1 0 2 The unofficial ROBOTS & RANGERS By Jim Sorenson Robots & Rangers is an unofficial fan work based on the Wasteland CRPG franchise. WASTELAND is a trademark of InXile Entertainment, Inc. Used without permission. This is a free fan work, intended to be compiled under the Fair Use doctrine. No infringement of InXile intellectual property is intended. Peek & Poke illustrations all owned by InXile. Published August 2021. 3 Contents Part 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................................... 4 Part 2: Character Creation ............................................................................................................................ 8 Part 3: Backgrounds ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Part 4: Primary Attributes and Derived stats .............................................................................................. 13 Primary Attributes ................................................................................................................................... 13 Derived Stats ........................................................................................................................................... 14 Part 5: Skills ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Weapon Skills ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Exploration Skills ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Social Skills .............................................................................................................................................. 17 Part 6: Perks ................................................................................................................................................ 18 Part 7: Gear ................................................................................................................................................. 24 Part 8: Ranking Up ...................................................................................................................................... 32 Part 9: Radiation ......................................................................................................................................... 34 Part 10: The Environment ........................................................................................................................... 39 Part 11: Combat .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Part 12: Ouchies .......................................................................................................................................... 45 Part 13: Vehicles ......................................................................................................................................... 49 Part 14: Factions & Missions ....................................................................................................................... 51 Factions: .................................................................................................................................................. 51 Missions: .................................................................................................................................................. 54 Part 15: Critters, Robots, and Dudes .......................................................................................................... 57 Critters: .................................................................................................................................................... 58 Robots: .................................................................................................................................................... 61 Dudes: ..................................................................................................................................................... 64 Part 16: Putting it All Together ................................................................................................................... 66 Afterword .................................................................................................................................................... 70 Appendix A: Character Sheet ...................................................................................................................... 