Hothouse Sessions and Fresh Psychon

So i did a game of Planet Psychon
A few couldnt make it so i delayed adventure and ran the Psychon bbook Rock n Roll band in 71 in planecrash in bermuda triangle start and instigated my zero level "Hothouse" start rules. Will detail these then rap about game. Did lots of printing including 2012 updates of two rule books. Will finish these then merge them into one. Will do a spells and skills book and a simple monster book stuffed with minimum stats. Later a fancy book with monster profile like my recent heraldic beast book with variants versions and adventures based on them. Pimp my dragon table? Sorta done as my reptilian mutations.

Iv'e considered starting everyone in party with two to four levels in a former class.

Hothouse campaign starts for EMO games
This start is kind of like the Elfmaids & Octopi version of DCC character funnel. Ive used it up to 6 years or more ago especially in my real world to fantasy setting games.

This is a start for level zero characters who at completion of first victory become first level.

In my Dungeon Zone (long stairs inspired) game players started as recruited soldiers or non military experts sent to the dungeon dimension through earthgates found around world. So after first few sorties with monsters in a dungeon they would be infected by the dungeon and level up to first.

On psychon modern humans sent to far future Psychon or awoken from stasis get a saving throw a day to become 1st level psychon characters if they fail a save roll. Characters in these might even change race. One player awoke robot with former clothes painted on his hull.

In my fantasy setting young adults ready for apprentice ships out of home to be sent to a adventurer prep school to be trained in class they are suited to to aid kingdoms dungeon excavations. In another fantasy setting I started characters as a youth gang in city. In fantasy version I tend to have non human characters established from start as fantasy less silly right? Run a session with characters as feckless youths having adventure then then have a time jump of 4 years after apprenticeships over and all now Lv1.

Two types of zero level starting character

Fighter - d6 HP 2 arms skills 1 arts skill

Specialist - d4 HP  1 arms skills 2 arts skills

Modern world starting languages English S W (spoken written)
+ 1 language slot per INT* bonus (INT=Talent stat in EMO)
+1 language if multilingual past
swap a art skill for 4 languages

on psychon your modern English renamed ancient

Fantasy world starting languages Common S (spoken) 
+ 1 language slot per INT bonus 
+1 language if nonhuman
swap a art skill for 4 languages

All saving throws based on half stat rolls
Could get a skill to boost
Having a character class grants your prime requisite full score for saves of that type
default non weapon skill penalty is -4

Benefits of ThisKeep the extra zero level HP and skills and languages gained here
As well as all the benefits of being 1st level
Commoners don't do this
 - they keep highest HP roll and skill types if they become Lv 1
-its a reward for surviving a high risk challenge
Can start 1st level with one point in a alignment

Problems for Characters
These set up start sessions are high risk adventures more like horror games
You can die easily one blow
No minimum HP like 1st level characters so 1HP possible
A back up or replacement character handy
Or have multiple zero level characters

Ive used this lots and needs to be a core option for games.

Planet Psychon: Rock n Roll Mercenaries
So ran the characters as band members fleeing Caribbean on cheap dodgy airline offering low custom checks on booze and contraband. A month of touring with band drug deaths and arrests to blame. This adventure straight out of Psychon book. A odd night storm over Bermuda Triangle sends crashing from sunny golden desert. Passengers got out to look around. Cockpit windows gone and flight crew decapitated. While getting stuff out of plane player on top of wreck saw distant figures in sandstorm coming inexorably slowly.

Fergus played a asian keyboardist with lots of drugs and a pistol and party machine.
Jason played a finish loudmouth lead singing syndrome party machine with some martial arts. He rescued teen chinp in overals in cargo in a cage and it clung to him.

The party while look like horrible biker hippie hybrids got to roleplay with various passengers like typical survivors in a 70s disaster movie. Despite looks party helped and befriended almost everybody except a puritanical woman accused them of groping her when she awoke with them dragging her from wreck. Several went to meet figures and horrible slimy black faces horrors would not stop so shots were fired. Didn't stop so guys shot several. Several creatures killed but three got close to vomit acid on them knocking out 2 npc passengers. Badly wounded creatures turned to flee some stopped to finish dissolving unconscious into slime pools they then tried to drink up. Just managed to win and bubbling slime corpses turned into green crystal secretion after vapor boiled off in reaction. Singer tasted a microdot and luckily was a acid vet and remained awake and not visiting other dimensions and ulltraterrestrial beings.

Told passengers about deaths and got most passengers back in plane and pulled up rope ladder. Considered going to right wind ward sea or tail ward mountain pass, to north sand and mountains with huge miles wide whistling dust storm event where monsters came from. Left wingward mountains and desert. Federal martial cuffed to a guy caught trying to out do Manson. Fed says he will help guys reign in group and fight but wants them to agree to killing the prisoner so he isn't a risk. Debated about cuffing him and using him as scout or send him to fight ahead of armed guys with a steel mike stand rod or a shank he offered to make.  Party agreed and took guy out to the battle scene to shoot and bury. Fed starts being bossy now and disagreeing. Spent a night and one stewardess two out of twenty four passengers, chimp boy and Jason rolled saves. Everyone else now a chromatic skinned mutated Psychon human now.

Jason rolled his up as his might kick tomorrow's save roll. Jason's fairly normal looking but foot long tongue, antenna and camouflage patterned bright lime & tangerine skin.  He is a bard at this stage but he didn't develop everything. As a EMO bard he gets to pick arcane or divine or druid or psionics list and pick a song type. He tastes like a pets slightly too old manky matress.

Fergus who played before had his character become a robot. His bot form has a cat head, purple diamond eyes, a functional penis and painted on band clothes (leather jacket with logo and logo t-shirt) on his boxy body. His robot aps included a beer fridge, night vision, lighter, and distillery so he eats organics and has internal flora in digestive tract plus distillery. He ate made fuel for self and made booze he stored in fridge. I let him roll cyber mutation table from my blog and mutant book. Has cyberman like boxes on joints and cables on limbs and exhaled smoke when exited or making a effort. Food eaten is processed to remove poison which is handy too. Came out freaking awesome. Its only fair a robot class be only one to be mutation free on psychon where everyone gets 4 starting minor cosmetic mutations and a random chromatic skin pigment. AI gods defeated old world racism by making all life one of 12 sacred colours.

We went late and watched Danger5 till later.
So ive had some good 90s like quality moments in new house.
Hope get more jump on but was good.

Good focus group of players all in education and good editors who know games.