Enjoy your License!
Greetings and congratulations. If you are reading this, then you have been permitted by Ark Ltd. to venture into the Shifting Wastes! As you know, the Wastes are inhospitable, dangerous, a breeding grounds for monsters and worse, but most of all: they shift. Stay longer than three nights and you are lost forever! You have been warned. Ark Ltd. is not responsible for loss of life, sanity or spiritual well-being.
Along with this message and license, delivered to your hab-room is a kit of gear as you designated when you signed your contract with Ark Ltd. Please read the section below on its use. With every kit of gear is your HUD, which shows your vitals and other important items. Also included are a backpack and flashlight. Most importantly, you have the Safety Line, which allows you to follow it back home. It is very important!
For your safety, Wasteland Pioneers are assigned to groups of five. The selection process assigns those with complementing traits and abilities. Once ready, meet at the Pioneer Center on January 1st. 8 AM.
Your responsibilities include, but are not limited to: charting Waste Zones, clearing Waste Zones, bringing useful technology to Oasis, bringing useful knowledge to Oasis, and eliminating threats to Oasis. Your benefits include: permission to exit Oasis and into the Wastes, the right to any loot within your Access level, the right to areas within the Pioneer Center within your Access level, monthly allowance of 100 credits, Pioneer-only shops, and many more!
Thank you for reading this manual. Please return this to sender or be charged 10 credits.
You typically don't have to read all the rules just yet. I'll explain it if you have questions. The most important thing to know on adventures is that you have 72 hours before the Wastes shift, or else you will be gone forever.
You are part of a group of five Wasteland Pioneers (or Wasters), fresh out of training with the barest of gear. Wasters alone have the right and responsibility to step out of the gargantuan walls of Oasis and into the mysterious anomaly known as the Shifting Wastes. Each time you leave, random storms will transport you to a Waste Zone. Other Wasters might have already been there, or are still there, or it could be completely uncharted. Waste Zones are both dangerous and lucrative, and it is the business of Wasters to explore and loot these Zones.
The Game System:
Everything will use a d6.
Combat:
A weapon will roll a d6 to determine a hit. A roll of natural 1 will Damage that weapon. A roll of natural 6 will double the damage done. If the hit is successful, the opponent has to roll at or higher than your roll to dodge. If he fails, then he receives a point of Damage (or two, if it was a critical hit.) If the opponent rolls a natural 6 on his defense roll, he can counter attack.
Weapons (ranged or melee) come in three states: Damaged, Unmodified, and Great. When a weapon rolls a natural 1, it goes down a state. If a Damaged weapon rolls a 1, it is destroyed. Weapons can be fixed for a price, but not higher than the original state they were found or bought in.
Damaged weapons cannot do critical damage. Great weapons usually have some other benefit, such as being silent or returning to the user when it is lost. Great weapons that are reduced to Modified or Damaged loss their benefit until it is fixed.
Health:
There are four states of Health: Healthy, Damaged, Critically Damaged, and Dying. Healthy is what you start as. Damaged gives -1 to particularly strenuous or straining tasks. Critically Damaged gives -1 to all tasks. Dying is your last chance until you die.
Healing comes from med-kits or med-packs. A med-kit (usually with the Medic) has three charges that increase your Health state to one better. Med-packs can be used by anyone, but is one use. Spells and abilities can also heal.
Healing also comes from rests. A short rest is six hours. A long rest is 12 hours. A short rest heals your health to one better. A long rest completely heals you. This is dangerous, as you have 72 hours to get back or be lost forever.
Eating and resting:
When you rest, you have a chance to be attacked, depending on your location and how many monsters are left in the area. A long rest doubles this chance. A party member can be designated to Watch. They will not gain the benefits of resting, but the party will not be attacked.
Every end of a 24 hour day, the party must eat. Rations can be bought beforehand. One ration lasts one day for one person. A Survivalist can counter this.
Spells and abilities are explained below.
Races:
Human: The baseline human. Roughly 30% of Oasis' population. Highest living standards and social standing. +1 to Interaction-type rolls, plus discounts on purchases, and one Access level higher than other races. Humans are the only ones allowed to strike deals with the corporation, perhaps for better pay, higher Access levels, etc.
