Things from the Flood

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The rules in Things from the Flood are very light, and easy to teach. Being so light does mean that a GM gets a bit less support from the rules though, and that can for some be overwhelming, as they can’t lean on the rules to making the game exciting, unlike say D&D. If this is a good or a bad thing really comes down to personal preference. There are also no real combat rules to speak of in Things from the Flood, which might seem odd, but helps reinforce that this is not a game about fighting but rather about teenagers solving mysteries. The Characters Importantly, the designers have recognised that there’s much more to the teenage experience than writing depressing poetry and vomiting up your first Bacardi Breezer. There are plenty of moments of light and fellowship amidst the darkness, and they taste all the sweeter for the contrast.

One of the UNSC personnel captured by the Flood was Captain Jacob Keyes, a brilliant naval strategist of the UNSC Navy. When he was infected, the Flood sensed that he held knowledge that would be especially useful to the Flood. Keyes knew the location of Earth, the birthplace and major stronghold of the human race, a planet with tremendous possible assimilation opportunities for the Flood. Instead of becoming a combat form, he was merged with at least four other victims into a massive, engorged proto-Gravemind aboard the Ket-pattern battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation, a Covenant warship the Flood had taken over. While he was being incorporated into the proto-Gravemind, the Flood intelligence began to dig through his mind, searching his memories for the location of Earth. Captain Keyes successfully withheld information about Earth by constantly accessing information available on his command neural interface such as his name, rank, and serial number, until John-117 arrived. However, his arrival was too late, for Keyes was already dead, completely consumed by the Proto-Gravemind. It was at that time that John-117 was forced to punch a hole into Keyes' skull to obtain the Captain's CNI transponder. [34] A character is more defined by what motivates them to do what they do, and their relationships to others, than by their stats in Things from the Flood, and a fare bit of space is given to detail how this works, and the rare few times it might have some kind of mechanical impact. It fed on intelligent life and, in doing so, became ever more intelligent itself. The Flood was unique; it used their very strength against them." — Cortana on the Forerunners' war against the Flood.Frieden • Insurrectionists ( Arcadia and Harvest insurrectionists • Bandusa insurrectionists • Freedom and Liberation Party • Galodew Emancipation • Gao Liberation Force • New Colonial Alliance • People's Occupation • People's Occupation Government • Secessionist Union • Sundered Legion • United Rebel Front • Venezian Militia) • Joyous Exultation Covenant • Koslovics • Neo-Frieden • Prospector Party • Stewards • San'Shyuum flotilla ( Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant • Tem'Bhetek's faction)

Pod infectors undergo a tadpole phase of development before growing into full physical maturity. [59] Pod infectors [ edit ] Main article: Pod infector The Abomination is a mobile, low-level key mind form capable of combat that coordinates the Flood on a local scale.During the human-Forerunner wars, humanity (who at the time was a technologically advanced, spacefaring race) believed they had discovered another way to defeat the Flood. Using genetic engineering, a third of the human population was altered to carry a set of specially designed genes. This group of humans was then allowed to be infected by the Flood. Once the genes were exposed to Flood DNA, they triggered a cascade of cell destruction that spread throughout all Flood biomatter. The majority of the Flood died off as a result, although they would return in full force ten thousand years later. All information regarding this "cure" was destroyed by the humans as a final act of revenge against the Forerunners, leaving them unprepared for the second Flood strike. [80]

During these developments, the ring's Sentinels failed to effectively contain the Flood, and because of this, the Covenant and the UNSC sustained heavy losses. The Flood occupied areas of the ring formerly held by the Covenant, although Covenant and Flood forces continued to wage war on the massive ice plains of the ring. Although the Covenant had the benefit of Shade stationary plasma turrets and vehicular/aerial support, the Flood had captured both UNSC and Covenant weapons and because of this had significant numerical superiority. The Flood is able to use any technology it has assimilated, often to a superior degree than the original creators of said technology due to its vast base of knowledge and intellect, as evidenced by its ability to transition the UNSC frigate In Amber Clad into High Charity with a precision slipspace jump normally unheard of with human ships. Similarly, it was capable of tapping into Installation 05's teleportation grid and utilizing it with great accuracy. [38] Developmental stages [ edit ] Pod infectors do not explode when they are shot in the cinematics, instead 'deflating' like punctured balloons, though they still explode in gameplay.that Dr. Catherine Halsey created both the SPARTAN-II program and Cortana, who was built using a clone of her own brain? These forms can produce a variety of Flood forms and release them once its internal pressure has reached a certain point. All Flood biomatter is made of a unique, undifferentiated "Super Cell", which relays information and coordinates the cellular assembly like conventional neural cells. It is also capable of flexing and moving in coordination with other cells, and can be arranged to mimic any bodily organ that is required for the Flood's use. This combination of traits has caused some to refer to it as "thinking muscle."

Typical Flood combat behavior: ravenously targeting the nearest enemy, with Pod infectors running ahead of combat and carrier forms.

Tropes in Things from the flood include:

One of the many things I like about Things from the Flood is its native and elegant system to let GMs toggle up the threat and danger levels. When the core mechanic is merely a bunch of d6s with a single 6 being needed then it straightforward to layer over complexities.