Life in the Wastes

Trading and Barter

Much of the Fallout universe uses a system of bartering due to the lack of money backed by a
bank. Money is used only in large cities and casinos, and generally consists of rudimentary gold
coins for slot machines and gambling. Otherwise, bartering for goods is done on a value-per-
value system. Notice that the items at the end of this book have different values.
If a character wanted to buy a gun worth 1000, and had a pistol worth 600 and some ammo worth
500, the merchant would be glad to make the deal - the merchant is getting the better part of the
bargain. But the merchant might just throw in that knife worth 100 to even out the deal, or add
100 gold coins to make things right. Sounds easy, right? Not really. A character's Barter skill
influences what he or she can buy something for, or get for something. Barter skill works like
this: the character compares his or her Barter skill to the merchant's. Whoever has the higher
Barter skill has the advantage. Take the higher skill number and deduct the lower skill, and then
add that percentage to the value of all that person's goods. If the character has a Barter skill of
50%, and is dealing with a trader whose Barter skill is 75%, the trader's goods gain a 25% value.
A knife worth 100 would then be worth 125. Of course, the GM could roleplay this situation
without all these numbers for a more realistic game experience.

Energy in the Wastes

Energy weapons and most vehicles run off of Energy Cells in the Fallout universe. There are two
kinds of cells: Small Energy Cells, which look a little like tiny batteries, and Micro Fusion Cells,
which look like bigger batteries. Each cell holds a certain amount of charges, and each weapon or
vehicle takes a certain amount of these charges to recharge completely.
Micro Fusion Cells automatically recharge given enough time (typically two full days.) They
have the capacity to fully recharge themselves about 50 times, after that they start to lose
efficiency. Thankfully, there are certain areas in the wastes where characters can recharge their
Small Energy Cells. These recharging machines are extremely rare. The charger will only work if
it has power running to it, and takes approximately 1 hour to recharge the cells completely. If the
recharger happens to be in the hands of a person or organization, be prepared to pay a lot for this
service if they allow it at all.
There are still a few rare vehicles and pieces of equipment that run off of gasoline (or petrol, to
my European readers). Gasoline is one of the rarest substances in the wastes, and can be very
difficult to come by. There will be places in large cities that sell it, but only in exchange for
something very valuable - like everything you own. It all depends on how badly you need that go-
juice.

Reading Books
Despite what some people think, learning in the wastes is not entirely dead. Occasionally, a
character will come across a book. Assuming the character knows how to read, he or she can gain
some knowledge from reading the book. Books always add a certain number of skill points
towards a specific skill, both of which are given in the book’s description. For more details on
how many skill points it takes to raise a skill by 1 percentage point, see Advancement, below.

Opening and Breaking Down Doors

Sometimes, a character will find him-or-herself in a situation where he or she needs to get
through a door but it is either jammed or locked. If picking the lock doesn’t work (see below), the
character can attempt to break the door down. Doors (and other items, like bookshelves, walls,
etc.) have a certain amount of hit points. After beating on it enough, or rigging it with enough
explosives, the door’s hit points will be reduced to 0 and the door breaks open.
Noticing, Setting, Disarming, and Setting Off Traps
Traps are a basic part of life in the wastes. Tribals use them to keep animals and raiders at bay,
evil genius’ use them to keep intrepid adventurers out of their compounds, and clever people can
use them to get the drop on an enemy. When walking into an area with traps, the GM should
make a secret roll against each character’s Perception statistic.
Those who succeed, notice the traps. Those who don’t are going to run into some problems.
Remember that the characters can only see traps (or mines, see below) that are within their line of
sight. If a character has no way of seeing a tripwire, the roll against Perception isn’t going to
matter. However, if another part of the trap’s mechanism is visible, they character could detect the
trap from that. For more information on detecting mines, see Mines, below.
After a character has seen a trap, he or she can attempt to disarm it. This requires another roll
against the Traps skill. If the roll fails, then the trap goes off in the character’s face. It takes
approximately 1 round of combat (10 seconds) to disarm a trap. Wily characters can also use their
Trap skill to set a trap or a snare. If they are attempting to set up a complicated mechanism, such
as a needle-gun that fires when someone walks across a pressure plate, they need a little bit of
time. If it is a simple rope animal trap, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. When setting a
trap, the character must have the proper materials. The GM can determine the amount of time
required to set a trap. At the end of that time, the GM makes a secret roll against Traps. Success
means that the character has set the trap correctly. Failure means that the character messed up
somehow, and the trap will either misfire or not go off at all. The character will always assume he
or she set the trap correctly. If a character does not notice a trap and walks into the area, he or she
is allowed to roll against Agility to avoid setting it off. The GM should not tell the players why
they are rolling, but a clever player should catch on quickly that something is amiss.
Unfortunately, if a character fails the roll against Agility, it means the trap was sprung that that
character and anyone else in the trap’s range is subject to the trap’s nasty effects, be that damage,
poison, or worse.
There are examples of some kinds of traps in the Equipment section, below.

Setting and Disarming Explosives

Explosives are a lot like traps, except that the use a timer and are usually much more destructive.
Setting explosives can be very useful: you can open doors, destroy or heavily damage vehicles,
and even plant them on unsuspecting people.
Setting an explosive device takes 1 round (10 seconds). It requires a roll against the Traps skill,
made in secret by the GM. Before the roll is made, the character should declare how he or she is
going to set the timer - in other words, when they want the bomb to go off. Should the roll fail,
the explosives are still set, but will not detonate when the character thinks they will detonate. It is
up to the GM to determine if the explosives are going to go off early, late, or not at all. If the roll
against Traps critically fails - a roll of 98, 99, or 100 that results in a failure - then the explosives
go off in the character’s face. Oops.
Disarming explosives works the same way that disarming a trap does. It takes 10 seconds, but if
the character fails, the explosive doesn’t necessarily go off right away. Like setting an explosive,
only a critical failure - 98, 99, or 100 - will make the bomb explode. A disarmed explosive device
can still be used, if the character finds another timer for it.
Characters who are hit by an explosive device are going to take damage; there is no roll against
Agility to try to move out of the way.

Detecting, Laying, and Disarming Mines

Mines are a cowardly way to fight a battle, but have become quite common in the wastes both as
a weapon of fear and a practical way to defend an area when manpower is low.
Detecting mines works in exactly the same way as detecting a trap, except that the character can
only see mines in a hex-radius equal to their Perception. Once the GM makes a secret roll against
Perception, and the character succeeds, they can only detect mines within their range that are not
obscured by anything. Perceptive characters had better tell their friends about mines as quickly as
possible.
Laying mines counts as setting explosives, except that the mine has no timer, and therefore will
not go off improperly - it just won’t function correctly (or it will hurt the minelayer). The same
goes for disarming mines - but the character needs to know if a mine is there in the first place.
Unfortunately, unless a character is looking for mines, that usually means someone will have to
walk over one first. A defused mine is useless and cannot be reused.
When a mine detonates, it damages everything in a certain radius, depending on the device (see
the descriptions in the Equipment section, below, for details). In addition, any other mine within
the blast radius has a 80% chance of detonating, and any mine within the concussion radius has a
40% chance of detonating. Intelligent raiders have been known to rig elaborate - and devastating -
traps with mines. Should a mine go off, anyone in the blast radius is affected; there is no roll
against Agility to avoid damage.

Random Encounters
Much of the world has fallen into a state of complete disrepair in the years since the War, and safe
travel is never guaranteed in the wastes. When traveling between locations, there is a chance for
random encounters. Random encounters can break up the monotony of long travel, provide
combat and experience points (and, of course, loot), and even serve as comic relief.
The specific adventure modules will instruct the GM on how often to roll for an encounter, and
what chance the party has to meet one. In general, random encounters are usually terrain-specific;
a party isn’t going to meet a bunch of desert lizards in the middle of a jungle.
If the party does meet a random encounter, then they have a chance to avoid the encounter. The
“leader” of the party - the character who is first in marching order, or at the front of the party -
must make a roll against Outdoorsman. If the roll succeeds, the character has spotted whatever
the party will encounter and can decide whether or not to avoid it.
Parties that meet random encounters will start at a position of 5 hexes multiplied by the “leader’s”
Perception from the middle of the group the party is encountering. This means that if the leader’s
perception is 6, the party starts 30 hexes from the center of the encounter (the middle of a
caravan, for example). If the group the party encounters is big enough, this can still plant them
right in the middle of everything. Starting position in random encounters doesn’t matter as much
when encountering peaceful things, but it matters a lot if you wandered into a radscorpion nest.

Some sample random encounters

A merchant caravan selling basic items.
A group of slavers on the way back from a successful run.
A pack of wild wolves (or lizards, or whatevers).
A crashed vehicle, with the pilots dead behind the controls.
Some farmers trying to eke out a meager life.
Another wandering party of adventurers.
Cowboys on a Brahmin drive.
An Enclave patrol with orders to shoot trespassers.
The GM and the adventure writers are encouraged to create any kind of encounter that will add
the right flavor to the adventure.

Detecting Sneaking Characters

Sometimes, the party will have to worry about enemies and critters sneaking up on them. Each
character has a base chance equal to 8 times his or her Perception to detect a sneaking enemy.
Characters with 5 Perception have a 40% chance of detecting someone trying to get the drop on
them. If the sneaking character is concealed in partial or semi-darkness, that chance drops to 5
times Perception. If the sneaker is in total darkness, the chance to detect a sneaking enemy drops
to 2 times Perception.
The GM should ask the characters to make this roll at once, and only tell those who succeed what
is going on. If no one succeeds, then the characters may realize something fishy is going on, but
won’t know what that something is exactly.

Swimming and Wading

It doesn’t happen very often, but every now and then the party may find itself neck-deep in the
wetstuff - literally. Whether it’s because their boat capsized or they are forced to cross a large
river or lake without a floatation device, swimming is a fairly simple concept. Water presents
some problems, however. The first is that most things in the post-nuclear universe aren’t really
designed to float, including weapons, armors, food, and robots. The second is that these things
can weigh a character down or sink him in a matter of seconds.
A character can safely hold approximately 10 lbs. X STR of weight and safely stay afloat. This
includes shoes and clothes. In addition, the character must have at least one hand free. If the
character is encumbered any more, he begins to sink along with his precious gear.
Staying afloat requires Endurance checks every 10 minutes. Swimming requires an Endurance
check every minute. Movement in the water is restricted to one hex for every 3 action points spent
moving; this applies to any amount of water knee-deep or above.

The Art of the Thief

Sneaking
Sneaking around takes a certain amount of concentration, planning, and luck. When a character
wants to sneak, he or she should announce their intentions. The Gamemaster should then roll the
character's sneak skill, and re-roll every minute thereafter. The interesting thing about sneaking is
that the character always thinks he or she is successful at it, whether or not they truly are
successful (more accurately, the character hopes that they are successful). Only the GM knows for
sure if the character is successfully keeping to the shadows. Sometimes a character will be tipped
off to an unsuccessful sneak when an NPC gives them a funny look and asks them what they are
doing. Things like amount of cover, light, and Perception of people or critters around the sneaker
effect the chances to sneak, at the Gamemaster's discretion.
Characters who are sneaking successfully get a +40% bonus to their Steal skill while sneaking,
and always get to attack first in combat (and sometimes can avoid combat by getting the drop on
an enemy and killing him outright). Note that a character cannot normally sneak and run at the
same time. Also note that some armors will greatly reduce a character’s chances of sneaking
around.

Stealing
Humans have lived on the Earth for about three million years. For 290,000 of those years, we
lived in relative harmony, without war and crime. About 10,000 years ago, someone got the bright
idea to begin taking food and locking it up. As soon as one human began to deny other humans
access to things, the art of stealing was born. In the Fallout universe, there are still many people
keeping things under lock and key. Therefore, it sometimes becomes necessary to relieve them of
their items. Characters can attempt to steal from anyone or anything with goods, from people to
stores. Sneaking successfully can increase the chances that a character successfully steals an
object. If a character fails a roll to steal, it isn't necessarily obvious.
The character still may get the item (GM's discretion) but the target will notice. Whether or not
the target rips the character's throat out depends on what kind of person they are. If a character
fails the Steal roll, and their target wants to initiate combat, their target automatically sequences
first in the opening round. Note than when the "target" is looking away (kind of a "picking the
pocket" sort of crime), the success rate may increase.

Planting Items
At times, it becomes necessary for the thief to plant an item on another person or critter, or in a
bookshelf or cabinet. Perhaps the thief is carrying some incriminating evidence and needs to get
rid of it fast. Perhaps the thief has just pulled the pin out of a grenade and wants to slip it in the
pocket of an uncooperative guard. Either way, planting an item works in exactly the same way as
stealing, except something goes from the thief’s possession to the target’s possession. When the
thief fails her roll against Steal, it means that the thief is caught; like Stealing (see above), the
target might not want the thief to know that he or she is aware of the plant. The thief always
assumes she has succeeded, until the target gives the reason to assume otherwise.

