Cryptic Alliance: Radioactivists

Radioactivists

Gamma Terra is awash with radioactivity, and in every place it spills a glorious glow into the night sky, some nut job will worship it. The Children of the Atom is a horde of such nut jobs, bundled together and sold at cost. Members believe that the nuclear wars were a salvation of radioactivity brought to the world by a messiah, leaving behind the endless energy of the Atom as its legacy. To a Radioactivist, being exposed to radioactive materials means basking in holiness, and the mutations that blossom on flesh exposed to radiation are judgments passed by the almighty Atom. Thus, mutants, blessed with great powers, are the Atom’s chosen people.

Slogan: “Cleansed by fire, chosen by the Atom”

Agenda: The alliance’s plan is to convert everyone to Radioactivism, but this goal isn’t as simple as it sounds. Orthodox doctrine prescribes regular exposure to radioactivity, since the resultant mutations and defects are the judgment of the Atom and considered blessings that bring one’s true self to the surface. The conversion of the unenlightened is only a milepost on the road to the ultimate goal: the complete and irreversible irradiation of Gamma Terra, thus bringing the holy Atom fully into the world. This wondrous achievement will grant every creature oneness with the Atom and with one another, making life into a paradise (assuming you survive the exposure).

Behavior: The Children of the Atom is an evangelical religion. Radioactivists believe that it is their responsibility to spread their beliefs across the irradiated landscape, from one bombed-till-it-glows horizon to the other. The average member is calm and reasonable about this purpose. Radioactivists bring up the Truth when others are in the mood (which is not often), live a good life as an example to the unconverted, and so on.

Those Radioactivists are the face of the group that more serious alliance members want you to see and dismiss. The idea is that while the gentler members of the Children of the Atom are holding your attention, the hard-core Radioactivists will be doing the real work of the group. moving the world toward the final goal of complete irradiation. It doesn’t matter if Average Joe Gamma ignores the teachings of the Atom, because when the nuclear bombs go off and spread the Ancients’ supplies of toxic waste (why did they bury it so far down, anyway?), Gamma Terra will achieve apotheosis.

Of course, that’s easier said than done. The world’s radioactive substances are controlled by many groups, lew of which want to turn hazardous materials over to crazies who’ll smear it on people’s bodies or sneak it into the drinking water. Thus do the holy warriors of this cryptic alliance - led by the Atom’s paladins, the Proton Knights - assault fortified locations to reclaim the irradiated aspects of the divine and execute the nonbelievers. Only one form of execution is fitting for enemies of the Children of the Atom: drastic overexposure to radioactivity. Most heathens die horribly within a day, although a few are blessed with mutations - signs that the Atom has judged them redeemable. On rare occasion, a victim manifests mutations that are powerful enough to let him or her turn the tables and deliver the Atom’s judgment to the Proton Knights. 

Background: When the world changed, brilliant light carried the Atom’s message to every corner of the land. Those who were unworthy suffered in the light’s scorching heat, their bodies burned ad twisted. saddled with obscene corruptions that devoured them from the inside out. The Messed had nothing to fear, for the light awakened them in ways that the Atom had intended. Those chosen few, known as the Elect, found they could do things others couldn’t do and see togs others couldn’t see. They displayed the holy marks of the Atom’s blessings openly and became the first priests of the Children of the Atom.

Organization: The Radioactivists observe a hierarchical organization that some of them thought Ike, remembered reading about once in a book about religion. The lowliest members are the congregants. who attend weekly meetings and participate in rituals, vague theological discussions. half-baked evangelizing, and fund raising. They attend services led by a pastor, who becomes the head of the local community by demonstrating enough personality to keep the congregants coming back.

Guiding the pastors efforts in a given region are the master chiefs. Publicly, they facilitate communication between pastors’ districts, encouraging an exchange of ideas for the betterment of the congregants and their communities. Secretly, the master chiefs either dispatch Proton Knights to eliminate obstructionists or carry out such tasks themselves. They report to the archbishop prelates, of which only three or four exist at any given time.

Conflict: The Children of the Atom and the Brotherhood of Thought often clash. The Radioactivists glorify obvious physical mutations that are vilified by the Brotherhood, which celebrates more Side mental alterations. The Children of the Atom considers this heresy the worst sort of sacrilege and strikes back out of pride and protection of its holy men and women. The rivalry ensures that when the Children of the Atom and the Brotherhood set their sights on similar goals, a cascade of escalating violence follows. 

Radioactivists are almost never Pure Strain Humans due to their method of worship. They tend to have more Defect mutations than beneficial ones, again due to their worship of radioactivity. When determining mutations, defects are worth ½ normal value (I.e. the mutant will have 6 points in Defects to pay for a 3 point beneficial mutation). 

Optional Mutation Rule

If you wish characters to gain mutations through radiation exposure, follow this method:

1 - The character must suffer from Moderate to Severe radiation sickness (i.e. survive initial and secondary damage)

2 - The character makes a Fort save equal to the severity of the Radiation Fort save.

3 - If the character fails this save, she will gain a 1-point Mutation for every point she failed the role by. Example: The DC is 24. Crimson fails with a 20. She gains 4 points in beneficial mutations of her choice. The maximum is 10 points.

4 - The character then buys an equal amount of defects. Thus is the capricious nature of radioactivity.

5 - All mutations will come in at exactly the same time. It will take a number of rounds equal to the greatest cost of the mutations in order for them to fully develop, and the character will be writhing in absolute pain thanks to the physical and/or mental anguish that is taking place during this time. The character is unable to take any actions, including defending themselves, during this period.

Example: Crimson chooses a four-point physical mutation, Hands of Power. She also takes 2 3-point flaws that she thinks will fit her character story, one mental and one physical (Minor Phobia/Canines and Sense Reduction/Hearing). Even though her flaws total more than her beneficial mutation, the value of her beneficial mutation is greater than the cost of a single flaw, so all three of her mutations will develop in a total of 4 rounds.

Please note that first level mutant characters get 5 points in mutations automatically that do not need to be paid for with defects. For pre-existing mutants, only use this method if they are past first level and wish to gain additional mutations.