Protein is People!

What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? is a scenario designed for Metamorphosis Alpha: Fantastic Role-Playing Game of Science Fiction Adventures on a Lost Starship. The first Science Fiction roleplaying game and the first post-apocalypse roleplaying game, Metamorphosis Alpha is set aboard the Starship Warden, a generation spaceship which has suffered an unknown catastrophic event which killed the crew and most of the million or so colonists and left the ship irradiated and many of the survivors and the flora and fauna aboard mutated. Some three centuries later, as Humans, Mutated Humans, Mutated Animals, and Mutated Plants, the Player Characters, knowing nothing of their captive universe, would leave their village to explore strange realm around them, wielding fantastic mutant powers and discovering how to wield fantastic devices of the gods and the ancients that is technology, ultimately learn of their enclosed world. Originally published in 1976, it would go on to influence a whole genre of roleplaying games, starting with Gamma World, right down to Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic from Goodman Games. And it would be Goodman Games which brought the roleplaying game back with the stunning Metamorphosis Alpha Collector’s Edition in 2016, and support the forty-year old roleplaying game with a number of supplements, many which would be collected in the ‘Metamorphosis Alpha Treasure Chest’.

What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? takes a place on a forested deck of the Starship Warden. The Player Characters have spent a day or so exploring this forested deck and made camp, but when they wake up the next day, they hear the sounds of movement from a device of Ancients nearby. Going to check, they see a buggy with a cage full of prisoners travelling behind a robot being ridden by a mutant on its shoulders. The prisoners are pleading to be set free as the caravan proceeds towards a giant tree. When the Player Characters go to the aid of the prisoners—and they can get quite close using stealth—the caravan’s Mutant guards react quickly, allowing the buggy with its cargo of prisoners to race off into the giant tree.

After defeating the mutants, the Player Characters are free to follow the buggy and explore the giant tree, which it turns out is an elevator. Either by climbing down the deep elevator shaft or taking the elevator down, they only have access to the one level, some kind of factory producing green protein bars and guarded by a rag-tag band of Mutant guards. There is something quite horrid going on here and all too quickly, the Player Characters can discover the nature of the ingredients which go into these protein bars and who is behind it. The facility it turns out is Rec-Loc-119, which before the great calamity which befell the Starship Warden, was a biological reclamation facility which transformed biological matter into a protein rich food bar. As a result of the disaster, One-Nineteen, the now-sentient computer is determined to fulfil its programming, regardless of who has to die in the process. It has allied itself with the Mutants living in its facility and they have been conducting raids for fresh victims out on the forested deck above. With luck, the Player Characters can avoid the same fate that befell the previous prisoners, rescue the current prisoners, defeat One-Nineteen, and not eat too many green protein bars before they discover what they are made from!

What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? requires one of the Player Characters to be a Robot as it will be able to interface with One-Nineteen. These are not detailed in the standard rules for Metamorphosis Alpha, but come from the ‘Robots as Players in Metamorphosis Alpha’ article from Dragon #14. Alternatively, they can be found in the Metamorphosis Alpha Deluxe Hardcover Collector’s Edition. Another option would be for the Judge to include a Robot character as an NPC. It is suggested that the scenario be run for more experienced Player Characters and to reflect that, that they should gain a roll or two on the Technological and Mutated Substances Treasures Lists.

Physically, What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? is cleanly presented. The maps are excellent and the illustrations decently done. If there is an issue with the scenario, it is that its requirement for a Robot Player Character may not be possible for every playing group, and further, where many of the scenarios available for Metamorphosis Alpha are usually easily adaptable to other Post-Apocalyptic settings or roleplaying games, such as Mutant Crawl Classics, this is not case for this scenario. This is because not every Post-Apocalyptic setting or roleplaying game includes robots as a Player Character option or even robots at all. However, What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? does have scope for expansion onto the other floors accessible via the giant elevator, though at the time of the scenario, they are not accessible. Ultimately, What Are The Prisoners of Rec-Loc-119? is a nasty little dungeon with a big bad at the end. It is nicely detailed, with plenty of flavour, and would be easy to drop into an ongoing campaign.