Picking Locks
Generally, locks exist to keep people out of places (or in places, in the case of a cage). Characters
can make rolls to break through these defenses, from simple padlocks on lockers in high schools
to top-notch safes in corporate offices.
There are two types of locks: regular and electronic. Electronic locks require either a key or an
item called an electronic lockpick. Electronic lockpicks are generally only available from a
Thief’s Guild or a very wellconnected source. Regular locks can be picked without a regular
lockpick, although lockpicks can greatly enhance the chances of cracking the lock. The chances
of cracking a safe can be increased with safe cracking tools. Lockpicking takes 1 minute to
attempt. If the player rolls 95% or more, and that roll results in a failure, then the lock is broken
and can only be opened with explosives, which might result in damaging whatever is on the other
side of the lock. See Opening and Breaking Down Doors, above.

Karma
As previously mentioned, Karma in Fallout is a numerical measure of how “good” or “evil” a
person is. Usually, the GM determines what actions will earn or lose a character Karma points,
although adventures may outline changes in Karma points for performing specific actions or
quests. Some examples of actions that might earn or lose a character Karma points are:

Help a person in trouble: +10

Attack an innocent person: -25
Kill an innocent person: -100
Steal from an honest merchant: -10
Steal from a crooked merchant: +5
Run over someone’s dog: -5
Kill a notorious bandit: +50
Join a notorious bandit: -50
Disable a ticking nuclear bomb: +100
Detonate a nuclear bomb: -500 And so on.

GMs are encouraged to be as creative as they want when doling out Karma points, but not to use
them to corral adventurers into performing certain actions. Remember that evil characters can
have just as much fun as good characters.

Karmic Reputation
In the Fallout universe, certain actions will earn the character Karmic "Perks." These reputations
can be good or bad, depending on how you look at them. Below is a list of them, with the actions
required to earn them (although most of them should be obvious). Earning this reputation earns
you a bonus to your unarmed skill (+5%) and Damage Resistance.
Berserker
This dubious title is bestowed upon a character (or party) that manages to take out an entire town
of people. If a village or small town disappears or ends up dead one day, someone is bound to
notice and search for clues. For a mercenary looking for work in some warlord's army, this may
be just the thing they want on their resume. For a person looking for honest work in a small town,
you can bet that the bullets will be flying as soon as they aren't looking. Of course, taking out a
city of a million is damn near impossible (a GM that would allow that ought to have their head
examined, in addition to the combat taking over a year), but people will still hear about the person
who exterminated an entire village.

Champion Fighter
You have become a champion fighter. This reputation, and the benefits gained in earning it, are
available to characters whom have won a championship in boxing, martial arts or similar close
combat fighting tournament. This Perk gives a +10 bonus to Damage Threshold against Normal
damage and another +5 bonus against all other types of damage. The character is awarded a fifth
of the above benefits from this Perk after each match won until the full benefits have been
received.

Childkiller
A character earns reputation after they slay their first child. Whether a person is the purest good
or the darkest evil, they realize that children are the most important thing in the wastes, as they
represent the final hope for human survival. Characters who kill children are almost instantly
recognized (word manages to get out fast) and hated. Storekeepers won't deal with Childkillers,
and they can only find solace in the most evil or insane of places, because other people tend to
spit on them, throw things at them, or attack them on sight.

Dream Crusher
You are the crusher of dreams, woe unto others. This reputation may be gained by ruining the
hopes of an individual whom has requested assistance in a special task. This usually involves
turning them down when it would mean the achievement of a lifetime otherwise. Some
individuals will be more reserved when interacting with you and never let you close, and a few
others will treat you with open disdain. This Perk grants a 10% higher chance of scoring targeted
shots.

Slaver
A character earns this reputation after voluntarily joining the Slaver's Guild. Since the bombs fell,
slavery has become a profitable enterprise in lesser civilized (and sometimes the "most civilized")
parts of the wastes. In the 100 years since the War, a kind of coalition grew among slavers. They
identify themselves with a tattoo that covers most of the face. Of course, that makes their
profession obvious to anyone looking at them. Characters with the Slaver tattoo will be treated
well by those who respect (and earn money from) slavery, and hated by those who refuse to
partake.

Challenge/Achievement Perks
These perks are achieved throughout course of the game by diligence and dedication on the part
of the character. Most of them are gained through repeatedly attempting difficult or unusual tasks
and actions. This list is certainly limited and can certainly be expanded by creative GMs.

Radical
You gain enhanced effects from Rad-Away. The effects of RadAway are tripled.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Consume 20 doses of RadAway.

Psychotic
Your body has adapted to the use of the stimulant Psycho. Positive effects of Psycho are doubled,
and the addiction rate for this drug is halved.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Consume 20 doses of Psycho, Endurance 5, Level 6.

Stimply Amazing
You have a healer's touch. All kinds of stimpacks restore 50% more HP than usual.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Heal 10,000 points of damage with Stimpaks.

Let's Get Critical

Must be the luck of the draw.. You cause better criticals because of your deadly accuracy. You
gain a +5% bonus on the critical hit charts.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Inflict 200 criticals, Luck 7, Level 15.

Lord Death
You gain a damage bonus against everything, because you like killing everything. Each attack
deals an extra +1 damage against all enemies.
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 250/500/1000 enemies.

Mutant Massacrer
Your savvy at Mutant killing grants you a damage bonus to killing them. Each attack deals an
extra +1 damage to all Super Mutants.
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 50/100/200 super mutants.

Deuce Machina
You grind gears of the machines and gain a damage bonus against robots. Each attack deals an
extra +1 damage to all robots.
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 50/100/200 robots.

Bug Stomper
Pulling the legs off ants suits you well. You gain a damage bonus against insects. Each attack
deals an extra +1 damage to all mutated insects.
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 50/100/200 mutated insects

Animal Control
You handle animals really well when they are dead and gain a damage bonus against the living
ones. Each attack deals an extra +1 damage to all animals
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 50/100/200 animals.

Abominable
There's nothing abominable about your damage bonus against abominations, such as deathclaws
and centaurs. This gives increased weapon damage against abominations like floaters. Each attack
deals an extra +1 damage to all abominations.
Ranks: 3
Requirements: Kill 50 abominations.

Set Lasers to Fun

You are laser-crazy and it shows! Your critical chance with Energy Weapons is increased by +2%
permenantly.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Inflict 10,000 damage with pistol-based laser weapons.

Beam Me Up
Your critical chance with Energy Weapons is increased by +2% permenantly.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Inflict 25,000 damage with rifle-based laser weapons.

Destroy Something Beautiful

Your AP cost for unarmed attacks is reduced by 1.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Inflict 10,000 damage with unarmed weapons.

Tough Guy
Repeatedly breaking bones has led them to become stronger (somehow). Your chances of
suffering a crippled limb is halved, and your limbs receive -25% damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Have limbs crippled 50 times, Endurance 7, Level 12.

Hobbler
Your penalty to target enemy limbs has halved, and their limbs receive +25% damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Have crippled 50 enemy limbs, Perception 7, Level 12.

Limber Jack
Your penalty to target enemy limbs is nulled, and their limbs receive +25% damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirments: Have crippled 150 enemy limbs, Perception 7, Level 24.

Unique Perks
These perks are attained by special means throughout the Fallout world. Availability of these
perks may be extremely limited or impossible depending on the campaign (left up to GM
discretion for each game. For example, complicated medical procedures (like surgeries and
implants) may be available from doctors in advanced medical and tech-enriched areas after
researching the technical specifications for them (procedures and schematics are sometimes,
though rarely, found in medical tech databases or military research facilities) then inquiring from
the medical professional about them.)

Phoenix Armor Implants

You have inherent protection against energy attacks. This implant adds 5% to Damage Resistance
against plasma, laser and fire-based attacks.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Thermal dissipator cells from a suit of combat armor, 10,000 credits, 3 days
recovery time.

Phoenix Assault Enhancement

You have extra inherent protection against energy attacks. This implant adds an additional 5% to
Damage Resistance against plasma, laser and fire-based attacks but also lowers Charisma by 1,
permanently. These enhancements are only available to characters with Phoenix Armor Implants.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Thermal dissipator cells from another suit of combat armor, 50,000 credits, 6 days
recovery time.

Phoenix Regenerative Nanobiotic Implants

You have inherent health regeneration. This implant regenerates HP at the enhanced rate of the
character's HR rating every minute.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Dispensor Nanodocks (at least five), activated medically-regenerative nanobots,
12,000 credits, 1 day recovery time.

Note: Nanobiotech Industries was one company that specialized in these before the war, their
fascilities also housed High-Energy Particle Accelerators which were needed to activate the
nanobots.

Phoenix Nanodisguise Implants

You have inherent disguise abilities. This implant allows the character to alter their appearance to
that of anyone they have a likeness of (this requires the ability to digitalize the features of the
target character with holoscan technology of some sort.)
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Dispensor Nanodocks (at least five), activated medically-regenerative nanobots,
25,000 credits, 2 days recovery time.

Note: Nanostealth Incorporated, a subsidiary of Nanobiotech Industries, was one company that
specialized in manufacturing these before the war.

Dermal Impact Armor Implants

You have inherent protection against physical attacks. This implant adds 5% to Damage
Resistance against normal and explosion damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Concussive protection plates from a suit of combat armor, 7,000 credits, 2 days
recovery time.

Dermal Impact Assault Enhancement

You have extra inherent protection against physical attacks. This implant adds an additional 5% to
Damage Resistance against normal and explosion-based attacks but also lowers Charisma by 1,
permanently. These enhancements are only available to characters with Dermal Impact Armor
Implants.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Concussive protection plates from another suit of combat armor, 40,000 credits, 5
days recovery time.

Adamantium Skeletal Grafts

You have an adamantium skeleton. These grafts make it impossible for the character to suffer
from crippled limbs. In addition, they also add a +10% bonus to all Damage Resistance except
Electrical and give a +2 bonus to Damage Threshold against all types of damage except
Electrical. Unfortunately, all damage dealt the character by Electricity is increased by 50%.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Endurance 7, Luck 7, Level 7.

Note: This procedure is very risky. Without Phoenix Regenerative Nanobiotic Implants before
undergoing this surgery, the character must make a successful Luck roll (with a -6 penalty) or the
grafting is a failure, resulting in automatic death.

Surgical Enhancement Procedures

You have received an enhancing surgical procedure. These procedures, depending on the type of
enhancement, typically give a +1 permanent bonus to Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, Perception
or Strength.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Color-Specific Memory Module, 5,000 credits, 1-3 weeks recovery time.

Advanced Medical Training

You have received advanced medical training. This Perk gives +5% to Doctor and +5% to First
Aid.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Doctor 75%.

Resistance Boosting Inoculations

You have gained +10% resistance to both poison and radiation. This Perk gives +10% Poison
Resistance and +10% Radiation Resistance.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Character must be Irradiated or Poisoned and have the Advanced Medical Training
perk when going in for treatment.

Wired Reflexes
You have received the Wired Reflexes perk. This Perk grants a 10% higher chance of successfully
scoring called shots.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Special. See below.

Note: This perk may be gained through special means by liberating droid-like robots from
unfortunate circumstances.

Power Armor Training

You have received Power Armor training. This Perk grants the ability to wear all Power Armor
variants.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Special. See below.

Note: This training is available from combat instructors familiar with operating Power Armor,
usually in tech-enriched areas. The easiest means of doing so has always been to gain the trust
and respect of the Brotherhood elders then requesting permission to be taught by their drill
instructor.

Advanced Chem Manufacturing

You have advanced knowledge of drug manufacturing. This Perk allows the character to make
stimpacks, super stimpacks, mentats, buffout, psycho, radaway, rad-x and other advanced drugs
or illicit, addictive substances if they possess the proper equipment, materials, drug formulas and
step-by-step procedures.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Doctor 75%, Science 75%.

Tarot Reading
You have had a special fortune told with a tarot deck. Fortune telling is an art, and is offered by
truly gifted individuals with a special deck of tarot cards. This Perk gives a +1 bonus to Luck.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Luck 9.

Rad Regeneration
You have received unforeseen side-effects from severe radiation exposure for the sake of
research. This Perk grants the ability to regerate crippled limbs when your rad count is over 400.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Special. See below.

Note: This perk is gained through special means, usually involving taking on a high rad count for
the sake of research, then getting examined and treated for such high radiation exposure.

Ant Sight
You have been inoculated with a fire ant mutagen derivative. This Perk grants a +1 permanent
bonus to Perception and +25% resistance to fire damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: None.

Note: This perk is not compatible with the other mutagen (Varient B) that grants Ant Might,
meaning that you may not have both perks.

Ant Might
You have been inoculated with a fire ant mutagen derivative. This Perk grants a +1 permanent
bonus to Strength and +25% resistance to fire damage.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: None.

Note: This perk is not compatible with the other mutagen (Varient A) that grants Ant Sight,
meaning that you may not have both perks.