71 4 Part 1: Introduction Welcome, Ranger! You’re about to explore the post-apocalyptic Wasteland, a radiation- scoured hellhole full of mutants, Robots, cyborgs, punks, gangs, Critters, and all-around bad dudes. But take heart, there are some good folks out there too, trying to eke out an existence. And frankly, some of the not-so- good folks are more than happy to cut a deal with you... if they think that’d be more expeditious than simply cutting your throat, anyway. What is a tabletop RPG? What is Robots & Rangers ? Imma keep this SUPER brief. A tabletop RPG is an interactive, collaborative storytelling and gaming experience involving a group of friends. (I mean, they don’t have to be friends. They can be acquaintances, coworkers, fellow gang members, or strangers. They can be people you hate. Statistically probably one of them is. Looking at you, Brad!) You’ve got one person who runs the session, describing the world you explore and its many inhabitants, and the rest of you each have a dedicated character who explores the world. It’s great to play in person, maybe in a public space like the abandoned Little Vegas building, maybe in someone’s house. Playing over the wireless is an option too, since sometimes reality intrudes. In Robots & Rangers , the person running the story is the Supreme Jerk, and your characters are Rangers. The Supreme Jerk will play everyone who isn’t one of your characters, and give you one or more Missions, specific objectives to achieve and challenges to overcome to overcome. You’ll then work together to solve this problem. It’s imaginative collaborative play. Your characters will have things they’re good at and bad at, and you’ll use dice to see if they succeed or fail when they attempt to do something. Generally rolling a higher number is better than rolling a lower number. Over time your characters will rank up, learning new skills and generally becoming more and more badass. As they do, they’ll mold the Wasteland into their image, meeting strange and interesting Factions and making friends and enemies along the way. So, like, how do we play? Specifically? Robots & Rangers utilizes a dice pool mechanic. Most of your stats are rated in terms of dice, ranging from D2 up to D12+. When you attempt a task, you grab the dice from all relevant sources – usually the applicable attribute, the applicable skill if you have it, and any applicable gear you might have. (Oftentimes there is no relevant gear, and that’s fine too. And if you don’t have the right skill, just use your attribute and hope for the best.) Add those one to three dice together, roll, and hope to see a high number. You might be rolling against a static difficulty – trying to disarm a bomb, for instance. Or you might be rolling an opposed check – arm-wrestling, for instance, would probably be your Strength attribute plus Athletics skill vs theirs. If circumstances are especially favorable or unfavorable to you, you 5 might step one of those dice up or down. If you’re on a targeting range you’ve practiced on a hundred times before you might get a 1 die step up on your weapon skill, but if you’re blindfolded you might get two steps down. The dynamic nature of the system means every check is potentially different. Disarming a bomb wired to a computer console might be your Intelligence attribute and your Explosive skill, but disarming a bomb while hanging upside down from a crane might be Coordination plus Explosives instead. The Supreme Jerk of the table will tell you which die combo to roll, though you should feel free to suggest a different attribute or skill if you think your Ranger might approach things a little differently. What’s the worst he can do? (A lot. Your Supreme Jerk can and should royally fuck you up if you piss her off. Try not to.) Die progression is as follows: D2 -> D4 -> D6 - > D8 -> D10 -> D12 -> D12+. D12+ is pretty cool; if you have a D12+ you can reroll any check you like using that skill or attribute. The downside is, you have to stick with the new roll, even if it’s worse than the first time you rolled. Things can’t have a better rating than D12+, but sometimes environmental factors will give you a step up even beyond that. In that case, you get to add another die, starting with D2. So if your STR is D12, and you get two steps up because you did something super smart, for that check you’d be rolling a D12+ and a D2 for your strength, on top of any applicable skills and gear. How do we murder things? I mean, I might not have phrased it that way, but when you’re in kill-or-be-killed mode, we hyper-focus in on your characters. Combat is broken up into ten second Turns, and each Turn everyone rolls Initiative to see who acts in what order. You spend Action Points (AP) to do things like move, shoot a gun, try to defend, or toss a healing dart. Rank 1 characters start with 6 AP and then get more as they Rank Up. Once everything is dead or unconscious or surrendered or running away, combat is over. 6 What each Die Step means: A Table Level Attribute Skill Gear 0 You’re dead? I dunno. You can’t have a zero in an attribute. You have no training whatsoever. It’d be like watching a nuke pooch trying to change a tire. Means you don’t have any applicable gear. Don’t feel bad. It happens. D2 Pathetic. You’re well below human average in this stat. You could probably out- compete a toddler in this. You’re a novice. You’ve seen someone try to do the thing once or twice and you vaguely remember reading about it in a rat-chewed