Cyborg: Half synthflesh, half cybernetics, cyborgs are abundant in Oasis, accounting for 50% of the population. Most humans are born with sever defects, and as such must undergo surgery to turn them into cyborgs. Stronger and faster, but not as socially adept or accepted by pure humans. Cybernetics, high-tech weaponry and supplies have a 1-in-3 chance of receiving them for free. Cyborgs must choose between two types: combat-borg or utility-borg. Combat borg have inbuilt weaponry, so they can never be disarmed. Utility borg can repair and upgrade weaponry. Their 1-in-3 chance becomes 1-in-2. When a cyborg becomes damaged, another utility cyborg can heal it, but by one damage only until a short rest.
Mutant: Lowest on the social ladder, mutants are those unfortunate who cannot afford to be transformed into cyborgs at birth, and retain their defects. They get -1 to Interaction type rolls, must pay more for purchases, and have one Access level lower. However, they have access to the Black Market, and can obtain illegal items outside their Access level for very high prices. Mutants choose 1 mutation that can be visibly seen (wings, tails, claws, keen eyes, etc.) and will be given a debilitating mutation at random during the start of the game.
Roles:
Fighter: Armed with a combat stick and a rifle at the start of the game. Whenever a Fighter takes damage, he rolls a d6. On a 6, he shrugs off the damage completely. They start with no spells and the Push ability: when activated, the HUD installed on the Fighter releases chemicals and drugs to push the Fighter. His health state is treated as one better until he rests. Afterwards, he reduces his health state by one. He cannot die this way.
Tracker: Expertly trained in the use of the Safety Line, Trackers have an extended version that cannot be cut. Trackers start with a pistol and a dagger. They start with the Reveal spell and the Track ability. The Reveal spell automatically reveals hidden doors and other items. The Track ability places a tracking device on the target and allows it to be followed, even if it is invisible. Only one target can be tracked at a time. Dying removes the tracking device. It can also be manually removed.
Conduit: Installed with three times as many spell-slots in his brain, Conduits are frail and powerful. They do not have weapons. They start with a focus, which allows a reroll on a failed spell. They start with the Focus ability: it resets the focus the Conduit uses, allowing it to reroll again. They can choose six spells from the spell list.
Medic: Trained to use med-kits and first aid, Medics are invaluable assets to a team of Wasters. Every short rest adds a charge to their med-kit, and a long rest completely recharges it. Medics start with a pistol and the Evaluate passive ability: they can determine how damaged enemies are effectively, and their physical abilities that may not be known to Wasters otherwise.
Striker: Consumed by bloodlust, Strikers cause the most damage and destruction. They can purposefully harm themselves, and use their current Health state to determine damage. A Damaged striker causes two Damage instead of just one. A Critically Damaged Striker does three Damage, and so on. They start with a rifle and a dagger, and the Vengeance ability: he marks one of his teammates. If the teammate is hurt that round, the Striker causes Critical damage on everthing except 1 and 6 to the attacker. However, he can only attack his teammate's attacker, even if he is being attacked by someone else.
Survivalist: They are the toughest of any Waster, being able to survive in virtually any environment. With a Survivalist with the party at full Health, the party does not have to rely on rations to survive that night. They start with a rifle and the Scout ability: before going into the Zone, he scouts it and determines the number of rooms, monster types, and a glimpse of the boss. He does not have to physically go into the Zone.
Shadow: Sneaky and silent, Shadows can bypass locks and move unseen. They can roll to attempt to open locked things, succeeding on anything but a 1 and a 6. If they fail, they cannot try again and must find the key like usual. They start with a pistol and a dagger, and the Sneak ability: they can become stealthed, forcing enemies to roll to spot him just so they can attack. If he is spotted, he cannot sneak again until he cannot be seen by anyone. Shadows also have access to the Black Market.
Everyone's Access level starts at White, unless changed by role or race. They can purchase only White level gear at shops and access White level areas. Access level increases when someone strikes a deal with the company. The levels range from: White, Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, Black.
The Black Market allows you to purchase anything, regardless of Access level. However, they are very expensive, and if you are caught you will be severely punished.
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Access Level: Starts at White. Increased by role and class. See Access section above.
Race:
Role:
Spells: (Everyone has two spell slots installed. Conduits have six. Choose them from the spell list according to your Access Level and the spells you get from your class.)
Starting Equipment: (I'll do this myself.)
Bio: Appearance, backstory, goals, etc. I expect this game to have at least some roleplay, and to run like DnD and such. But since I'll try to make it dangerous, it might not be a good idea to write a novel about your character. Basically all I want is to not only have bolded actions every turn (though I understand that sometimes you might be busy or lazy and you just want to get an action down as soon as you can.)