Gunsmithing
You can make repairs on all types of firearms. This Perk allows the character to make
intermediate and advanced repairs, restorations and enhancements on all small guns, most big
guns and some varients of unarmed and melee weapons if they possess the proper equipment and
materials.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Small Guns 75%, Big Guns 50%, Science 75%, Repair 75%.

Energy Weapon Repair

You can make advanced repairs on energy weapons. This Perk allows the character to make
intermediate and advanced repairs, restorations and enhancements on energy weapons if they
possess the proper equipment and materials.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Energy Weapons 75%, Science 75%, Repair 90%.

Explosive Making
You can make all types of explosives. This Perk allows the character to make intermediate and
advanced explosives and incendiaries if they possess the proper equipment, materials, formulas
and step-by-step procedures. This Perk also gives the character a +5% bonus to Traps.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Traps 90%.

Technical Armor Repair

You can make repairs on combat armor, power armor and varients. This Perk allows the character
to make intermediate and advanced repairs and restorations on combat armor, power armor and
varients if they possess the proper equipment and materials.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Science 90%, Repair 90%.

Advanced Tactical Training

You have received training in advanced combat tactics. This Perk gives the character a +5 bonus
to Sequence.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Perception 8, Agility 8, Intelligence 8.

Ranged Combat Training

You have received military training in ranged combat. This Perk gives +5% to Small Guns, +5%
to Big Guns and +5% to Energy Weapons.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Perception 8.

Close Combat Training

You have received training in hand-to-hand close combat situations. This Perk gives +10% to
Unarmed and +10% to Melee Weapons.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Strength 5, Endurance 6, Agility 6.

Note: This training is available for characters who have repeatedly observed hand-to-hand
combat techniques being demonstrated.

Advanced Martial Arts Training

You have received advanced martial arts training. This perk is in combination with many different
fighting styles. Specific benefits to each style may include special attacks or strikes. (An example
includes Paralyzing Palm. A successful hit with this palm strike requires the target to make a
successful roll against Endurance or be paralyzed for 1d2+1 rounds.) This perk also gives a +5%
bonus to Sneak and an extra +5% to critical hit chance in hand-to-hand combat.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Unarmed 95%, Melee 75%, Agility 8, Level 15.

Note: Better proficiency (each benchmark set by the GM in Unarmed and/or Melee) after initial
training in each style yields greater benefits and effects.
Wilderness Survival
You have advanced knowledge of wilderness survival. This Perk gives the character an additional
+10% bonus to Outdoorsman.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Endurance 6, Intelligence 6, Outdoorsman 75%.

Note: This perk gives other, wilderness-related benefits as left up to the GM.

Wasteland Trapping
You have basic knowledge of trapping and skinning animals. The character has been taught useful
techniques to trap and skin an assortment of critters. This Perk also gives the character a +5%
bonus to Traps skill.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Outdoorsman 25%.

Leather Working
You have comprehensive knowledge of tanning animal hides for making leather and crafting
leather armor and other varients. This Perk allows the character to manufacture leather jackets,
armors and varients if they possess the proper equipment and materials.
Ranks: 1
Requirements: Science 75%, Repair 75%.

Wasteland Critters

These are samples of some of the creatures you might find prowling around the wastes. GMs are
encouraged to make up their own unusual creatures; after all, radiation allows creativity - and
DNA - to run wild. All the vital statistics for combat are listed after the critter descriptions.

Abbreviations:
HP = Hit Points
SQ = Sequence
AC = Armor Class
DR = Damage Resistance
DT = Damage Threshold
AP = Action Points
XP = Experience Value
CC = Critical Chance
PR = Poison Resistance
RR = Radiation Resistance
GR = Gas Resistance
Attacks: Type (% to hit, AP cost, damage, special notes)

Rats
By far the most common creatures in the wastes (and I'm not just referring to the New York City
subway system), rats and their relatives have done very well for themselves since the bombs
dropped. There are plenty of the nasty, black variety around, but radiation changed some of these
disease-ridden vermin into fearsome creatures.

Giant Rat
HP: 10
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 25
CC: 3%
AC: 5 DT DR
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 50%
RR: 20%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Claw (75%, 3 AP, D:1d4, none); Bite (70%, 3 AP, D:1d4, Poison Type A).
This is basically a larger version of a rat. Giant rats range in size from about a foot - the size of a
cat - to almost a yard (meter) in length. They are covered with brown or black fur, and have black,
glassy, beady eyes. Rats are readily identifiable by their tail, as it looks like a worm sticking out
of their rear end. They are not openly hostile towards humans unless they are hungry, but packs
have been known to attack when they smell blood. Giant rats can be found pretty much anywhere.

Rad Rat
HP: 10
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 35
CC: 3%
AC: 5 DT DR
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 60%
RR: 100%
GR: 0/50
Attacks: Claw (75%, 3 AP, D:1d4, successful HIT +10 rads); Bite (70%, 3 AP, D:1d4, successful
HIT +10 rads)
Rats can survive large doses of radioactivity, and in certain areas, have even adapted such that
they require the radiation to live. These rats are about 30 centimeters long, are brown or black in
color, and will glow slightly in the dark. The main thing to fear in encountering Rad Rats is that
they are slightly radioactive, and their little claws can transfer some of that to YOU. Rad Rats are
usually found around sources of radioactivity.

Molerats
Molerats are a mix between moles and rats. No one is sure whether these creatures are the result
of a creative union between similar species, or an even stranger union with a little radiation to
help things along the way. Molerats range in size anywhere from 30 centimeters to a meter and a
half; the largest stand almost a meter at the shoulder. They have mole-like faces and are nearly
blind in normal light; for this reason, they are almost exclusively found in caves. Lesser molerats
are the smaller version, Greater molerats are the huge, ugly ones.

Lesser Molerat
HP: 15
SQ: 7
AP: 7
XP: 100
CC: 3%
AC: 9 DT DR
Normal: 1 5%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 1 5%
PR: 50%
RR: 25%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Claw (80%, 3 AP, D:1d8, none); Bite (75%, 3 AP, D:1d8, Poison Type A)

Greater Molerat
HP: 30
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 400
CC: 5%
AC: 12 DT DR
Normal: 4 20%
Laser: 1 5%
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 4 20%
PR: 60%
RR: 25%
GR: 0/25
Attacks: Claw (90%, 3 AP, D:1d10, none); Bite (90%, 3 AP, D:1d10, Poison Type B)

Pigrats
Pigrats are part-pig, part rat hybrids. Like their cousins the molerats, it probably took some
creative genetic manipulation to make these critters. Pigrats are large, ranging anywhere from 70
cm to almost 2 meters in length, and incorporate the best (worst?) of the two species. Their legs
are overly large, although short, and they are exceptionally meaty around the midsection. In fact,
pigrats would make exceptional livestock, if they weren't so dangerous. They are amazingly
resilient, and can be found almost anywhere. They travel in packs of ten or more and generally
attack only to protect their young or defend their territory. If they are hungry, however, they
become very aggressive.

Lesser Pigrat
HP: 20
SQ: 7
AP: 7
XP: 200
CC: 4%
AC: 10 DT DR
Normal: 1 5%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 1 5%
PR: 50%
RR: 30%
GR: 0/10
Attacks: Claw (75%, 3 AP, D:2d4, none); Bite (75%, 3 AP, D:2d4, Poison Type A)

Greater Pigrat
HP: 30
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 450
CC: 6%
AC: 14 DT DR
Normal: 4 25%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 2 10%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 4 25%
PR: 70%
RR: 45%
GR: 0/20
Attacks: Claw (90%, 3 AP, D:2d6, none); Bite (75%, 3 AP, D:2d6, Poison Type B)

Insects

Giant Cockroaches
HP: 15
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 50
CC: 4%
AC: 5 DT DR
Normal: 3 30
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 100%
RR: 95%
GR: 80/100
Attacks: Mandible (60%, 3 AP, D:1d10, Poison Type B)
One of the most numerous and adaptive of all species that evolution spit upon this planet,
cockroaches existed on every continent before the War. After the bombs flew, they still managed
to hold on to their niche, especially in ruins of cities with lots of dark, dirty areas for them to
crawl through. Cockroaches range anywhere from an inch in length to 60 cm, but only the “giant”
variety is dangerous. They can be encountered alone, but the most common - and deadly - species
travels in clusters of 10-20 individuals. They do not make a habit of attacking humans, but will
defend their garbage heaps, and large swarms of these creatures can easily overwhelm a person or
a small group. Usually, cockroaches will call off the attack if their target flees.

Giant Ants
HP: 15
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 50
CC: 3%
AC: 2 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 100%
RR: 60%
GR: 60/90
Attacks: Mandibles (60%, 3 AP, D:1d6, Poison Type A)
Giant Ants, or GiAnts, are simply overgrown insects. Somewhere along the way, fate saw fit to
dump some radioactive material near and anthill and create this large, mutant creature. GiAnts are
black ants about 70 centimeters in length. Huge colonies of these creatures exist under the earth,
and scouts are often found in caves. GiAnts usually travel in parties of 5 to 10 insects. They will
attack humans on sight, and enjoy eating corpses of the dead.

Mantis
HP: 10
SQ: 7
AP: 7
XP: 50
CC: 2%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 75%
RR: 80%
GR: 60/90
Attacks: Mandible (70%, 3 AP, D: 1d6, Poison Type B); Claw (75%, 4 AP, D: 1d8, none)
These giant, mutant insects come from the praying mantis, a creature nearly extinct before the
War. They have since become a popular sight in the post-War Americas, and are known to devour
crops and cattle. On rare occasions, a pack of mantis will attack humans. Mantis travel in swarms
of 15 or 20, and will generally not attack unless provoked.

Spitting Plant
HP: 50
SQ: 8
AP: 8
XP: 100
CC: 2%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 100%
RR: 95%
GR: 100/100
Attacks: Thorn (75%, 4 AP, D:1d6, none)
Not exactly Seymour, but this species of plant is certainly a nasty customer. It grows almost
anywhere, but is usually found among other plants so it can blend in and ambush its prey. It
stands about 2 meters tall and has a "flower" like a Venus flytrap, a plant which it probably
mutated from. When it senses movement and heat, it will "shoot" a sharp thorn from its "flower."
When it senses that the creature it shot at is no longer moving, it will then proceed to "eat" the
unlucky creature with its flower. Although this sounds humorous, meeting five or six of these
plants is no laughing matter. They usually grow together, as several are always more dangerous
than one, and at least one of them is guaranteed a meal. Spitting plants attack anything that is
warm and moves. Note that spitting plants cannot move - they are, literally, planted. Their spikes
do 1d6 points of damage and have an effective range of 8 meters.

Radscorpions
Another common denizen of the western desert was the scorpion. This species got a second lease
on life when radiation from the War allowed it to grow to gargantuan proportions.
Radscorpions range in size from 50 cm to 2 meters in length, and range in color from pale white
to brown and black. Their wicked tails contain sacs of venom, and are tipped with a stinger
almost 15 cm long. Radscorpion tails are considered valuable, since the powerful Antidote is
made from a distilled version of the venom inside the sacs. Radscorpions can be encountered in
groups of up to 8, or alone. They prefer shady areas, and can often be found in canyons or caves.
Radscorpions are rarely encountered in the open desert, or in areas of high vegetation.

Lesser Radscorpion
HP: 25
SQ: 8
AP: 8
XP: 200
CC: 4%
AC: 7 DR DT
Normal: 1 5%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 4 20%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 1 5%
PR: 100%
RR: 25%
GR: 30/100
Attacks: Tail (70%, 4 AP, D:1d10, Poison Type D)

Greater Radscorpion
HP: 35
SQ: 8
AP: 8
XP: 400
CC: 5%
AC: 10 DR DT
Normal: 1 5%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 4 20%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 1 5%
PR: 100%
RR: 50%
GR: 50/100
Attacks: Tail (80%, 4 AP, D:1d12, Poison Type D)

Brahmin
HP: 40
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 50
CC: 2%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 2 10%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 2 10%
PR: 20%
RR: 30%
GR: 0/10
Attacks: Horn (75%, 3 AP, D:2d8, none)
After the War, most kinds of life from pre-War America were changed into almost unrecognizable
forms. Cows managed to escape that fate, for the most part, except that only a very hardy breed
survived (or a cross between several hardier breeds). Brahmin are the main source of beef and
leather in the wastes, and they can be found almost everywhere, although they are usually in
enclosures. Some areas have vast Brahmin ranches, rivaling the huge Texas ranches of pre-War
times. Brahmin are also used as pack animals, hauling wagons for caravans. They are hardy
animals and can survive on very little food. They are tolerant of extreme environmental
conditions, weathering the scathing heat of a summer's day as well as the bitter cold of the desert
winter nights. Brahmin are easily distinguishable by their two heads, although rumors of herds of
one-headed Brahmin far in the east occasionally make their rounds. Most people don't subscribe
to that hogwash, however. Brahmin are almost always docile unless attacked directly; then, the
herd will attempt to defend themselves.

