gurps holocaust

7
GURPS Holocaust by Richard LeDuc with addioional work by R.(her G T. ~orfian And then one day the docs EX-law enforcers should world ended! havc Pistol and Shotgun skills, Ilrivc Auto, and maybe Strcetwisc. GURPS HoIocaust is a gmc of Good disadvantages might bc role playing in a post-holocaust en- Truthful or Honest. These arc vironment. This article providcs good characteristics for trying to referees with the basic material rebuild civili~arion. needed to run a GURPS game in an end-of the-world scenario. We Scientist: Whcthcr from a hid- assume that the world has ended dcn research facility or just a lucky in the ncar future in somc kind of survivor. a character with a hack- limited nuclear war, but these rules ground in sciencc will bc able to should work well for any number find many applicat~ons for his of calorhl cnds, such as giant skills. Thesc charactcrs nccd a high comets, alicn invasions, or rcturns IQ and sevcral Science skills. Math- of the Elder Gods. Thc specifics of ematical Ability is oftcn helpful for the fall arc left up to the individual this type of character. If the rcfcrec wishcs, the scientist may bc from a rcferec. Rcfcrccs using these op- surviving institution: either a small ticms will hxvc to devise some of thc unique material on thclr own collcgc that has survivcd and is (How much damage docs a Mar- . carrying thc torch of truth, or a villainous CIA base that is in nccd tian Tripod Heatrdy do, anyway?). Thc rules pscscntcd below arc in of living humans. secticms. ~ c e l frce to usc only those sections you nccd, and to change things to fit your own cam- paign idea. Character Generation There arc many possibie typcs of people living in thc ruins. Hc- low arc some guidelines to help players come up with character ideas. Ex-Soldiers: A favorite of hairy chest books cvcrywherc. Thcsc charactcrs need Pots of combat skills, Iikc Guns, Tactics, and maybc even llrivcr. Good advan- tages for thcsc characters include Combat Reflexes and Ilanger Sense. Appropriate disadvantages might hc Impulsive or Berserk. Hccausc you usually havc to bc at least 16 u) join the military, most ex-soldiers will be at least in thcir late 20's but thcy can bc much i>lder. Survivalists. Thcsc people were ready. They had food and guns when the end came and thcy carefully protected what was theirs. Survivalists tcnd to have a rnorc divcrsc sct of skills, a fcw wcapons, Survival, and job skills from bcforc the fall. A good disad- vantage for survivalists is somc kind of Fanaticism o r a I3clusion of somc sort (c.g., there are commies behind cvcry bush). Ex-lldw Enforcer: Thesc peo- ple used to havc legal law enforcc- mcnt powers, but now no one HanditstGangs: Characters who come from a group of people who makc a living off the misfortuncs they inflict on others. Often these gangs arc poorly tnincd and cquippcd. Such characters should have scvcral Hand-to-Hand waapon skills and a fcw Firearms skills. Handits may often have a reputation from hclonging tu a specific gang. Gang conflicts can easily he the center clement in an on-going campaign. Psychos: An old favorite in many campaigns is the person who lost touch with rcality during the war. This character will ofien havc sevcral wild delusions and maybe even an Odious Persona! Habit or two. Always rcmembcr, Fall 1991

Upload: answeringthecal

Post on 02-Dec-2015

490 views

Category:

Documents


45 download

DESCRIPTION

GURPS HoIocaust is a game of Good role playing in a post-holocaust environment.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: GURPS Holocaust

GURPS Holocaust by Richard LeDuc with addioional work b y R.(her G T. ~ o r f i a n

And then one day the docs EX-law enforcers should world ended! havc Pistol and Shotgun skills,

Ilrivc Auto, and maybe Strcetwisc. GURPS HoIocaust is a g m c o f Good disadvantages might bc

role playing in a post-holocaust en- Truthful o r Honest. These arc vironment. This article providcs good characteristics for trying to referees with the basic material rebuild civili~arion. needed to run a GURPS game in an end-of the-world scenario. We Scientist: Whcthcr from a hid-

assume that the world has ended dcn research facility o r just a lucky

in the ncar future in somc kind o f survivor. a character with a hack-

limited nuclear war, but these rules ground in sciencc will bc able to

should work well for any number find many applicat~ons for his

of calorhl cnds, such as giant skills. Thesc charactcrs nccd a high

comets, alicn invasions, or rcturns I Q and sevcral Science skills. Math-

of the Elder Gods. Thc specifics of ematical Ability is oftcn helpful for

the fall arc left up to the individual this type of character. If the rcfcrec wishcs, the scientist may bc from a rcferec. Rcfcrccs using these op- surviving institution: either a small ticms will hxvc to devise some o f

thc unique material on thclr own collcgc that has survivcd and is

(How much damage docs a Mar- . carrying thc torch o f truth, o r a villainous CIA base that is in nccd tian Tripod Heatrdy do, anyway?).

Thc rules pscscntcd below arc in o f living humans.

secticms. ~ c e l frce to usc only those sections you nccd, and to change things to fit your own cam- paign idea.

Character Generation There arc many possibie typcs

of people living in thc ruins. Hc- low arc some guidelines to help players come up with character ideas.

Ex-Soldiers: A favorite of hairy chest books cvcrywherc. Thcsc charactcrs need Pots of combat skills, Iikc Guns, Tactics, and maybc even llrivcr. Good advan- tages for thcsc characters include Combat Reflexes and Ilanger Sense. Appropriate disadvantages might hc Impulsive o r Berserk.

Hccausc you usually havc to bc at least 16 u) join the military, most ex-soldiers will be at least in thcir late 20's but thcy can bc much i>lder.