Not going to be first-come-first-served. Players and characters I find interesting will be picked. Everyone will definitely have a chance to play, since it's going to be lethal I think. Leave the spell section empty for now. You can choose them once I finish writing all the spells.
Name: Torin "Tori" Cykes
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Role: Medic
Access level: Green
Appearance: Caucasian, glossy black hair tied back in braids to keep it off his face, and exactly 6 feet tall. Blue eyes. Commonly wears a thin black baseball-style cap with subdued red lining. Brown synthleather boots, dark green coat, off-white cargo pants w/ dark brown belt, white shirt. He has a small silver plate emblazoned with a caduceus symbol implanted directly into his left shoulder; this symbol bears a code that can be read by scanners, thus verifying his identity. He had it implanted there voluntarily; not many actually know about it.
Backstory: Blood, IV drips, all manner of burns, and regular dances with the deadly mistress known as infection are the order of the day for Torin Cykes – and thus far, he has managed to stay safely above the knife. For a trained paramedic such as himself, life is never a dull moment, as dangerous and unpredictable tech from the wastes can prove to be just as deadly to the inhabitants of Oasis as drought, disease, or each other. In spite of most medics’ profession of pacifism and non-conflict, Torin also regularly practices self-defense and firearms usage, which has saved him more than once when a mutant driven mad by pain attempts to strangle his rescuers or a cyborg malfunctions and becomes dangerous to all those around. His level-headedness and passion for saving lives has earned him the nickname “Tori” among his friends.
Despite being raised among a pure-bred human family and attending human schools, Torin does not actively oppress cyborgs or other mutated individuals. Rather, he sees them as poor souls afflicted by a terrible condition through no fault of their own, believing that such mutations cause more pain than good and ostracize them from the rest of society. Thus, Torin has joined up with a wasteland expeditionary group in the hopes of finding something beyond Oasis’ walls to help him find a way to prevent or reverse such conditions altogether, thus returning the human race to purity – whether the afflicted individuals in question want him to or not.
(Essentially, he’s like one of the Enclave from the Fallout series, but seeing the mutants as patients to be cured rather than monsters to be shunned and destroyed.)
(Torin is likely to work just fine with cyborgs and mutants in the party, but his viewing of them may be off-putting to those who don't like being treated almost like an invalid. He tries to think at least two moves ahead when possible, preferring to evaluate a situation before trying anything. Used to getting results, he is bound to feel anxious if the party isn't taking the right precautions, and quite ticked off if they don't get enough from a haul or take too many hits in dealing with an enemy. He is comfortable in a negotiation and planning role just as well as action, and is quite likely to be the first to speak to the Corporation about securing better access or additional equipment/funds.
Edit: Name: Tera Joraine
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Role: survivalist
bio: pending
Will finish it later, possibly tomorrow. Basically the concept is an angsty, cynical young lass with an unhealthy fascination with the waste and its denizens. I'm considering switching to the tracker role, but that seems too sensible for the character I have in mind, haha.
Now then.
Name: Aegis
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Access Level: White?
Race: Cyborg(combatborg)
Role: Shadow
Spells(blank,blank)
Starting Equipment(?)
Bio: Aegis wasn't originally a mutant. He was human, but his dreams of raiding the Wastes led him to become a cyborg for the benefits. Shunned by his wife and three of his four children, he turned to Waste-looting to fill the rest of his life, though he originally never intended to do that full-time. He never intended to be a Shadow- he wanted to be a Survivalist, but the wrong circuits and whatnot were installed within him as a result of an error. "This blasted thing isn't a manual, it's a brochure!" Aegis wasn't his original name- but given his new identity, he changed it to go along with the theme.
Delekates, Black is the highest clearance level. You should be at White.
Name: Mitino
Age: 25
Gender: Replaced with cyborg parts (formerly male)
Access Level: White
Race: Cyborg
Role: Conduit
Spells: 6
Starting Equipment: ?
Bio: Mitino has brown hair and red eyes, and is of average height and width. He is ruthless and pragmatic, but generally means well. He prefers the schools of transmutation and summoning/creation, and prefers working with physical things (+physical magic (matter and energy), -mental magic (illusion and mental manipulation). Mitino prefers ranged weapons over melee weapons. He also likes machines and fixing things.
Mitino was always facinated by the outside world, and loves his job as a waster. He was grown in a test tube for a rich noble, but the noble and his wife decided that they were not ready for a child yet. Mitino was put into a boarding school, where he studied engineering, mathematics, and magic (and a little bit of the other basic subjects). Mitino was always facinated by the outside world, and loves his job as a waster.
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