textbook. Hey hey! You’ve got a thing. It’s capable of helping you do the stuff. That puts you one step above your average tom, dick, or mutant. D4 You’re average at this. Neither good nor bad. Meh. Congratulations! You’ve achieved competence. Now keep practicing, photon stud. This item is pretty decent. It’ll help you out a bunch. Until it inevitably succumbs to the relentless march of entropy. D6 You’re good at this. Bully for you. Congratulations! You’re actually good. You know what you’re talking about most of the time and can fake it when you don’t. You have an excellent example of whatever it is you’re working with. Treat it right because there aren’t so many D6 objects out there. D8 You’re excellent at this. Well above average. Your mom must be very proud. Congratulations! You’re an expert. Maybe you don’t know every little thing but given time and resources you can solve most problems in this field. This is about as good as you can expect to find in a merchant’s stock, and it’ll be damned expensive. Still, extra D8, hard to beat that. D10 One of the best out there. Strut your stuff! Few things in this field elude you. You know it inside and out. You go girl! Holy crap! Where’d you ever find an item as good as this? Hold on tight, you may never another as good. D12 You’re amazing! You seldom meet anyone as good as you in this area. PhD level mastery of a field. Represents years of study. You’re conversant with all areas of this subject and can talk about it for hours. As good as it gets. A gun to put all other guns to shame; Armor that will shield you from any possible harm; a truck that Tony Robbinson himself would drive. D12+ Peak of human perfection. Stamina like an Olympian, the insight of a Nobel Laureate. You’ve dedicated a large portion of your life to this skill and have reaped the rewards. You’re THE acknowledged expert in this field. A unique artifact, some bit of prewar tech that probably cost 9 figures to produce. You’ll probably never stumble across D12+ gear. If you do your Supreme Jerk is a giant softy. 7 But what’s the game actually like? Great question, glad you asked. Tabletop RPGs (role playing games) evolved out of a miniature wargaming tradition. Some RPGs are combative, with the storyteller and the players at odds. Robots & Rangers definitely isn’t like that. The Supreme Jerk is there to facilitate, make storylines and challenges that are fun for everyone and hopefully don’t make anyone at the table uncomfortable. All problems should have multiple solutions, and if there’s a battle that will definitely kill the characters it’s the Supreme Jerk’s job to give enough hints and foreshadowing so that the players can choose a different way to approach that problem. Supreme Jerks, try to avoid challenges where failure grinds the game to a halt. If the players don’t succeed on a check to hack a computer system, it’s boring if they’re just locked out of the area they were trying to get to. Maybe the failure summons some guards and they can have an exciting fight. Then they can find a key to the room they wanted into on one of the dead guards. Try to keep a “Yes, And” ethos in mind, and failing that, “No, But” works pretty well too. One of the most important aspects of Robots & Rangers is choice. Your choices matter, and there won’t always be a clear right or wrong answer to each problem. Each Faction out there has their own motive and perspective, and you won’t be able to please all of them. Time is finite, and sometimes threats will strike two different locations at the same time. Then, you’ll have to choose one or the other... or leave them both to their fates. As you progress from lowly Private to a grizzled old Sergeant Argent, you’ll find the Wasteland changing and evolving right alongside you. You’ll get to forge relationships, for good or ill, with the Factions you meet along the way. As you compete Missions for them, you may improve their lot or condemn them to oblivion. Maybe you’ll leave the Wasteland a better place than you found it. Or maybe you’ll sack it for all it’s worth and settle down in a gaudy palace. The choice is yours. Static Difficulty checks: Another Table Check Difficulty What it really means 3 Easy Almost anyone with any training in a skill will usually succeed on this task 5 Average It’s not too hard; if you know what you’re doing and you’re of average ability you’ll probably succeed 7 Moderate This is an appropriate task for someone who knows what they’re doing, someone with more than a little training 9 Hard Not for amateurs, this one. An expert in the field will succeed more often than not 11 Really Hard Only an expert really has a chance to solve this one, and then only if they’re apt 13 Really REALLY hard Hey, if you don’t like the descriptions, you try writing some! (Seriously, I’m open to suggestions.) 