The final wars which devastated the planet and turned so much of the world into a toxic and radioactive wasteland caused many of the inhabitants to escape beneath the surface in order to survive.

The Mojave Desert, located in the United States, housed untold weapons of mass destruction and as a result was heavily targeted during the battles that took place during the final wars. This area spawned the unique creatures known as the Marked Men, but that was not the only mutant to have spawned in this little slice of hell on earth. The area was crowded with military personnel and civilian contractors and many of these people managed to escape into the bowels of the earth, surviving deep underground and in various shelters.

Chris Van Deelen is the author of the Skirmisher Publishing LLC sourcebook Creatures of the Tropical Wastes sourcebook and co-author of its Wisdom from the Wastelands game supplement.

No. Enc: 3d6
Alignment: Neutral
Movement: 210’ (70’)
                     90’ (30’) Burrowing
AC: 3
HD: 8
Attacks: 4 claws or 2 bites and head butt
Damage: 2d4+2 / 2d4+2 / 2d4+2 / 2d4+2 or 1d6+1 plus poison. / 1d6+1 plus poison, plus 1d8+2 / 1d8+2
Save: L8
Morale: 7
Hoard Class: Incidental

The final wars which devastated the planet and turned so much of the world into a toxic and radioactive wasteland caused many of the inhabitants to escape beneath the surface in order to survive.

The Mojave Desert, located in the United States, housed untold weapons of mass destruction and as a result was heavily targeted during the battles that took place during the final wars. This area spawned the unique creatures known as the Marked Men, but that was not the only mutant to have spawned in this little slice of hell on earth. The area was crowded with military personnel and civilian contractors and many of these people managed to escape into the bowels of the earth, surviving deep underground and in various shelters.

The sheer amount of toxins and radioactive material released into the area during the final wars caused these unfortunate souls to breed horrible mutants. With each succeeding generation, these creatures lost more and more of their humanity until they became the race known as the Tunnelers.

These mutant creatures appear to be more reptile than mammal and possess with scaly skin, large glowing eyes, and a mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth. They also have spikes made of either bone or cartilage protruding from their shoulders and heads. They possess wickedly sharp talons on their hands and feet as well.

Despite appearing to be reptilian in nature, these creatures are still mammals. They have a shorter life-span than Humans (see Wisdom from the Wasteland Issue 4: New Races for more information), typically living to a maximum of forty years, although it is not certain if this is due to mutation, or the fact that they live such incredibly violent lives. Both male and females mature at around six years of age and females are able to produce young. They gestate for only six months, and give birth to 1d3+2 live young. The infants are watched over by both parents, who tend to be amazingly loving and caring towards their young.

These mutants live deep beneath the surface, making their homes in sewers, utility tunnels, old shelters or anything that keeps them away from the light, which they hate and fear. They have no language and no society, and live like the animals that they have devolved into. They only live to breed and feed. Also, due to their lack of intelligence, these creatures have no use for treasure and do not bother to keep any or artifacts.

When engaged in combat, these creatures move with lightning speed. They will only attack during the night or when someone makes the mistake of entering their territory underground. They attack with two claws, and can bite if need be.  The bite of these creatures is slightly toxic and each bite subjects the victim to class 2 poison.  These creatures can also use the spikes on their heads and shoulders to attack with, but they only resort to this attack if they choose to bite instead of clawing. They are expert ambushers, however, and can lay in wait for hours, burrowed only a few scant inches from the surface and launch a surprise attack, gaining surprise on a 1-3.

The best way to deal with these creatures is to expose them to light. Laser and other light based weapons do double damage, and when they are exposed to such attacks they must make a saving throw versus death or become blinded for 3d6 rounds. Other light based attacks, such as using a flash-bang grenade or other similar weapon will result in the same effect. Also, using such weapons in the presence of these creatures will force them to make an instant moral check, and those who fail are forced to flee.

At this time, these creatures are confined to the Mojave wasteland, but scholars fear that they will eventually find a way out of these trackless desert wastes and spread across the countryside. The only reason they haven’t spread further is the lack of tunnels or similar underground paths they can use to escape the region. It is only a matter of time though.

Mutations: Aberrant form (natural weapons), bizarre appearance (d), natural armor (scales), quickness, thermal vision, toxic weapon, ultraviolet vision, vulnerability to light (d).

Source: Fallout New Vegas