty much the same thing as the Syrum Plant. It can produce a cure a whole lot faster, but these animals are a whole lot harder to come by.

In the mid-21st century, pharmaceutical scientists had genetically engineering goats to produce a variety of drug proteins in their milk to treat various diseases and illnesses. In the years following the Crash, mutagens in the environment altered the goats so that they gained the ability to detect what disease or illness was affecting others and produce the appropriate cure in their milk.

Panacea Goats look like any other goat and tend to live among normal non-mutant goat herds. The only way to tell them apart is with a genetic test or a Cell Reader. Due to this these mutant goats are considered very rare.

It is rumored that the milk of these goats will grant an extraordinary long life, maybe even immortality, to anyone who drinks it regularly and thus these goats are a highly sought commodity.

Panacea Milk (Cure Disease/Illness 85%): To produce this cure-all, the goat must first sample a bit of the patient's blood. This is usually done by the goat biting the sick being and drawing blood (1 hit point). This would normally heals within fifteen minutes. It will take 8-48 hours for the goat to produce the cure in their milk, depending on the severity and nature of the disease/illness, during which time the goat must consume a large amount of grass. There is an infinitesimal chance that someone might be allergic to the proteins in the goats milk, in which case hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, are possible. Fortunately, the goat will know this from their Cell Reader ability and will not produce any milk for them.

[Pepsi Jedi]

lol

I wonder if people 'Sniffin' the flowers' get high like the idiots that 'Huff' gas and stuff these days.

[Pepsi Jedi]

Smoking them isn't either, but mankind has done it since we figured out how to rub sticks together fast enough to get fire.

Not justifying it. I dont' smoke. I'm just saying, lol stranger things happen. I mean some people PURPOSEFULLY Set fire to plants and breathe in the smoke.

[Rali]

I've been playing a lot of Minecraft lately and think the Creeper would be an excellent mutant plant to bring in to the setting.

Tshssssssssss......

[video]

[Mechanurgist]

Mutant plants that produce all kinds of manufactured products are cool at first but they can veer off into goofy Xanth comedy if taken too far (pie trees and boys-and-girls-berries, etc.). Rali's comment about "bullet trees" is right on; you don't want to make things too easy for the inhabitants of a post-apoc society.

The biology behind these creations is not entirely unsound (certain bacteria produce oil and there are experiments trying to get plants to produce plastics) but I doubt it's something that a medieval peasant could successfully farm and extract. I'd leave it up to more advanced societies capable of biological/genetic manipulation, that have access to pesticides, industrial fertilizer and a means of protecting these rare and fragile plants.