15 Sadistic Aren’t you glad I didn’t say really Really REALLY hard? 17 Nigh Impossible I mean, technically someone might succeed at this task 8 Part 2: Character Creation Ranger teams start off at Rank 1. No exceptions. (Your Supreme Jerk can totally make an exception if they want to. They just won’t. Because they’re a dick.) Rangers are fully customizable, so you can play a giant dumb bruiser, a speedy sneaky face, a gruff-but- lovable scientist, an absent-minded pyromaniac, a weird cultish recruit from some obscure sect of the Wasteland, or anything else your sick little brain can imagine. Getting into a different headspace is half the fun. Start with a character concept. Imagine your Ranger in your mind’s eye. Think about what they’re good at and, yes, what they’re bad at. (A character is defined as much by their flaws as by their abilities.) Once you have that, why not start by filling out their background? Remember, the part here that’s got mechanical repercussions is the Origin. (Not the Electronic Arts, that’s a different game company.) Step two of the crunchy stuff is the Attributes. Each of the 7 should start with D2. You can buy up 12 more dice steps. A good starting array is two D8s (excellent), a D6 (above average), and four D4s (average). Be careful about leaving any stats at D2, unless you want to emphasize how truly pathetic you are in that area. These attributes will define your Derived Stats too, so there’s nothing to do here but a little math. You’ll also get to fill in how many Action Points you have. It’ll probably be 6 to start with, unless you’ve taken some kind of special Perk to modify that. After that comes your skills. Each ranger picks one weapon skill, two exploration skills, and one social skill. You must take a D2 in each of these. Then you get 5 more skill points to spend how you like. Each of these points can improve one of your existing skills by 1 die step. If you wish to purchase a brand new skill, it costs 2 skill points to get to D2. At character creation, all skills are on the table. (After that, clear it with your Supreme Jerk.) Next up is Perks. You get to choose one Perk for which you meet all prerequisites. Some Perks can only be chosen at this phase, so if you’re super keen to be a Poindexter or a Bop Bag, this is your only chance. Finally, gear. Feel free to take any kind of personal doo-dads your character might have. The value here is purely sentimental, but it’s a nice touch. More importantly, get a starting D2 weapon of the appropriate type, and one other piece of D2 gear. (Maybe Armor, maybe a Trinket.) So simple even a Night Terror could do it! One last note. If possible, brainstorming character concepts with your whole group of players can make for a better team. If you’re playing a sneak, and Mayor Pedros is ALSO playing a sneak, that makes each of you a little less unique, and means that there may be some fundamental skills your team doesn’t have. A dedicated session to character creation isn’t the worst thing in the world. Just make sure Pedros doesn’t “forget” the Eterni-Tarts again. 9 Part 3: Backgrounds Backgrounds are where you flesh out your character. Who are they? Why do they roam the Wasteland? What brand of cigarettes do they smoke? These questions must be answered! Background elements include: Real name – what yo momma calls ya. Code name – It’s cool to have a code name. It’s not that weird. Gender – You know, if you’re into that. Origin – Where you hail from. (This is the crunchy bit. We’ll get more into that later.) Religion – Pick one of the hot new sects or an oldie but goodie. Or non-of-the- above. Rangers don’t discriminate. Unless you’re a Robot. We fuckin’ HATE Robots. Favorite Cigarette – Bones, Coffin Nails, Grey Tortoise, Hoja Dulce, Nico-Pops, Red Rooster, or Styx. And don’t pretend like you don’t care, because you for sure care. Height – You tall or short? Weight – You big or tiny? Tattoos – Got ink? Description – What do you look like? Bio – Write whatever you want in this box. Or don’t. IDGAF. Origin – ok so real talk. You can skip most of the rest. I mean, you shouldn’t, this is excellent flavor and will help you get into the head of your Ranger as you traverse the desolate landscape, but as far as the game mechanics go you totally could. But your Origin is where you come from, and it’ll give you tangible benefits and costs. You can also feel free to try to come up with your own origins. Run them past your Supreme Jerk and TRY not to abuse this process for ridiculous min/maxing, m’kay? Arapaho – Your tribe works the roads, knows vehicles backwards and forwards. Step up the die of your choice by 1 (D4 becomes D6, D10 becomes D12, etc) when faced with driving-related tasks. Take 1 die step down on the die of your choice on all rolls for the first hour after you exit your vehicle and go off-road. Atchinson – The Atchinsons maintain the rails that link Arizona together. Gain 1 die step when dealing with hard infrastructure. The whole team suffers 1 die step penalty every roll involving social interaction with the Topekan tribe Buckeye Buck – Early to rise and early to bed, makes you most pious and makes infidels dead. Your severe, uncompromising nature gives you plus 1 die step to shrug off mind-influencing technology and substances. However, you can be a bit TOO rigid. Take one die step penalty for the first hour of dealing with experiences outside of your personal experience. Cartel – Eeeeh, yous’a guys keep crime from being all disorganized, like. Gain 1 die step when doing something illegal, jabrone. Only downside is, the whole team gotta step a die down if yous’a tryina talk to any law-enforcement types. 