Geckos
A mutation of the smaller pre-War lizard, Geckos are large desert-dwelling reptiles that walk on
their hind legs and attack with their front, which have developed sharp claws for tearing. Highly
prized for their strong pelts, Geckos are routinely hunted in some places, although a pack of them
can easily kill one or two inexperienced hunters. Geckos stand about 150 cm tall, and the larger,
more dangerous Golden Gecko is about 180 cm tall. They travel in packs of anywhere from 4 to
20 animals.
Gecko
HP: 30
SQ: 7
AP: 7
XP: 150
CC: 2%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 1 10%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 80%
RR: 75%
GR: 0/10
Attacks: Claw (75%, 3 AP, D:1d8, none); Bite (70%, 4 AP, D:2d6, none)

Golden Gecko
HP: 50
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 400
CC: 5%
AC: 10 DR DT
Normal: 5 50%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 5 50%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 2 10%
PR: 100%
RR: 100%
GR: 0/50
Attacks: Claw (90%, 3 AP, D:1d12, none); Bite (85%, 4 AP, D:1d20, none)

Fire Gecko
HP: 40
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 300
CC: 4%
AC: 8 DR DT
Normal: 3 30%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 3 30%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 2 10%
PR: 80%
RR: 80%
GR: 0/20
Attacks: Claw (75%, 3 AP, D:1d8, none); Bite (80%, 4 AP, D:2d6, Poison Type B)
Dog
HP: 20
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 100
CC: 3%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 18%
RR: 8%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Bite (80%, 3 AP, D:2d6, roll against dex. to avoid knockdown)
Who wouldn't want a large, slobbering, smelly beast as a companion? They are intensely loyal
and love you unconditionally, and can do many useful things like fetching items from radioactive
areas and leading blind people around. Dogs can be found anywhere there are humans. They
come in all sizes and colors, and will not attack anyone unless they perceive that person as a
threat to their house, territory, or master.

Feral Dogs
HP: 20
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 100
CC: 4%
AC: 3 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 20%
RR: 10%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Bite (70%, 3 AP, D:1d8, none)
Man's best friend was blessed with a resistance to radiation that his master did not have. When
billions were dropping dead from fallout, millions of canines were wondering where their next
can of dog food was going to come from. Inevitably, some escaped their houses and backyards,
forming groups not unlike wolf packs. Today, these bands of dogs have become feral,
interbreeding with each other and living without the humans that supplied them with chow and
loved them for eons. A feral dog pack operates much like a wolf pack, with a single "alpha" male
leader and anywhere from 5 to 25 members. Feral dogs tend to be smaller than wolves, and come
in almost any color and shape that normal mutts do. They live anywhere, and although they avoid
humans for the most part, feral dogs can usually be found closer to cities and towns than wolves
and coyotes. Feral dogs will not attack humans unless starving or provoked.

Coyotes
HP: 20
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 100
CC: 5%
AC: 3 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 20%
RR: 10%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Bite (70%, 3 AP, D:1d8, none)
Smaller than wolves, with a higher howl, coyotes are loners rather than social animals,
scavengers rather than hunters. Coyotes aren't nearly as common as they used to be, partially
because they ran out of food when livestock herds drastically diminished, partially because wolf
packs found that coyotes made good meals. Coyotes barely stand 1 meter at the shoulder, and are
often yellow, tan, or brown in color. They are mostly found in deserts and mountains, or any area
where they have some kind of cover, such as trees. Unless mating, coyotes are almost always
alone, and won't attack humans unless cornered and provoked. They will, however, attempt to
take down livestock, if they think it is an easy catch.

Wolves
Suprisingly, wolves managed to survive the War, and even thrive in the postnuclear environment.
In addition to the normal "Canis lupis" variety of Grey Wolf, huge dire wolves have returned to
North America. Domesticated dogs, which are more resistant to radiation than your average
human, "turned feral" after the bombs hit, and packs of them now roam the wastes. In addition,
there are a few domesticated pooches still out there, and coyotes still make trouble for
domesticated animals like chickens.

Wolves (Grey Wolves)

Grey wolves can be either white, gray, black, or any mix between these. They sand about 120 to
160 cm tall at the shoulder, and have a distinctive call. They are highly social animals, and the
pack is based around a lead male, called the "alpha." The entire pack, except for pregnant and
nursing females, hunts, often using highly refined tactics to take down prey. Wolf packs are
territorial, and normally do not stray into each other's territory. When they feel that their turf is
threatened by anything - wolves, other animals, or humans - they will attack. Contrary to popular
belief, wolves avoid humans and their livestock, and will only attack when there is no other
source of food. There can be anywhere from five to twenty-five wolves in a pack.

Grey Wolves
HP: 20
SQ: 6
AP: 6
XP: 100
CC: 5%
AC: 5 DR DT
Normal: 0 0
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 25%
RR: 15%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Bite (80%, 3 AP, D:2d6, none); Claw (70%, 4 AP, D:1d8, none)

Dire Wolves
Dire wolves are a huge member of the wolf family, thought to be extinct since the last ice age. It
is unclear whether radiation created a similar creature, or holdovers from the far north made their
way south during the nuclear winters, but dire wolf packs are some of the most feared creatures in
the wastes.
Although they are extremely rare, they have been known to take down entire caravans, armed
guards and all. Dire wolves hunt mainly for meat, and although they avoid large human
settlements, they can and will attack smaller, undefended towns, carrying off children or small
adults. Dire wolves stand almost 2 meters at the shoulder, and except for their size, look much
like their smaller cousins, the Grey Wolf. They run in packs of 5 to 25 individuals.

Dire Wolves
HP: 60
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 700
CC: 7%
AC: 9 DR DT
Normal: 5 40%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 0 0
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 0 0
PR: 40%
RR: 20%
GR: 0/0
Attacks: Bite (90%, 3 AP, D:3d6, none); Claw (80%, 4 AP, D:2d8, roll against EN to avoid
knockdown).

Abominations
Whether these creatures came from another planet, or are some horrible twisting of genetic
material found on earth, is a question left to the scientists. Since scientists are now few and far
between, one guess is as good as another as to where these unusual critters originated. All have
one thing in common. Somehow, normal weapons like guns and bullets don't seem to hurt them
much at all, nor does beating on them with fists or melee weapons. Only fire, laser, and plasma
weapons are truly effective against these creatures. Recent evidence seems to suggest that these
creatures are, in fact, early products of FEV virus research, but this rumor cannot be verified.

Floaters
HP: 60
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 500
CC: 8%
AC: 20 DR DT
Normal: 10 95%
Laser: 1 10%
Fire: 5 40%
Plasma: 1 10%
Explosion: 10 90%
PR: 80%
RR: 80%
GR: 100/90
Attacks: Stalk (80%, 3 AP, D:3d4, none)
Floaters look a little like a jellyfish, except they are solid and don't have tentacles. Their flesh is a
brownish color, and is moist and firm to the touch. They have a stalk coming out of what is
presumably the front of their body, although there is no discernable eye or sense orifice on their
bodies. At the end of the stalk is a flat, dinner plate shaped area inlaid with nasty spikes and
spines. Adventurers who have tangled with floaters report that the stalk will turn and follow them
around, even in areas of almost total darkness. Floaters are usually around a meter and a half in
length, and are narrower than they are round (presuming that the sensory stalk is actually the front
of the creature). They float anywhere from a half a meter to two meters off of the ground. Floaters
seem to like dank, moist, dark places and are often found in caves. Floaters seem to attack
indiscriminately, although it is unclear whether they attack for food, defense, or something more
sinister. Floaters attack by hitting things with their stalk, allowing the hundreds of spines to tear
through flesh and armor. They travel, with crawlers, in pods of around ten individuals.

Crawlers
HP: 60
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 600
CC: 7%
AC: 20 DR DT
Normal: 10 95%
Laser: 1 10%
Fire: 5 40%
Plasma: 1 10%
Explosion: 10 90%
PR: 90%
RR: 80%
GR: 100/100
Attacks: Stalk (90%, 3 AP, D:3d8, none)
Crawlers are much like floaters, preferring the same habitats and showing many of the same
behavioral characteristics. Instead of floating, however, their body lies on the ground. It gushes a
slimelike trail, not unlike a snail. The stalk of a crawler is longer, stronger, and thicker than a
floater's stalk, and it uses the flat plate-like end not only to attack other creatures, but to propel
itself along the ground. Crawlers are more rare than floaters, and are often only found one or two
at a time in a pack of floaters. Some have suggested that crawlers may be the female form of the
floater species, but there is nothing to confirm or deny this.

Flailers
HP: 60
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 750
CC: 8%
AC: 25 DR DT
Normal: 10 95%
Laser: 1 10%
Fire: 5 40%
Plasma: 1 10%
Explosion: 10 90%
PR: 95%
RR: 100%
GR: 100/100
Attacks: Flail (90%, 3 AP, D:2d8, none); Bite (90%, 3 AP, D:2d8, Poison Type D)
Flailers were the first form of "alien" life encountered, and are probably the most common.
Flailers are bipeds - that is, they have two legs - and stand about two meters tall. Their skin is also
moist, firm, and either brown or gray. Their legs are large and strong, but taper into flat, tentacle-
like feet upon which the flailer walks. Its "arms" are similar flat tentacles, each covered with tiny
spines and spikes that the flailer whips at opponents. It has a head-knob coming out of its body,
but no eyes. Set near the bottom of the headknob is a mouth filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth.
Flailers travel in groups of eight or more and show high intelligence, attacking with advanced
tactics. It is unclear how intelligent these creatures are, or to what extent they are native to this
planet.

Centaurs
HP: 60
SQ: 9
AP: 9
XP: 750
CC: 8%
AC: 25 DR DT
Normal: 10 95%
Laser: 1 10%
Fire: 5 40%
Plasma: 1 10%
Explosion: 10 90%
PR: 50%
RR: 80%
GR: 40/70
Attacks: Swing (90%, 3 AP, D:1d20, none)
Centaurs are an entirely different animal. There are rumors that someone with access to an old
government breeding lab made these twisted creatures by mixing human and "alien" DNA
together. Centaurs are light orange with brown patches, and resemble a human torso laying face-
down. They propel themselves on their six legs, each of which resembles a human arm with
stunted fingers. Where the shoulders would normally be, the torso extends upwards almost the
full length of another torso, ending in a head that was obviously once human. Centaurs are
usually bald, and one look at their face indicates that the only thing they share with humans is the
same basic appearance. Their eyes are dull and glazed, and mouths often hang open drooling.
They attack either by biting or beating the target with their front two legs. Centaurs are very rare,
and can usually be found in packs of five or six deep inside caves or other underground places.
They don't always attack, and will sometimes observe adventurers. If they perceive something as
a threat, however, they will singlemindedly attack it until it dies.
Deathclaws
HP: 70
SQ: 10
AP: 10
XP: 800
CC: 9%
AC: 25 DR DT
Normal: 4 40%
Laser: 0 0
Fire: 4 40%
Plasma: 0 0
Explosion: 4 40%
PR: 80%
RR: 60%
GR: 0/40
Attacks: Claw (90%, 3 AP, D:3d8, none)
Originally thought to be mindless monsters, deathclaws are actually an intelligent, upright
walking, mutated lizard. They stand almost 275 cm tall, and have large arms that end in wickedly
sharp claws that give the creatures their name. Their skin is reptilian and ranges in color from
light brown to almost black. Deathclaws have their own language and some have even learned to
imitate human speech in order to communicate with people, although this is more like a parrot's
reproduction rather than actually "speaking." Deathclaws have been known to don large cloaks
and walk among humans, passing for mutants or half-mutants, in order to learn about our society.
There doesn't seem to be any large structure to the deathclaw world, and they prefer to live in
small tribes of 20 to 200.
Deathclaws almost always travel in groups of 10 or more, unless they are scouts, and then they
always travel in pairs. Deathclaws will not immediately attack humans, but many of them have
grown to mistrust people, and rightly so, since it wasn't even clear that deathclaws were
intelligent until recently, and many humans still view them as monsters, if they are aware of the
deathclaw's true nature at all.

Combat Begins
Combat officially begins when one critter or Character decides that enough is enough and s/he/it
attacks someone or something else (sometimes, attacks can be made on inanimate objects such as
doors, and in this case the entire combat procedure is not necessary, unless combat is going on
around the character attempting to break the door down). The critter or character that initiated
combat gets the opportunity to use all of their Action Points (AP) before Sequence is determined.

Combat Step One: Determine Combat Sequence

Because the Sequence statistic does not change, this step needs to be preformed only once in
combat, at the beginning. Who (or what)ever has the highest sequence gets to move first, with the
next highest sequence moving second, and so on until the round is over. Ties in sequence should
be determined by the tie-ers rolling 1d10 against each other; the highest roll goes first. This roll
only needs to be done at the beginning of each combat, not each round. Once sequence is
determined, a character has several choices about what to do with their Turn.

