Has anyone done DEATHWORLD as the setting for a game?

[Cacique Caribe]

I’m referring to the original story/book by Harry Harrison:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28346/28346-h/28346-h.htm

Welcome to PYRRUS, a jungle planet where everything, even the gravity, is out to kill you. It is “the deadliest world ever to be colonized by humans”.

PS. If you want to listen to the audiobook:

And here’s another deadly jungle planet story, on the planet Inra, by R.F. Starzl:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/29768/29768-h/29768-h.htm#The_Planet_of_Dread

Dan
Loads of WIPs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9593487@N07/albums/with/72157710630529376

[Sane Max]

Each Deathworld is its own book of course – I could see the first one as a wargame, the second one as the background world for one perhaps and the third one, well hell that’s Just Mongols Versus Poles, and we have done that one before.

The first one would need a lot of work – all those variant critters, animals, plants, and then you would need a good source of High-G Tank People…. It could be done of course.

[Cacique Caribe]

Sane Max

I was referring mainly to the first one in the Harrison trilogy, the planet Pyrrus.  I’ve been buying and making loads of alien forest pieces that I hope to put to use.

Perhaps have a separate player (or some outstanding AI mechanism) manage the planetary flora and fauna, what do you think?

Other thoughts or ideas?

Dan
Loads of WIPs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9593487@N07/albums/with/72157710630529376

[Deleted User]

I like those books, some of my favorite.

Maybe a simple roll on a list of deathworld thing whenever charaacters/units come within a certain distance of a clump of flora. Could have some fun with that list, number on the dice could be the size or number of wounds on the creature.

[Sane Max]

well…..Giving one player the wildlife would be more fun, but they would have an appalling advantage.

Played properly, unless your characters all have Psi powers they should all be dead in the first couple of turns 🙂

Other than as a siege game, unprotected non-psi humans outside the walls of Pyrrus will be eaten alive, catch hideous diseases. ripped up, gutted, spiked stabbed eviscerated and digested pretty fast. Those walls are there for a reason 🙂

you could add MedKits, with a given number of charges to extend players lives…. a bit

a three-hander might be better – Grubbers v City People, with the wildlife as a side-character played by a AI – but then the Grubbers have all the cards as they are mostly safe from the natives. It will be tricky.

Also some of my fave books, read the first one when I was about 10, and was amazed to discover there were sequels a fair few years later.

[Grimheart]

For playable purposes you would have to decrease the effectiveness of the native plant life a tad!

An interesting set of games could be had DnD style with simple missions to get from one side of  the board to the other to more complex rescue misssions.

I would have the vegetation on a random generated, non player type system as it generally needs to just be very very aggressive once activated.

Possible a sound activated system like in Zombicide attracting more plant life would be “fun”!

Cheers

Interest include 6mm WW2, 6mm SciFi, 30mm Old West, DropFleet, Warlords Exterminate and others!

[Benjamin Cato]

I created some Australian themed dangerous terrain with Banksia Man* eating plants and summer snap dragons  https://miniwarsyoumayhavemissed.blogspot.com/2019/11/40k-dangerous-terrain-flora.html

As well as some dangerous fauna with two headed giant jumping rats, sheep, drop bears and crocodiles  https://miniwarsyoumayhavemissed.blogspot.com/2019/10/40k-dangerous-terrain-fauna.html

Didn’t do any spiders, snakes or sharks though.

* mildly amusing for fans of May Gibbs children’s books.

[Cacique Caribe]

Sane Max wrote:

well…..Other than as a siege game, unprotected non-psi humans outside the walls of Pyrrus will be eaten alive, catch hideous diseases. ripped up, gutted, spiked stabbed eviscerated and digested pretty fast. Those walls are there for a reason 🙂

And I think they had thick concrete throughout for city grounds, instead of exposed soil or even grass.  🙂

Dan
Loads of WIPs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9593487@N07/albums/with/72157710630529376

[Cacique Caribe]

Check out these cool suggestions I found:

Dan
Loads of WIPs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/9593487@N07/albums/with/72157710630529376

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