10 Citadel Rat – The Ranger citadel is your home; you’ve never known another. Gain 1 die step on social interactions involving other Rangers. There’s no downside to being born or adopted into the Rangers at a young age, so no penalty for you. Lucky duck! Diamondback – You grew up with the most ship-shape, disciplined outfit in the Wasteland. Gain 1 die step when dealing with a task requiring a sharp attention to details. Lose 1 die step on all rolls for the first two Turns when conditions unexpectedly become chaotic. Dorsey – The Deluge is gonna getcha! Ain’t nobody more savage than ye or yer kin. Gain 1 step on an attribute or skill where your savagery is an advantage. The whole team suffers a 1 step penalty on any social interaction with folks who consider themselves especially civilized (Hundred Families, Mannerites, and the like) Gipper – All hail God President Reagan! No one does capitalism like you. Gain 2 die steps checks involving money or transactions. Lose one die step every time anyone says the word “communist” or “Russia.” Yes, EVERY time. Godfisher – The skies aren’t gonna feed themselves! Gain 1 die step on all rolls for an hour following a successful, worthy, sacrifice. Lose 1 die step on ALL checks if you haven’t sent up a sacrifice in the past month. God’s Militant – Sin must be slashed, smashed, and generally beaten into subMission, and you’re just the penitent to do it. Gain 1 die step on all checks while you are in combat with a sinner (i.e. 99% of all humans) who can hear your sermons. Lose 1 die step while in combat with animals, Robots, and other Critters who know not what they do. Guardian – As one of the last of the Guardians of the Old Order, you’ve come to terms with how the Cochise AI manipulated your sect. Still, there’s value to finding and understanding old technology, and the Rangers are willing to indulge your passion. Gain 1 die step when dealing with pre-war tech. Lose 1 die step when facing purely natural challenges. Hard Head – Ain’t no challenge you can’t sink your teeth into—literally! Gain 1 die step when facing an opponent of a type you’ve eaten before. (I.e. if you’ve eaten a Scar Collector, you’re good on future encounters.) But Hard Heads respect strength more than anything else. Lose 1 die step when facing opponents who obviously outclass you in some way. Hobo – Whuzzat? Did that purple bunny say somethin’? No? Gain 1 die step any time you’re drunk. Lose 2 die steps any time you’re not. Hundred Family – Civilization didn’t just rebuild itself; it needed a helping hand from folks like you. You’ll always have gear that’s 1 step better than you should. Unfortunately, you may rely on your gear a bit too much; lose 1 die step when you lack the appropriate equipment to deal with a situation. 11 Mannerite – It would be churlish not to share your perspective with the denizens of the Wasteland. Gain 1 step on an attribute or skill involving influencing others in a respectful way. Unfortunately, not everyone is as civilized as you; take a 1 die penalty on the first check of combat against opponents who are particularly savage or brutal in their disposition. Marshal – Keepin’ the peace, one punch at a time. Gain 1 die step when attempting to enforce law, rules, or regulations. The entire team takes a 1 step penalty when dealing socially with gangs or criminal types. Masher – You’re an intimidating SOB in your Monster gear and you know it. Gain 1 die on opposed checks against opponents capable of being intimidated. Take 1 die penalty for checks made while not wearing some kind of scary mask or costume. Mutant – Not one of those gross scary mutants who crawl the desert sands, but a perfectly respectable (ok, ok... MODERATELY respectable) civilized mutant who just happens to have green skin or a third eye or something obvious like that. Choose one mutation from the Mutations table in Part 9 – this is a permanent part of your anatomy and can’t be removed with No-Glow. Your mutation isn’t all positive though. Choose any one derived metric and give yourself an irrevocable 1 die step penalty on one of the dice. Payaso – Life is a big joke, mamón, and I got your punchline RIGHT HERE! Every time you manage to make an NPC or player (not