Combat Step Two: Action

Any action in combat requires the use of Action Points. The higher a character's agility, the more
action points they get (see Character Creation: Secondary Statistics). A character's Turn is over
when all AP are used, or they declare that they are going to defend, and they forfeit the rest of
their AP (although not entirely, see Defending, below). The possibilities for action are:
Movement
This includes moving closer to a target, moving behind a tree or other cover, or bravely running
away. It costs 1 movement point to move 1 hex. A hex is 1 meter across (this becomes much more
important later, when determining range). Characters cannot occupy the same hex as another
living character or critter, or large inanimate objects.
Any object larger than a medium-sized shrub gets a hex all to itself. Dead bodies (massive or not)
do not get their own personal space; they are dead, it won't matter if you walk all over them.
Terrain can have an effect on movement. This table can serve as a guide. The modifier is a
number by which the character multiplies his normal movement rate; 2X would require that the
character spend 2 times the normal AP amount to move. Characters who are prone or have broken
limbs can take a long time to crawl over certain kinds of terrain. For more information on
Swimming, see Swimming in Life in the Wastes, below.

Effects of Terrain on Movement Rate

Terrain Type Modifier
Open, Flat Ground 1X
Rough, Wet Ground 2X
Torn, Muddy Ground; 3X
Water (Swimming) 1X

Wearing Armor
There is another section on the character sheet for armor. Note the Damage Threshold (DT) and
Damage Resistance (DR) for each different type of damage, as well as the base AC (the
character's Agility plus any other bonuses or penalties) and the AC (with the armor). Characters
usually start with only the most basic kinds of armor.
It should be noted that some kinds of armor will add penalties for using certain skills, like Sneak.
Those penalties are listed in the armor’s description.
Helmets are often parts of other larger suits of armor, or can be worn alone (and taken off apart
from a suit of armor). Helmets usually only confer a small bonus to armor class, but will reduce a
chance of a targeted shot to the head resulting in a critical hit by 15%.

Holding Weapons or Objects

The character sheet has sections labeled left hand and right hand. That is where a character can
fill in the necessary information regarding their weapon(s). No more than two weapons can be
equipped at one time, one per hand. Some weapons require the use of both hands. Note that you
can still hold two weapons and use a two-handed weapon in combat - that's what straps are for.
Characters usually start with only the basic weapons, although it is up to the Gamemaster. Objects
to be used must be held in the hands as well. This means that a character cannot inject a healing
chem, shoot a two-handed gun, and dig a hole all at the same time.
Remember that a character is not limited to carrying just the two weapons in their hands; they can
carry whatever they want in belts, holsters, backpacks, and so forth. Of course, guns are only
effective if they have they kind of ammunition required to use them. Note that two kinds of
ammunition that would work for the same gun - Armor Piercing and Jacketed Hollow Point (AP
and JHP) for example - cannot be used in the same clip. If you find that your JHP bullets are
ineffective, you must reload with AP rounds (see Reloading, below).

Using An Item
If your Character is holding an item in her hand, she can use it in combat, provided it is an item
that's use takes under 10 seconds (GM' discretion).
Healing chems, Geiger counters, and a police whistle are all examples of items a player can use in
combat. Note that an item MUST be in hand to use it; see Before Combat, above. Using an item
takes 3 AP.

Equipping Items
If you run out of ammo for a gun and need to draw another, or if you want to grab that stimpak
out of your pocket, you are Equipping an Item. Equipping Items takes 4 AP for each item
equipped. Therefore, if you trade your hunting rifle in for a SMG and want to grab that healing
chem in the same round, it will take 8 AP total. You can equip any item that is on your person
(your pockets, backpack, and fanny pack count as "on your person").

Taking Items
You can take an item on the ground, in a container, or off the bodies of your enemies. As with
Equipping Items, this costs 4 AP per item, and your character must be standing in the same hex as
the item (or on an adjacent hex if the item is in an immobile container). If you want to grab that
Bozar and the ammo for it, it will take 8 AP.

Reloading
Guns use up ammunition. When your gun is empty, partially empty, or jammed, you can reload it
by spending two Action Points. If you have enough ammo, this will completely fill the clip. If
not, you can place as many bullets as you have in the clip. It's generally a good idea to head into
combat with fully loaded guns, so you aren't prancing around trying to get those rounds in while
the baddies are shooting. Note that a gun can only be loaded with the kind of ammunition it is
supposed to use, and that two different ammunition types - AP and JHP - cannot be combined in
one clip. Note that mortars, artillery pieces, and vehicle weapons other than machine guns take
one full round to reload, using all of a character’s Action Points for that turn.

Using Skills
Sometimes, it becomes necessary to use certain skills in combat. Although the battlefield isn’t
always the best place to try to pick locks or repair a broken computer, there are times when using
your talents are necessary, especially if it means you can escape those crazed cyborg commandos.
Some skills, like Doctor, just take too long to use in combat. The GM should determine if the task
that the character wants to perform can be done in combat (cracking a safe, for example, would
be just a little too time consuming). Then the GM should calculate how many APs, and how many
rounds (if necessary), the action will take. Characters using skills gain no Armor Class bonuses
from Agility or unused AP, so their armor class is limited to what they are wearing when they are
using their skills.

Healing a Fallen Comrade

A character can use his or her First Aid or Doctor skill in combat to heal a fallen comrade (or foe,
if they are so inclined), but only if the target has been knocked unconscious (see Combat:
Damage and Death, below). This action requires that the character be in an adjacent hex to the
target, and takes 10 AP. If the action cannot be performed in one round, they can give up all of
their Armor Class benefits except for the armor they are wearing and complete it in the next
round.
When the action is complete, the healer makes a roll against First Aid or Doctor, depending on the
skill they are attempting to use. If the roll succeeds, then they have healed the target to 1 HP -
enough for the target to regain consciousness. The target does not get any AP until the round after
he/she/it was healed. Using the First Aid and Doctor skills in this way counts towards the
character’s total uses of that skill for the day (remember that First Aid can only be used 3 times in
a 24-hour period, and Doctor can only be used twice). If the fallen comrade is a robot, a player
can use either the Repair or Science skills to achieve the same results.
Getting Up
If you have been knocked down the previous combat round, or for some reason are starting
combat on the ground, it takes 4 AP to clamber to your feet. Characters who are on the ground
receive no Armor Class bonus either from unused AP or their Agility, making their AC without
armor equal to zero. Note that Getting Up is not the same as Changing Positions, below.

Laying Mines
Devious parties can use mines to their advantage, having one or more members circle behind the
enemy while the rest of the party engages them in combat. The minelayers then set up their
cowardly weapons and clear out while the others drive the enemy into the explosives. It takes 6
AP and a successful roll against Traps to lay a mine in Combat. For more information on
minelaying, see Mines in Life in the Wastes, below.

Setting Up Tripods and Artillery

Some weapons gain bonuses if they are used with a tripod; some weapons can only be used with
a tripod (and some come with a tripod built in). In order to use these weapons in combat, the
character must spend time setting them up. When setting a weapon on a tripod, roll against the
Big Guns skill. If the roll succeeds, the character set up the weapon on the tripod and can use it
normally next round. If not, the character did not get the tripod set up. In order to set up the
tripod, they must keep rolling until they succeed, or give up. Even if the roll fails, attempting to
set up a tripod takes ALL action points for that round. Artillery pieces work the same way, except
that they are much larger than small mortars.

Changing Positions - Crouching & Prone

Crouching and Going Prone are great ways to improve your accuracy in combat, and to help you
hide behind available cover, making less of your body visible and available to an attacking
enemy. They are also great ways to make yourself a sitting duck, allowing people to hit you
easier. Changing positions takes 2 AP, unless the character is going FROM Prone to Standing -
that takes 4 AP, just like Getting Up (above). Note, however, that going from standing to
crouching, standing to prone, crouching to prone, prone to crouching, or crouching to standing
takes only 2 AP, and is NOT the same as getting up.
When Crouching, the character gains +10% to Small Guns, Big Guns, and Energy Weapons skills
for purposes of To Hit; it takes the character 2 AP to move 1 hex; and the character’s Armor Class
from Agility (Base AC) is reduced to 3 (characters whose Agility are below 3 are not effected.)
Prone characters gain +25% to Small Guns, Big Guns, and Energy Weapons skills for purposes of
To Hit; it takes the character 4 AP to crawl one hex; and the character’s Armor Class from Agility
(Base AC) is reduced to 1. Prone characters cannot make unarmed or melee attacks.
Note: Crouching and Going Prone have no effect on To-Hit rolls for mounted Big Guns. These
include Howitzers, large artillery pieces, and guns attached to vehicles, like tank-mounted
cannons and machineguns on Jeeps. The GM can ultimately use common sense to determine if it
makes sense to give a crouching or prone bonus for a specific weapon.

Defending
Sometimes, discretion is the better part of valor. If a character has some (or all) AP left and
doesn’t want to do anything else, they can defend. The leftover AP are then added to that
character’s Armor Class.

Attacking
The backbone of any combat is attack; doing to others before they do unto you. Attacks take
varying amounts of AP depending on what kind of attack it is. Unarmed and melee attacks must
be made on a target in an adjacent hex (in some rare cases, a melee attack with a 2-hex range may
be made). Ranged attacks, such as thrown weapons and guns, may be made so long as the target
is in range and there is a clear or semi-clear line of sight. You cannot attack someone behind a
wall or other complete cover. The GM (and common sense) ultimately determine what "complete
cover" is. Attacks may only be announced if the character has enough AP to cover the action.
Those AP are deducted immediately.
There are three kinds of attacks, besides the normal HtH and Ranged: a Normal (Single) Attack, a
Targeted Attack, and a Burst Attack. Some weapons, like Assault Rifles, SMGs, and others can do
all three. Single-shot and melee weapons can only make a normal Single attack or a Targeted
Attack.
Some weapons such as Rocket Launchers and Flamethrowers cannot make Targeted attacks (they
are just too bulky and unpredictable to snipe with). Some weapons, such as miniguns, can only
fire in Burst mode. The options for attack will be listed on the weapon's description.

Burst Mode
Burst Mode is interchangeable with the military or police definition of a three-round burst (3
shots) AND fully-automatic fire (holding the trigger down and spraying that deranged nuke pooch
for all you’re worth).
Burst mode is assumed to be the number of shots a weapon can fire in fully automatic mode in
one round of combat; the minimum number of shots in a burst is three (a quick squeeze of the
trigger), and the maximum number of shots in a burst is given in the weapon descriptions. This
number represents the maximum number of shots an automatic weapon can fire per round,
depending on its ROF (rate of fire). Some weapons, like miniguns, can burn through a lot more
ammo than older assault rifles; thus, they can fire more shots. Note that characters with lots of
Action Points might be able to squeeze off just a little bit more (in other words, a second “burst”)
than characters lacking that attribute. For information about rolling attacks in Burst Mode, see
Burst Mode and Cone of Fire in Determining and Rolling Against To Hit, below.

Attack Step One: Determining and Rolling Against To Hit

Hit for attacks is determined based on a number of factors. A formula will be presented at the end
to simplify the process.
First of all, the target must be open and in range. The attacker must be able to see their target, or
at least know fairly specifically where their target it. In addition, each weapon has an individual
range, and a character's range is based on his Perception. If a target is beyond the character's
range, the penalties begin to add up. See below for range penalties based on perception. Thrown
weapons, such as throwing knifes, spears, and grenades, are based on Strength as well as
Perception: they can potentially suffer penalties from both stats!

Base Chance
First, the base chance To Hit is the attacker's skill in the particular weapon he is using - Unarmed
for fists, feet, and “unarmed weapons” like brass knuckles; Melee Weapons for things like knives
and sledgehammers; Small Guns for pistols, rifles, and SMGs; Big Guns for rocket launchers,
flamethrowers, and the like; and Energy Weapons for lasers and other fun toys. Remember to
deduct 10% from the base chance if the weapon has 8 or more condition boxes filled.

Range Modifiers
The first modifier to hit is Range. The table below lists effective range for perception (substitute
Strength on this table for throwing weapons as well):

Range Table
PE Range in Hexes (Meters)
1 1
2 3
3 5
4 7
5 9
6 11
7 13
8 15
9 17
10 19
And so on..

The range based on Perception, on the table above, is added to the range of the weapon. For every
hex beyond the combined range between the attacker and the target, deduct 3% from the to-hit
roll.
Also, when attempting a double-shot with a shotgun, the weapon’s effective range drops by 3
hexes. For more information, see Double Shot Weapons, below.

Light Modifiers
The second modifier to to-hit is the light level. The table below lists various lighting conditions
and their effects:

Lighting Table
0%: A sunny cloudless day; a well-lit building (office building or supermarket)
-5%: Light Clouds
-10%: Medium Clouds
-15%: Heavy Clouds
-20%: A Medium-lit building (well lit basement, smoky bar)
-30%: Light Rain or Dust
-40%: Medium Rain or Dust
-50%: Bad Light Indoors (Near a Cave Entrance, In a Dance Club)
-60%: Heavy Rain or Dust
-80%: Downpour / Dust Storm; In a cave with a flare or torch
-150%: Blizzard / Hurricane / Tornado
-200%: Total Cave Darkness (In a Cave with no light at all)

For night, deduct a further:

-10%: Full Moon
-20%: Crescent Moon
-40%: New Moon

Armor Class Modifier

The third modifier is for the target's Armor Class. Since Armor Class is a percentage, deduct that
as well.