character, player) laugh with your in- character antics, gain 1 die step on the next check of your choice. Take a 1 step penalty in situations where being quiet or respectful is necessary. Refugee – Before joining the Rangers, you had nowhere to go and nothing you could rely on. Getting enough to eat and staying out of the harsh elements was a constant struggle. Gain a 1 step bonus on all Resistance checks. But your experience with deprivation can come back to haunt you. Take a one die step penalty on Focus checks related to morale or low supplies. Robbinson – The power of positive thinking compels you forward! No one, and I mean no one, can beat your attitude. Any time you roll the minimum on a check, reroll it for free! Unfortunately, reality sometimes intrudes on your sunny outlook. The first time you fail a meaningful check during a combat, take a 1 die penalty on your next roll as you indulge in a quite-justified sulk. Scar Collector – Who’s afraid of a little cybernetic augmentation? Gain 1 piece of cybernetics from the Gear section. Unfortunately not all of your biological parts work 100%. (I swear, baby, this never happens!) Take a 1 die penalty when doing physical checks that don’t involve any augmentation. 12 Servant of the Mushroom Cloud – In the holy names of Plank, Einstein, and Oppenheimer, you purify the Wasteland. Gain 1 die step when dealing with radiation, mutants, fallout, or nuclear weapons (including your own.) You’re especially bad at remembering to keep out of your own blast radius; every time you use an area-of- effect attack that’s even a little close to your own own position you must roll a focus check of 11 or higher or you’ll take friendly fire from your own attack. Topekan – Your tribe maintains the sacred trains of Arizona. Gain 1 die step on checks involving the maintenance or operation of heavy machinery. The whole team suffers 1 die step penalty every roll involving social interaction with the Atchinson tribe 13 Part 4: Primary Attributes and Derived stats Each Ranger has 7 Primary Attributes. Attributes have a minimum of D2 and a maximum of D12+. (Remember, D12+ means that you get to reroll checks if you like, though you do have to keep the second roll whether it’s better or worse.) As mentioned, they all start at D2 and during character creation you can step them up by a total of 12 more. They’ll keep growing as you complete more Missions, as outlined in the Ranking Up section. These Attributes also define, for the most part, a Ranger’s Derived Stats, though some Perks and Mutations can influence those as well. Primary Attributes Primary Attributes represent a Ranger’s core strengths and weaknesses. A Ranger’s Primary Attributes are: Strength (STR): Strength is your raw physical power and ability to use it to your advantage. Brawn solves more problems than clever folks like to admit. Intelligence (INT): Intelligence is your ability to make mental connections, and some Rangers are better at it than others. Luck (LCK): Luck is that intangible quality that tips fortune in your favor when you need it most. Speed (SPD): Speed is your physical quickness. Mobility can be just as important as the size of the gun you’re packing. Strike first, strike true, then get outta there. Coordination (COO): Represents your general physical aptitude, condition, and fine motor skills. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. Awareness (AWA): Awareness is your sense of your surroundings. A Ranger who can’t feel danger coming is bound to walk smack-dab into it. More than anything, it’s your eyes and ears that keep you alive. Charisma (CHR): Charisma is your ability to influence others, whether it’s because you’re just so damn charming or because you’re slicker than an oil spill. It’s also a reflection of your passion and personal drive. 14 Derived Stats Each Ranger also has 7 derived attributes. These represent common rolls that will come up multiple times per session. Most of them will be expressed as two dice, though Move and Health are both static numbers. Initiative (Awareness plus Speed): This represents how quickly you react to new situations. Most combats will start with initiative rolls, and proceed in order from highest to lowest. (Example--if your Awareness is D6 and your Speed is D8, your Initiative is D6, D8.) Resistance (Strength plus Luck): Resistance is your ability to shrug off the negative effects of the Wasteland. Bleeding? Poisoned? Zapped? Drunk? Shake it off, babe! (Example—if your Strength is D12+ and your Luck is D10, your Resistance is D12, D8) Focus (Intelligence plus Charisma): Focus represents your ability to keep it cool under stressful situations. It ain’t easy fixing up a generator while taking fire from Leather Jerks, knowing that if you fail the team is pinned down with no escape. Times like that, it helps to have Focus. (Example—if your Intelligence is D4 and your Charisma is D4, your Focus is D4, D4) Perception ( Awareness plus Intelligence): Hey, did you see that over there? What was that noise! Get ready guys, I think there’s trouble around that bend. (Example—If your Awareness is D6 and your intelligence is D12, your Perception is D6, D12) Evasion (Coordination plus Luck): Armor is great and all, but not getting hit by that laser beam at all is even better. (Example—if you Coordination is D2 and your intelligence is D8, your Evasion is D2, D8) Move (Coordination plus Speed): How much ground you can cover when you hustle. More move, more distance for the same amount of effort. Your move is equal to half of the maximum die value for each attribute, treating D12+ as 14. (Example—if your Coordination is D4 and your speed is D10, your Move is half of 4 + 10, or 7.) Health (Strength plus Charisma): Do you like dying? No, me neither. This one helps with that. Your Health is equal to the maximum die for each attribute, treating D12+ as 14. (Example--if your Strength is D12 and your Charisma is D6, your Health is 12 + 6, or 18.) 15 Part 5: Skills If Attributes represent the intrinsic qualities of a Ranger, Skills represent what they’ve managed to learn over the years. Skills are broken down into three categories; weapon skills, exploration skills, social skills. Rangers only have limited skill points, and most will prefer to master a small handful of skills rather than be mediocre in a large number. If a Ranger has trained in a skill, they’ll have a ranking ranging from D2 up to D12+, though Rangers may (and probably will) have no training whatsoever in any given skill, meaning they have no dice and precious little chance of success if they try to use it. Weapon Skills – Weapon skills represent how good you are fighting with, maintaining, and generally safely and effectively handling broad classes of weapons. Is it unrealistic that you’ll be equally good with every single type of pistol? Yes. Do we care? Not even a little. All rangers will want at least one weapon skill, but probably not more than two. You’re more than just a walking arsenal, Felicia! Automatic Weapons – More bullets faster, that’s how you handle the stickiest of situations. This skill covers sub machine guns and automatic rifles. Big Guns – When mayhem is 100% called for. This skill covers heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, and other oversized weapons. Requires STR D4. Brawling – Put up your dukes, Ranger! It’s time to go hand-to-hand! This skill covers all manner of hand-to-hand combat, from boxing to wrestling to kung-fu. Requires STR or COO D6. Melee Weapons – Knives and heavy objects never need reloading. This skill covers close quarters edged and blunt weapons, whether smashing people with them or throwing them. Requires STR D4. Small Arms – Sometimes all a Ranger needs is their sidearm, and maybe a couple of 12 gauge shells. This skill covers handguns and shotguns. Sniper Rifles – When a situation calls for the precision of a single bullet, you need to be able to pull off that long- distance headshot. Requires AWA D6. 16 Exploration Skills – There’s a LOT of spooky shit out there, if you’ll pardon my French. How well you understand the things you encounter can make a huge difference in survivability. These skills represent your abilities and knowledge around specific broad topics of interest. Athletics –Enjoy swimming? Rather kick down a door than pick a lock? Do you ever hang around the gymnasium? This skill is for you. Requires a D6 in either STR or COO. Doctoring – You’ve got at least some knowledge of human anatomy and pharmacology. Try not to get too high. Requires Int D4. Explosives – You can build or disarm bombs, and operate the occasional missile you may stumble upon. Ka- boom. Gearhead -- Your car ain’t gonna drive itself. (I mean, it might, but what fun would that be? I don’t wanna play a car. Do you?) Grease Monkey – If it’s broke, you can fix it. Or make it worse. Whatever. Nerd Stuff – Computer hacking. Metalurgy. Cryptography. Ocean- ography. You never stopped reading as a kid and now you’re a giant giant nerd. Requires D6 INT. Outdoorsman – Sleeping in a bed with a roof is for suckers. You were born outdoors and you’ll die outdoors. Great for tracking Critters in the wilderness, making friends with animals, and generally keeping your squad safe and well fed while communing with nature. Sneaky Shit – They ain’t yet developed an alarm you couldn’t bypass, a lock you couldn’t pick, or a document you couldn’t forge. Just not necessarily well. Requires D4 AWA. Toaster Repair – What could be more universal than fixing a toaster? Literally every other skill on this list. Still, old- worlders hid the DARNDEST things in these funky contraptions, and there is only one way to get at that sweet sweet toaster loot. Requires D4 INT. (Supreme Jerks – there is a long and rich tradition with this skill. Yes, it’s silly. Yes, we