Cover Modifiers
The fourth modifier is cover. Generally, this deduction is based on how much of the
person's/critter's body is concealed by the cover. For instance, if there is a crate between Harry
and the scav he is trying to take out, and that crate conceals the scav's legs up to the knees, about
15% of the scav's body is concealed, so the attack will suffer a -15% penalty. Notice that cover
does not come into play in unarmed and melee attacks, because there can be nothing between the
attacker and the target to make these attacks in the first place!

Weapons Status Modifier

The fifth modifier is open for any bonuses or penalties the character might receive for having a
good weapon, or a modified weapon. If a character's spear is extra-sharp, or if they have a laser
sight or scope, add those bonuses now. If the character's STR is below the minimum required to
fire that weapon, deduct that now.

Targeted Shots
The sixth modifier is only for targeted shots. Shots may be targeted in 8 different areas: The Head
or a like area, the Eyes or a like area, The Torso (main body), The Groin or like area, the Arms,
and the Legs. A robot that doesn't have legs may be targeted in the motivator apparatus, and an
alien with no visible groin could be targeted in the tail. Targeted shots have an increased chance
of dealing a critical hit to the area targeted, either crippling in the case of limbs, causing blindness
in the case of an eye, or causing extra damage. Targeted shots can be very, very nice. See Attack
Step Three: Roll for Criticals below.

The Formula
Once all the modifiers are determined, follow the formula:
Base minus Range minus Light minus Armor minus Cover minus or plus Extra bonus' (or minus
penalties) minus Targeted Shot (if applicable).

Canceling the Shot and Rolling

At this time, if the chance to hit is less than 0%, the attacker has the option of canceling the shot.
The shot is just beyond the attacker's skill; there is no way to make it, ever. Period. Should the
player decide to cancel the shot, his or her character does not get the AP back they spent lining up
the attack, but neither do they lose ammo from firing random shots in the dark.
If the attacker doesn't cancel the shot, now is the time to roll the dice.

A Note On Rolling: Burst Mode and Cone of Fire

Guns fired in burst mode roll a to hit for each individual bullet. Bullets that do not strike the
initial target have a possibility of hitting any other targets in the cone of fire. The cone of fire
extends one hex immediately in the direction the gun is being fired, and continues with the
addition of one hex on either side. For example, if Harry is "H" and he fires a minigun, his cone
of fire looks like this:

********
H*********
********

Note about aiming at targets in a cone of fire: the character can ONLY fire in Burst Mode at the
nearest object in any specific cone of fire. That means that Harry cannot try to shoot a bandit 6
hexes away while Horath the Doctor is standing in the cone of fire 3 hexes from Harry; if Harry
still felt the need to make the shot, he needs to roll To-Hit against Horath, not the bandit, and then
the bandit will get any stray shots (assuming there is no one ELSE in Harry’s way).

Streamlined Burst Mode

Instead of rolling To-Hit for every single bullet fired, this is a revised Burst rule.
Rolling To Hit in Burst Mode is a little different than normal To-Hit rolls. Instead of rolling To
Hit for every bullet, the player rounds off the To-Hit number to the nearest 10 (73% would
become 70, 45% would become 50) and then rolls as many 10-sided dice as are necessary for the
burst.
If the player is shooting a 5-roundburst or less, they have better control over the gun and can
round up on the dice. If they are firing more than 5 rounds in one burst, round the number down.
The exception to this rule is guns that only fire a specific burst, like miniguns and bozars. These
weapons are designed to spew as many bullets as possible per round, and the player should round
up instead of down, as the weapon itself can compensate for automatic fire (in fact, it was
designed for it).
For ease of play, it is always helpful to have a few spare 10-sided dice lying around. All those
dice rolling at once actually sounds sort of like an automatic weapon, anyway. See Examples of
Determining and Rolling To-Hit. Any roll of “0” automatically means a failure of that shot, and
player must roll To-Hit again to see if the shot hit the next-nearest object in the cone of fire. Other
failed bullets must also roll to-hit against other critters, players, or NPCs in the cone of fire, until
either there are no more targets or all bullets have hit something.

Double-Shot Weapons
Some shotguns are double-shot weapons. This means that they have two barrels, with two shells,
and two triggers that can be fired either simultaneously or independently. If a shotgun is
discharged in a double-shot, only one to-hit roll needs to be made; both shots are going the same
place. However, two damage rolls should be made. See Attack Step Two: Damage below.
When attempting to unload both barrels of a shotgun, the sheer force exerted by the blast will
cause the weapon to become much more unwieldy. Making a double-shot reduces the range of the
shotgun by 3 hexes. See Range Modifiers, above.

After the Roll

Once the chance to hit is determined, the player makes a roll against that number. Rolling that
dice is the same as pulling the trigger; if the character snuck up on an unsuspecting person, they
had up until that point to stop and suffer no consequences. Once the roll is made, however, there
is no turning back.
It is possible to screw up an attack so badly that something bad happens to the attacker. This is
called a critical failure and can be slightly comedic, if not downright hilarious, in a weird sort of
way. The chance for a critical failure is always 3%. If an attack fails by a roll of 97-100%, it is a
Critical Failure, and the GM rolls on the following table (1d10).

Sample Critical Failure Table

1: Ammo Problems The ammo was bad or misfired and the rest must be discarded.
2: Weapon Jammed The weapon didn't fire. Fixing the problem will take a turn to correct.
3: AP loss You lose all remaining AP for the round. That sucks!
4: Weapon Dropped The weapon flew out of your hands and hit the ground. Fuck!
5: Tripped/Slipped You fell on your ass and lost the rest of your turn and AC from Agility.
6: Hit Different Target You hit the next closest target in line instead of your intended target.
7: Damage Self You hit yourself in the foot or something. Ouch!
8: Weapon Damaged The weapon needs repairs before it can be fired again. That sucks.
9: Weapon Breaks The weapon breaks beyond repair. Time for a new one. Damn.
10: Weapon Explodes Something nasty that happens only with explosive or energy weapons.
The explosion deals 5d8+10 explosive damage to anyone within 2 hexes of the weapon. Ahhh!

GMs are encouraged to make up other Critical Failures. These are just examples.

Knockdown with Melee Weapons and Burst Attacks

Getting hit with melee weapons and a barrage of bullets from a machine gun not only hurts, but it
also has the chance to knock the target flat on his/her/its rear end. In the case of melee weapons,
the chance for a knockdown is three times (3X) the weapon’s weight. In the case of a burst attack,
if more than half the bullets in the burst actually hit the target, then the target must roll against
Endurance to remain on his/her/its feet. If a character or NPC is knocked down, they must spend
the usual 4 AP to get up (see Getting Up, above). In addition, the character or NPC does not
receive any Armor Class from Agility - their AC drops to what they are wearing.

Attack Step Two: Damage

The best part about combat is when your opponent actually takes some damage. Each weapon has
a certain amount of damage that it does, usually expressed like 2d12 + 8. The exceptions are
firearms, where the type of ammo does a certain amount of damage. The gun itself can add a
bonus to that amount, but otherwise damage is calculated from the type of ammunition used. The
damage done by energy weapons is not based on ammunition type, but the method in which the
weapon concentrates the energy. Remember that some shotguns, when both barrels are fired,
require that two damage rolls be made for one successful hit. Damage is the one part of Fallout
where dice other than 10-sided dice come into play. However, just because something got hit
doesn't mean that it will take the maximum amount of damage. Armor has two numbers that
reduce damage: Damage Threshold and Damage Resistance. Damage Threshold is how much
damage the armor actually absorbs from the attack, and Damage Resistance is the armor's (or the
thick, scaly hide of some critters) ability to spread the damage out and reduce some of the nasty
effects. DT is a flat number; DR is a % of the total attack. So when determining damage, the
formula looks like this:

Damage Formula
(Initial Damage - Threshold) - ((ID - DT) X DR, round down). The player rolls the damage
necessary (one roll per bullet in a burst attack) and then applies it to the formula above. If that
seems confusing, let's rejoin our friends in the cave.

Example: Calculating Damage

Harry's rolls were pretty unlucky; only 3 out of 20 shots from his minigun actually hit the rat. The
initial damage is 1d4+6 (7-10 HP) per bullet. Jack rolls for damage and gets a 1, a 2, and another
2. One bullet deals 7 HP of damage, and the other two deal 8 each. That's a total of 23 damage,
more than enough to turn the rat into hamburger. However, the rat does get a chance to repel some
of that damage. Although it does not have a damage threshold (they don't make armor for rats,
strangely enough), the rat has developed a natural damage resistance to normal attacks due to its
thicker hide. The rat's damage resistance is 10%. From Harry's initial 23 points of damage,
nothing is subtracted for DT, but 2 HP (10%) is subtracted for DR. That still isn't enough to save
the rat, however, and it crumples in a heap on the floor.

Damage in Burst Mode

To streamline play, the GM might consider multiplying the initial damage from the first bullet
that hit by however many bullets actually hit the target. That way, only one damage roll actually
needs to be made.

Damage From Non-Conventional Weapons

There are several types of weapons in the Fallout universe that are not the simple melee weapon
or gun. These weapons have slightly different rules for damage, mostly based upon their effects.

Grenades - There are two different ways to lob a grenade at your enemy: throw it or shoot it.
Either way, the grenade does a certain amount of damage, depending on what type of explosive it
is. Most grenades have concussion damage, and others have fragmentation damage. These effects
will be noted with the grenade type in the Ammunition section.
Mortars - Mortars are small, personal artillery pieces. They shoot a variety of different
projectiles, and have a much longer ranger than grenade launchers. Like grenades, different
mortars will have different damage effects, noted by with the mortar type in the Ammunition
section.

Rockets - Rockets are fired either from portable or semi-portable rocket launchers, or from tanks.
Rockets act much like grenades and mortars, except that they are self-powered and have a longer
effective range. There are a variety of rocket types, and their damage effects are noted in the
Ammunition section.

Mines - Like grenades, mortars, and rockets, mines cause explosions that have concussion effects
as well as blast damage. Sometimes, mines spew pieces of shrapnel as well. The amount of
damage that each mine does is listed next to that mine in the Equipment section.

Gas - Gas weapons spread a damaging cloud of toxicity over a large area, subjecting every
biological thing in the cloud to the potential for harm. Different gas weapons describe the size of
the cloud and the effects of the gas, and whether or not the gas damages from inhalation or
contact.

Electricity - Any character hit with an electrical shock must make a roll against Endurance
(sometimes with modifiers, if the source was strong enough). Failure means the character is
knocked unconscious for 1d10 rounds. Shocking!

Flamethrowers - Although flamethrowers aren’t the most widely used weapons in the wastes,
they can be one of the deadliest in the right hands. When someone uses a flamethrower, it acts
much like a thrown knife or grenade - even if it doesn’t hit, it has to end up somewhere. The GM
should decide, based on how close the to hit roll was, just how close to the target the flame burst
hit. The GM should then draw a line between the user and the hex where the flames hit;
everything in the connecting hexes suffers the full effects of the firestream. Note that
flamethrowers, like other non-conventional weapons, can be adapted to shoot things other than
fire. These things are generally very, very unpleasant.

Damage and Death

Life in the wastes inevitably results in hurt people. Most damage is taken from combat situations
with hostile critters and people, but occasionally characters take other forms of damage. Most are
adventure-specific (they fall into a deep ravine, for example) although a few are universal.

Healing
There are two ways to heal a character: naturally, through time, and quickly, through the use of
skills, chems, and clinics. Characters naturally heal a certain amount of hit points per day (see
Healing Rate, above). When resting, they heal hit points equal to their Healing Rate every 6
hours. When active, they heal hit points equal to their healing rate every 24 hours.
Some chems heal a character quickly. A character should beware, however, because some healing
chems carry the risk of addiction with them. In addition, doctors can patch up lost hit points, but
be prepared to pay. The First Aid and Doctor skills offer alternatives to the slow rate of healing
and high prices charged at clinics. The First Aid skill can only be used three times in a 24 hour
period, successfully or not. Each use of First Aid heals 1d10 hit points, if successful. Each use
also takes 1d10 minutes to perform. Doctor skill works in much the same way. Doctor skill can
heal 2d10 hit points if successful, but can only be used twice in the same day. In addition, a
character can use the Doctor skill to heal crippled limbs (See Crippled Limbs and Blindness,
above). Using the Doctor skill takes 1 hour. If the First Aid or Doctor skills are used in combat to
attempt to revive a fallen comrade (see Combat, above), that use counts towards the total daily
uses of that skill.

Robot Healing
As noted above, robots do not heal in the same way that living creatures do. Healing chems have
no effect on them, and they do not heal naturally. In addition, the use of First Aid and Doctor
skills on a robot is useless. Robots can, however, recover lost hit points by applying the Science
and Repair skills in the same way that flesh-and-blood creatures are healed by First Aid and
Doctor. Science will heal 1d10 hit points in 1d10 minutes, and can only be used on a robot 3
times in a 24 hour period. The Repair skill can repair a broken limb or destroyed sensor array, or
to recover 2d10 hit points, but can only be used twice in a 24 hour period and takes 1 hour to use.
Unless the robot is blinded, it can perform these healing operations on itself.

Fire and Acid Damage

If a character is on fire (or covered in acid, or some other nasty problem) they suffer 1d6 points of
damage per round. Remember that a round is 10 seconds of real time. Fire can be extinguished by
spending one full combat round rolling on the ground, provided the ground isn’t on fire, too. The
person or critter’s AC will be reduced to what they are wearing while on the ground, and the must
spend the usual 4 AP to get up the next round. Note that the poor person still takes damage during
the turn in which they are extinguishing themselves.
Unfortunately, getting rid of acid is different. Acid usually has to be washed off with either water
or chemicals, depending. Some acids are aggravated by water, so the character will want to
consider the consequences carefully before he or she jumps in a swimming pool to wash off.

Poison Damage
Poison works a little bit like fire. If a character comes into contact with a poisonous object, such
as a poison dart or a scorpion's tail, they make a roll against poison resistance. If that roll fails,
they are poisoned. Each additional failure against a poison attack results in another level of
poisoning.
Different poisons do different things. Most only cause 1-2 points of damage per hour, or per
round, although some result in death in a certain amount of time and others will lower stats
temporarily.
For each level of poisoning, the poison stays in the character's bloodstream for a certain amount
of time, indicated on the chart below. If a scorpion stings a character three times, the character
will be poisoned for three days. There are, of course, poison antidotes. If a character fights a
poison off naturally (without the use of an antidote or a doctor), the antibodies he or she builds up
add a +2% to their Poison Resistance. Note that if a poison lowers statistics, racial minimums are
not taken into account; sickness can weaken even the strongest mutant.

Gas Damage
Ever since its invention at the beginning of the First World War, chemical warfare has become a
standard, and horrific, aspect of battle. A gas mask or certain kinds of armor will lessen the effects
of gas attacks, but if a character is caught unaware, she is subject to the gas’ terrible poisons. The
effects vary from chemical to chemical, and the radius of the gas cloud is given in the weapon’s
description. It is usually a good idea to run out of the effects of the cloud immediately; the lasting
effects of the gas continue from the round in which the gas disperses, if the character is still
standing in the cloud. Some armors protect against gas attacks with built-in respirators and filters.
As previously noted, there are two kinds of gas: the kind you inhale and the kind that hurts you
just by skin contact. The stats for each kind of armor will explain what kind of resistance each
suit gives against the two kinds of gas. Sometimes an item, such as a gas mask, will give the user
a degree of resistance against one kind of gas or another.

Crippled Limbs and Blindness

Occasionally, a good critical hit or a really unlucky run-in with a trap will result in a crippled
limb, or worse, blindness. A crippled (broken or maimed) leg reduces the character's movement
by ½ - this means that it takes two AP to move one hex in combat. In addition, that character's
effective Agility goes down to half its normal level. Two broken or crippled legs reduces
movement to almost nil - a character can only move one hex per round of combat, and his or her
effective Agility drops to 1. Crippled arms means that the character can no longer use that arm to
hold a weapon in combat; it can still be used outside of combat, but takes much longer to perform
even the most basic functions. For each crippled arm, the character loses 1 point of Agility.
Characters with a crippled arm cannot use two-handed weapons; characters with two crippled
arms cannot use any weapon at all. Blindness is a little worse. In addition to gaining all the
penalties for being in total darkness (see Light Adjustments, above), the character's Perception
drops to 1.
Both blindness and crippled limbs can only be treated by a doctor (for a price) or by someone
with the Doctor skill (for information on the Doctor skill, see Healing below). Note that a blind
character cannot play doctor with themselves; someone else must cure them (the blind can't cure
the blind in the Fallout universe). Successfully treated limbs and eyes still take 48 hours to return
to close to normal status, with rest. Robots with crippled limbs or blindness must be “treated”
with a successful use of the Repair skill in the same way a living creature is treated with Doctor.
Unlike their flesh-and-blood counterparts, however, the robot gains full use of a repaired limb or
sensor plate immediately.

Chems, Addiction, and Withdrawal

Drug and chem addiction still exists in the post-nuclear world. From the uranium miner looking
for a way to escape from a dead-end life to the mercenary who buffs himself up before battle,
drugs are as commonplace as radiation in the Fallout universe. Most drugs and chemical
substances have an addiction rate of some kind. When the drug is taken, the character rolls the
drug's addiction rate (plus or minus any modifiers). If the roll "succeeds," the character has
developed a chemical dependency for the drug.
Chemical dependencies are fine (in most cases) so long as the character keeps getting more of the
drug. The problem is that many drugs are VERY expensive, and the distributors of drugs offer a
few doses at a low price to get a person hooked, and then begin to jack that price up.
When (not if) a character can no longer get a supply of drugs, they begin to go into withdrawal.
Generally, after 24 hours, a character loses one point of Perception and one point of Agility. They
also lose their ability to heal (see Healing, below). After another 24 hours, they lose two points of
Perception and Agility (for a total of three points) and lose one point of Strength and Endurance.
After another 24 hours, the character lapses into unconsciousness. They then must make an
Endurance check every hour (with their modified Endurance). If the character has five successful
checks in a row, they wake up and have shaken the addiction, but suffer a semi-permanent loss of
one point of Endurance. If the character fails five checks in a row, he or she dies. Withdrawal can
be an agonizing time for the character and the party, especially in the middle of an adventure.

Radiation Damage
Radiation is one of the most horrifying realities of the postnuclear world. There will always be a
certain degree of background radiation since the bombs went off, and a little bit of radiation
encourages mutations in animals, some of which happen to be useful, at least evolutionarily
speaking. Humans, however, weren't really designed to handle high amounts of radiation (ghouls
and super-mutants are exceptions, of course). Not every source of radiation poisoning is
immediately obvious; a character could just as easily accumulate rads camping in a highly
radiated area for a few nights as they could walking through a blast crater.
Radiation levels are measured in rads, a standard unit that measures how many radioactive
particles enter the bloodstream. Around 1000 rads is considered lethal. The problem with
radiation is that it doesn't leave the body for a long time - around 10 rads in 24 hours - and
radiation sources put out hundreds of rads per day. A few rads won't hurt you - in fact, household
smoke detectors contain Americanium, a radioactive isotope. A person can take about 6 or 7 rads
a day without feeling the side effects. Radiation is treatable only at qualified medical institutions
and with certain kinds of drugs. Radiation resistance measures how much radiation doesn't enter
the bloodstream (in a percentage of total rads). Of course, a character doesn't necessarily know
how many rads he or she has accumulated, unless they own a Geiger counter. That's up to the GM
to keep track of.
This table is unpleasant, but so are the results of nuclear war. 24 hours after each level of
radiation poisoning, the following effects occur:

Rads Effects

50: Character feels abnormally tired.

100: Character begins to feel weak and achy. Skin itches slightly. A sunburnlike rash appears.

400: Character feels weaker. Muscles and joints hurt. The skin itches and small, open sores begin
to develop. Some hair begins to fall out. Normal humans generally cannot reproduce (or have
very mutated children) at about this level of radiation poisoning.

600: Character begins to vomit and experience diarrhea. Joints and muscles still hurt, but that's
the least of their problems at this point. Open sores cover the skin, and hair falls out in large
clumps. They develop a nice glow at night.

800: Character vomits blood, as well as experiences bloody diarrhea. Hair is gone at this point.
The skin begins to get soft, and hangs off in places. Death will occur in 72 hours after
experiencing this amount of radiation poisoning, unless treated.

1000: Forget the 24 hour time limit; this level of radiation poisoning causes unconsciousness a
few minutes after exposure. A few minutes after that, the character's body begins to shut down.
One only experiences this level of radiation after long-untreated poisoning and continued
adventuring, or if they decide to prowl around ground-zero without some protection.

Death
Death, that unavoidable final chapter to existence on Earth. Death comes in many forms: old age,
car wrecks, and that random passing asteroid. In the Fallout universe, however, characters face
the possibility of death every day. That's what makes it an exciting place, right? Sometimes, no
matter how well a character plans, he or she ends up dead. Death is generally a one-way street;
dead characters cannot come back to life. When I included that "generally," I intentionally left
room open for a myriad of possibilities. After all, the wastes are a big, strange place.
When a character dies, it is considered customary to write "DEAD" in big, black letters across
their character sheet. It may be prudent to have a couple of level one characters ready to go in
case something like this happens. Meeting a new party member is only a random encounter away.

Attack Step Three: Chance for Criticals

A very successful attack means the attacker has a chance for a critical hit. If the roll to hit is equal
to or less than the character’s or critter’s critical chance, then the attack becomes critical. Note
that if a gun firing in burst mode hits a target more than once, only one of those bullets is allowed
a critical hit (once per attack). Targeted shots get a bonus to critical chance based on the body part
targeted as per this table, and have different effects for damage, discussed below.

Targeted Shot Penalties (Melee Attacks)

0%: Torso
-10%: Legs
-15%: Arms, Groin
-20%: Head
-30%: The Eyes

Targeted Shot Penalties (Ranged Attacks)

0% Torso
-20% Legs
-30% Arms, Groin
-40% Head
-60% Eyes

Bonuses by Body Part for Targeted Shots

Target Critical Chance Bonus
Arms +10%
Legs, Groin +20%
Head +25%
Eyes +30%
If a hit becomes critical and is not a targeted shot, roll on this table for effects (1d10):

Sample Critical Hits

1 - Bypasses armor (DT and DR)
2 - Crippled Arm
3 - Crippled Leg
4 - Blindness
5 - 150% damage
6 - 200% damage
7 - 300% damage
8 - Knockdown
9 - Unconsciousness for 1d4 turns
10 - Instant Death

Targeted attacks that make a critical hit generally cripple the area hit. Shots to the eyes cause
blindness, shots to the legs or arms cause those areas to become crippled (see Damage: Special
Damage for details on crippled limbs). Targeted Shots to the head that become critical instantly
deal two times the damage, and Targeted Shots to the eyes that become critical deal three times
the damage. Ouch. A Targeted Shot to the groin that results in a critical hit deals twice the damage
and renders the target unconscious.

HEAD
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 2 - -
21-45 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Knocked Down
46-70 2.5 Ignore Armor Knocked Down
71-90 3 Knocked Unconscious -
91-100 3 Instant Death -

LEFT ARM
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 1.5 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Left Arm Crippled
71-90 2 Ignore Armor Left Arm Crippled
91-100 2.5 Knocked Down Left Arm Crippled

RIGHT ARM
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 1.5 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Right Arm Crippled
71-90 2 Ignore Armor Right Arm Crippled
91-100 2.5 Knocked Down Right Arm Crippled

TORSO
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 2 - -
46-70 2.5 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Knocked Down
71-90 3 Ignores Armor Knocked Down
91-100 4 Instant Death -
101+

RIGHT LEG
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 1.5 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Right leg Crippled
71-90 2 Ignore Armor Right leg Crippled
91-100 2.5 Knocked Down Right leg Crippled

LEFT LEG
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 1.5 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Left leg Crippled
71-90 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Left leg Crippled
91-100 2.5 Knocked Down Left leg Crippled

EYES
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 2 - -
21-45 2 Ignore Armor LK Roll or Blinded
46-70 3 Ignore Armor Blinded
71-90 4 Knocked Unconscious Blinded
91-100 5 Instant Death -
GROIN
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 1.5 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Knocked Down
71-90 2 Knocked Down EN Roll or Knocked
Unconscious
91-100 3 Knocked Unconscious -

UNCALLED
Roll Damage Multiplier Critical Success Effect Secondary Effect
0-20 1.5 - -
21-45 2 - -
46-70 2 Ignore Armor EN Roll or Knocked Down
71-90 2.5 Ignore Armor Knocked Down
91-100 3 Knocked Down EN Roll or Knocked
Unconscious

Example: Chance for Criticals

Returning to the example, Harry's rolls were good, but none fell within the range of 1-6% Better
luck next time.

Attack Step Four: Continuing and Ending Combat

As stated previously, combat ends when all opponents are either incapacitated or dead. The
process is simply repeated until only one side remains standing. Afterwards, experience points are
awarded and characters may take what they want from the bodies of their opponents.

Vehicle Combat
Vehicle combat occurs much the same way that regular combat occurs. Each individual character
sequences as usual. Combat while on a vehicle can be a particularly exciting aspect of
roleplaying, especially if combat occurs at the climax of a story - you are rescuing the mayor’s
daughter from the clutches of evil bikers and they are chasing you down, for example.