know. No, they don’t have to take it. If they do, though, give them the good shit. Top shelf. Just don’t make it easy. One roll. They fail, the loot is gone for good!) Weird Science – Cloning. Cybernetic implants. Shrink rays. Invisibility belts. Genetic engineering. Time travel. Are you an expert at any of these things? Absolutely not. But you’ve watched LOT of Battlestar Galactica on BetaMax and you’re willing to give it a go. Requires D6 INT. 17 Social Skills – It’s a big Wasteland out there, and sooner or later you’re going to encounter a situation that can’t be resolved with a hail of bullets. (Allegedly.) These skills represent how good your character is at interacting with others. Barter – Want to buy and sell? This is an excellent one to make sure you’re not getting excessively ripped off. (Just the normal amount.) Confidence – Who’s a smooth talker? You’re a smooth talker! Yes you are! Yes you are! This is a good one to persuade the hesitant. Requires a D4 Cha. Gambling – I’m absolutely positive the next spin is gonna come up red. I mean, the last five were black. Surely we’re due. Surely! Requires Luck D6. Screw that. You wanna suck at gambling, be my guest. Hard Ass – Sometimes persuasion just doesn’t cut it. Times like these it’s good to be able to talk tough. Leadership – Rally others to your cause and help them be all that they can be. Requires D6 Cha. 18 Part 6: Perks Oh this is a fun one! Perks are things that make your character special, opening new mechanical possibilities. Some Perks can only be taken at character creation, others can be taken if you meet all the prerequisites for them. Prerequisites are typically a minimum attribute or skill level, though they can be more fanciful. Animal Training – You can use your Outdoorsman skill to attempt to gain a permanent animal companion. If you encounter a neutral or friendly animal, you can make a Charisma/ Outdoorsman check to attempt to entice it to join your squad. Your Supreme Jerk will determine the difficulty, based on how OP the Critter is. Must have Outdoorsman of at least D4 to buy this Perk. Baller – Life in the Wasteland is nasty, brutish, and short... but not for you! You have an appreciation of the finer things in life, and an uncanny knack for figuring out how to find them. In any given situation, you and your party can get the finest available food, the cushiest rooms, the most talented escorts (human or animal, we don’t judge). Party tasks requiring more than one day happen twice as quickly as long as you’re around, and natural healing from Health damage and injuries takes place twice as fast. Life is good! Requires Barter D6. Big Game Hunter – You’re an expert at bringing down Critters. Gain 1 die step on all combat rolls against Critters. Requires Outdoorsman D10. Bloodsport – Bashing in skulls isn’t work for you; it’s pure pleasure. When attacking opponents who are impaired in any way (on fire, demoralized, tied up, asleep, whatever) gain a 2 step increase on your damage die. Requires Melee Combat D4. Blunderer – Finesse has never been your strong point. Increase all of your damage rolls by 1 step, but permanently decrease evasion by 1 step as well. Note: can only be taken at character creation. Bop Bag – You’re tough. Really tough. But when you go down, you go down HARD. Increase your armor efficacy by 1 die step; if you’re not wearing armor, congratulations, take a D2. But increase the difficulty to revive you if you’re downed by 2. Note: can only be taken at character creation. Concentration – Nothing distracts you while you’re taking your shot. Ignore any penalties from adverse conditions or effects as long as you can actually see your target. Requires Sniper D6. 19 Cover the Spread – No one plays the percentages like you do. Twice per gaming session, replace any die in any check with your Luck attribute. Requires Gambling D6. Death Race – Mutant, 30 points! You don’t need to mount a weapon on your vehicle, your vehicle IS a weapon! (But feel free to mount a weapon on your vehicle.) When running down enemies, your car/truck/wagon/boat/unicycle steps up the damage by two dice. Your vehicle only takes half this damage to its Integrity. Requires Gearhead D4. Death Wish – You’ve made the decision to never, ever wear armor. After all, you once knew a dude who was wearing armor and died anyway so what’s the point? You permanently gain a one die step increase to one of your evasion dice, as well as 1 extra Action Point. Note: this Perk must be chosen at character creation. Demoralize – Sticks and stones may break their bones, but your words will break their spirit. Then spit on them. Then kick them in the gonads. Gain the ability to Demoralize enemies. Spend 2 AP and any enemy that can hear and understand you who has a functioning endocrine system has to roll a Focus check or become demoralized. The difficulty of the check is the result of a Charism