Vehicle Damage
Like everything else in the Fallout universe, vehicles take damage. Vehicles are divided into five
separate “systems” or areas that all have a certain number of hit points and a damage resistance
(vehicles do not have a damage threshold). In addition, each vehicle has an Armor Class to help
them avoid taking damage, and any to hit roll against a vehicle suffers an automatic -10% penalty
because the vehicle is in motion - it’s simply harder to hit a moving target. The five “systems” on
a vehicle are universal, although they may be named different things on different vehicles.
Obviously, they will differ greatly in some cases and be indistinguishable in others. The vehicle
sheet included at the back of the book has a rough diagram of a vehicle, broken down into the five
systems with room to display the different hit points and damage resistance for each one. The
descriptions in the Vehicles section of the book break each vehicle’s system down in the
appropriate numbers. The five vehicle systems are - generally - Structure, Engine, Control
System, Drive System, and Treads/Tires. Again, these may differ for different kinds of vehicles,
like aircraft and boats. The necessary changes will be noted in the vehicle’s description. Note that
the Treads/Tires category is split up into two, three, or four separate “subsystems,” one for each
tread or tire, that all take damage separately.

Targeting Vehicle Systems

Vehicles are large enough to allow combatants to target certain areas without a penalty (except for
the usual -10% when a vehicle is in motion). Anti-tank weapons are designed to come down on
top of a vehicle, and therefore almost always target the structure or engine. Alternately, mines are
designed to take out a vehicle’s drive system and tires. When an attack against a vehicle is made
that is not a pre-determined attack, like a TOW missile launcher, then the attacker must announce
what vehicle system he or she is aiming for. Regardless of the vehicle system aimed for, other
systems can and do take damage normally - they are subject to blast, shrapnel, and concussion
damage from explosives.

EMP Attacks
One of the most devastating attacks made against vehicles are EMP attacks, because many parts
of a vehicle are electronically controlled. It should be noted, however, that EMP attacks have no
effect on a vehicle system that is not electronic, like the treads or the structure. An EMP mine can,
however, utterly destroy a vehicle’s drive, control, and engine systems in a split second. Such is
the risk of driving in the wastes.

Damaging and Destroying Systems

When a vehicle system has lost more than 66% of its total hit points, the system becomes
inoperative. When this happens, the system simply shuts down. The following table should be
used as a guide to determine what happens when a system is rendered inoperative:

Inoperative Systems Effects

System Effect
Structural Vehicle begins to fall apart
Engine Vehicle coasts to a halt
Controls The driver can no longer steer or control speed (!)
Drive Engine continues to run, but vehicle begins to coast (no more acceleration)
Treads Vehicle immediately stops (treat as a crash for everyone inside)
Tires Driver must make an immediate Pilot roll to avoid crash, and top speed is
reduced to 25% normal. If a vehicle ever looses 100% of its hit points in any system, that system
is totally destroyed and must be replaced entirely. This can be a major pain, as vehicles are
incredibly rare in the wastes, and working parts are sometimes even more rare.

The Mechanics of Vehicle Combat Sequence

Sequence is determined as normal in vehicle combat.

Rounds
Rounds in vehicle combat proceed just like regular combat rounds, with characters deciding what
to do based on sequence. The difference is that the characters may be in vehicles, and vehicles
behave a little differently than the normal, solid ground. For one thing, ranges are static, changing
every round, and the characters are all at the mercy of the driver.
Passengers in the vehicle can all attack as normal, but will receive a -10% penalty to all to-hit
rolls because they are in a moving car (or truck, or whatever). There are some kinds of weapons
that cannot be used in all vehicles, mostly Big Guns and Energy Weapons that are simply too
bulky to fire inside of a small car or buggy. The GM can ultimately use his or her discretion to
allow different types of weapons; if the party is on top of a train or a semi-truck, then using a
heavy machinegun wouldn’t be a problem. If they are stuck in the back of a tiny little sports car, it
would be a big problem.
During the driver’s turn in combat, she announces what actions she intends to take that round;
this is how the GM can determine trajectory, speed, and so forth. The driver must announce at
what speed they intend to drive, and the approximate path they wish to take. For more details on
specific vehicle actions like sharp turns, rapid braking, and rapid acceleration, see Vehicle
Movement and Speed, below. Driving does not take AP, and the driver can attack, but suffers
penalties to both the Pilot Roll (see below) and his or her to-hit (see Driver Actions, below).

Pilot Roll
At the end of each round of vehicle combat, the driver of each vehicle must roll vs. his or her
Pilot skill. A successful roll means that the driver has kept her cool and combat can proceed as
normal. A failed roll means that the driver couldn’t maintain control of the vehicle, and the
vehicle either crashes or rolls over, and everyone inside is subject to crash damage and other
results of impact (see below).
There are many modifiers to the Pilot roll, based on what the driver was doing in combat as well
as terrain, light, and other factors. For a complete list of these modifiers, see Driving Actions,
below.

Driving Actions
There are many different things a driver can do during combat. For roleplaying purposes, it might
be a good idea to remember that if all the party members are shouting at the driver, the driver
might be more apt to make a mistake. Not unlike real life, when everyone in the car is shouting at
the driver and making lots of noise.

Accelerate
Put the pedal to the metal! If the vehicle isn’t already going at top speed, then the driver can make
it go as fast as she wants - up to the top speed, of course. The vehicle’s acceleration lists how
long, in rounds (10 second increments), it takes to reach maximum speed from a standstill. Use
this as a rough guide; if the vehicle’s maximum speed is 100 KPH, and the vehicle is traveling at
40 KPH, and it takes 2 rounds for the vehicle to reach top speed from a stand still, then it would
take about 1 round to reach maximum speed. Note that vehicles with sails do not accelerate as
normal.

Brake
Slow down, buddy, there are pedestrians here! Braking is the opposite of acceleration: slowing
down. Each vehicle’s statistics gives a braking rate in rounds: how much speed a vehicle can
loose in 1 round of combat, based mostly on size and mass. Braking can be quite dangerous,
however: see Pilot Roll Modifiers, below. Note that vehicles with sails and aircraft cannot
necessarily come to a complete stop. See Sea Combat and Air Combat, below.

Turn
Driving would be boring if it was always on a straight line. Vehicle combat would be boring if
there weren’t wild turns around sharp corners in bombed-out cities, too. Each vehicle’s statistics
give a Turning Radius, which is how many meters (hexes) it takes for the vehicle to make a 90-
degree turn. Note that the Turning Radius number is given in a straight line, but the turn actually
takes place in an arc, or ¼ of a circle.

The first column of “hexes” represents the actual Turning Radius number, which if you complete
the circle in the 90-degree turn represented in the second column would be the distance from the
center of the circle to the outside (the circle’s radius). This should be taken into consideration
when figuring distance traveled in one round. See Movement at the End of the Round, below.
Note that turning, especially at high speeds, can be quite dangerous to all but the most
experienced drivers.

Attacking
The driver can also use weapons in combat, like normal. She will suffer penalties to the Pilot
Roll, however (see the table below) and suffers a flat 25% penalty to her to-hit rolls, no matter
what type of weapon is used. It’s difficult to drive and shoot at the same time!

Nudging
Here’s the fun part of driving a car - tapping the other guy so he spins out and crashes.
Unfortunately, you can guarantee that he probably has the same idea. When two vehicles nudge in
combat, both drivers need to make a roll against Pilot (this is a separate roll from the roll against
Pilot at the end of the combat round). For every 10 KPH the vehicle is traveling, the driver gets a
-5% penalty to the roll (nudging is based primarily on speed). If either driver fails, the vehicle
they were controlling crashes. See Crashing, below.

Running Someone or Something Down

One of the advantages of vehicle combat is that being inside of a ton of moving metal and plastic
affords the passengers a little protection against people and critters who are not in a vehicle. It
also means that the driver has a handy weapon at her disposal: a large, speeding missile that may
not have a lot of grace, but can break bones and crunch skulls better than any melee weapon.
Running someone or something down isn’t as easy as it seems. Unless there is some way the
target is unaware of the vehicle coming at him, the intended target gets to roll against Agility to
avoid being hit by diving out of the way.

Crashing: Damage
If a driver fails a Pilot roll, then the vehicle has crashed. For every 10 KPH the vehicle was
traveling, each character inside must roll a 1d10 for damage, rounded down to the lowest 10 (39
would become 30, or 3d10). If a vehicle hit a tree at 23 KPH, then everyone inside would have to
roll 2d10 and take damage. For an air crash, this could easily be a lot of damage (the GM should
determine about how fast the aircraft dropped to the ground like a rock). The vehicle is also
subject to the same damage roll as the passengers, losing that amount of hit points, distributed
throughout the five systems. Crashing should probably be avoided, if possible.
Remember that sea vehicles do not crash, and are therefore not subject to crash damage. They
will overturn, however, and everyone will be forced to start swimming. For details on swimming,
see Swimming under Life in the Wastes, below. The GM can determine if the craft will go to
Davy Jones’ locker or float long enough for the characters to turn it over and get back into the
action. Remember that anything not tied down and buoyant tends to sink in water - like guns, big
metal armors, and so forth.

Crashing: Broken Limbs

In addition, everyone inside has a chance equal to the speed of the vehicle of receiving a broken
limb. If a vehicle was chugging along at 45 KPH, that’s a 45% chance of breaking something in a
crash. If the character is wearing a seat belt or restraint of some kind, that character’s chances of a
broken limb are reduced to half normal, rounded up - 45% becomes 23%.

Crashing: Head Wounds

If the victim’s roll for broken limbs was 5% or less, the character has suffered a head wound and
is unconscious; his or her hit points are automatically reduced to 10, and he or she will wake up
in 15 full rounds, minus the character’s Endurance. A character with an Endurance of 4 would
wake up in 11 full rounds. The character must roll for broken limbs again to see if anything else
is hurt (without the seat belt bonus, if applicable).

Crashing: After Damage is Dealt

After the crash, everyone inside the vehicle must spend at least 1 full round of combat climbing
out of the wreckage, and it must be the round of combat after the crash took place. If any limbs
were broken in the crash, that makes climbing out much harder; a character must spend 3 full
rounds climbing out, or another character or NPC must help that person out of the wreckage.

Movement at the End of a Round

At the end of every round, assuming the driver hasn’t crashed or rolled the vehicle over, the
vehicles move based upon their current speeds and where the drivers were intending to take them.
Although speeds are given in KPH, a little simple math will give actual distances in meters
(hexes). It may help a GM to adjust the scale of a hexsheet for vehicle combat, especially large-
scale vehicle combat, perhaps making 1 hex = 5 meters, or even 1 hex = 10 meters. The GM can
use the following function to determine how many meters a vehicle can move in one round of
combat, at a given speed (KPH):
Meters moved = KPH X 2.78 (round down) When the GM has determined how far all vehicles
have moved in one round, he or she should make adjustments on the hexsheet, just like in moving
critters in regular combat (the difference being, of course, that the movement is all done at once at
the end of the round instead of during the round).
To simplify things, the GM might want to determine the difference between what the various
vehicles have moved and adjust accordingly. It is far easier to close the distance by 5 hexes than it
is to run models over enormous 1000+ hex sheets. Scenery and buildings, of course, are another
matter entirely.

Pilot Roll Modifiers

Below are two tables of modifiers for the Pilot Roll. The first is terrain, broken down for three
kinds of vehicles: land, sea, and air. The second table includes modifiers for different actions in
combat. Usually, terrain modifiers only have to be determined once. If the sun is down, the Pilot
Roll is made at a -10% penalty (you just can’t see as well at night). Note that some vehicles and
vehicle enhancements give specific bonuses to certain situations, or simply to all Pilot Rolls.
Those bonuses should also be taken into account when rolling against Pilot. Note also that terrain
modifiers and action modifiers can be combined. If the driver attempts to turn at more than ½ the
vehicle’s top speed in the rain, for instance, these modifiers would all be added together.

Terrain Modifiers

Land
Situation Roll Modifier
Unbroken Road (Intact highway, new streets) +30%
Broken Road (Road with potholes, heavily traveled dirt roads) +15%
Bad road (Heavily damaged road, unmaintained dirt trails) +0%
Open field (grassland, desert, dry area with few rocks) +0%
Field with scrub, streets with debris, open hills -5%
Fields with obstacles, wet streets, hills with scrub -10%
Light forest, wet open fields, hills with obstacles -20%
Muddy ground -25%
Drenched ground, wet sand -30%

Sea
Situation Roll Modifier
Calm seas +20%
Gentle waves +0%
Rolling waves -5%
Big waves -15%
Stormy waves -25%
Hurricane waves -50%

Air
Situation Roll Modifier
Calm weather, no wind +0%
Gentle breeze -5%
Gusty winds -10%
Strong winds -20%
Stormy winds -40%

Additional Weather Modifiers

Rain -20%
Snow -30%
Ice -70%

Action Modifiers
Traveling at a speed < ½ vehicle’s top speed -0%
Traveling at a speed > ½ vehicle’s top speed -10%
More than doubling current speed by accelerating -10%
More than halving current speed by braking -15%
Turning for every 10 KPH Currently traveling -10%
Driver Attempting to Attack -20%