Survivalists. Thcsc people were ready. They had food and guns when the end came and thcy carefully protected what was theirs. Survivalists tcnd to have a rnorc divcrsc sct of skills, a fcw wcapons, Survival, and job skills from bcforc the fall. A good disad- vantage for survivalists is somc kind o f Fanaticism o r a I3clusion of somc sort (c.g., there are commies behind cvcry bush).

Ex-lldw Enforcer: Thesc peo- ple used to havc legal law enforcc- mcnt powers, but now no one

HanditstGangs: Characters who come from a group of people who makc a living off the misfortuncs they inflict on others. Often these gangs arc poorly tnincd and cquippcd. Such characters should have scvcral Hand-to-Hand waapon skills and a fcw Firearms skills. Handits may often have a reputation from hclonging tu a specific gang. Gang conflicts can easily he the center clement in an on-going campaign.

Psychos: An old favorite in many campaigns is the person who lost touch with rcality during the war. This character will ofien havc sevcral wild delusions and maybe even an Odious Persona! Habit or two. Always rcmembcr,

Fall 1991

Page 2: GURPS Holocaust

Magical Aptitude: This is left Mutants: People with

though, that thc psycho has lived t h ~ s long, so hc must havc somc- thmg going for him.

Mutants Only thc very young children during thc wdrs, or those born afterwards, will suffer much muration. Most will die. Thosc who survivcd will be reaching ma- turity just about now. Rules for mutants arc givcn in Mutations (scc bclow). Rcfcrccs should dccidc what chc general popuIation's out- look on mutants with "good" pow- ers will bc in his campaign. Mu- tants having only disadvantages should prohahly be piticd or put out of their misery. Scc Unusual Hackground below for more.

AIIVANTAGES, I)ISADVANTAGES, AN11 SKILLS

Immunity to Discasc: At the rcferce's wish, this advantage mxy havc no cffcct on biolcrgical wcap- ons (germ warfare). It docs not help against thc effects o f rddia- tion.

Literacy: Anyonc who was 1 0 years old during the war is l~tcrate at O point cost. Thcy couId ukc 11- literacy as a dtsadvantage, though. Anyone undcr 10 ycars old during the war is considcrcd illiterate at 0 points, but thcy can buy Lttcracy for 10 points.

Haif Litcncy: The chardcter knows a little bit about rcading. Hc can make out the basics of short, "easy to read", materials, Whenever something simplc (only a fcw words) is to hc rcad, an I Q roll must be madc. I f the roll is succcsshl, thc character got the basic meaning; otherwise, the character understood nonc of it . Playcrs may wish t o keep rccords o f words thcir character knows. This is a 5 yomr advancagc for the illitcrate and a 5 point disadvan- tagc for the litcrate.

up to the individual rcfcrce to de- cidc.

Unusual Background: A "com- mon" unusual background is to be a mutant. This costs 10 points plus the value of any mutations thcy have. As a balancing factor, bccause they arc not automatically litcratc likc older characters arc, charactcrs who were less than 10 years old during [he war may purchasc this background at 0 points Howcvcr, they must still pay for any mutant ahilitics. Thc rcferec may allow older characters to buy a murant background, and thus bc ablc to buy mutant pow- ers, hut this should bc rare.

Ilwarfism, Albinism, Epilepsy, or Gigantism, evcn if they had it he- fore thc war, will prohahly bc con- sidered muants just thc samc. They don't need any unusual back- ground though.

Sratus: Although the rcfcrcc may decidc nthcrwisc, a max!mum of four lcvels of status is rccorn- mended. People who meet the re- quirements for a givcn lcvcl o f sta- tus (see bclow) must buy thc htgh- cst lcvcl that they qualify for. A character may not buy a lcvcl of status unlcss he meets the rcquirc- ments for the levcl he wmts in at lcast one catcgury.

10 people

! 20 people 30 people

40 people

good skill levels or uncommon skills

very rare skills

NIA

N/A

self

10

100

500 1000 +

Social Stigmas: Relow are some cxarnplcs of social stigmas. Rcf- erees should come up with stigmas appropriate to their gamc.

Sccond Cla5s Citizen ( - 5 ) : Most rnumnts, peoplc without any useful skills, or even people who just aren't tough enough to intimidate anyone.

Vdluahlc f'ropcrty (-10): Mayhc sornconc with rncdicai skills, or even a useful mutant of some kind.

Outsider (- 15): Randin or gang mcmhcrs. Roplc h m an- other area.

Expcndahlc Propcrty (-20): Slaves, mutant? of some kind, and rubble rats (ferdl children liv- ing on their own).

- -. . - . -. . . . - --

Thcrc arc thrcc ways to gain a positive status: by possessing cxtraodinary abilities (1)octors or Mcrccnarics of good qualities); by being able to support a large number of pcoplc (a hydroponics engineer, farmer, or huntcr); or, lastly, by being the leader of a group (tribal ckiieftain, gang leader, military commander).

Players should be allowed to make really crazy people if they want. In the years aftcr thc war, it will have been very easy to losc touch with reality. In addition, a refcree has t o determine what groups are around and how thcy count towards Rcpuntions or Pa- t rons.

Page 3: GURPS Holocaust

f 1.W SKIL1,S 12. 12 + 2 = 14, so thc

1 the skills published in E I I 'KPS Autoducl arc available. Spe- c.i;~Ities in skills, like driving or guns, should hc taken from Auto- ciuel. Thc following should bc t~sed in place of Scrounging on page 52:

Scrounging (Mcntal/Easy): Each "use" of scrounging takes onc hour, and, if successful, allows the charactcr t o locatc (but not gain posscssion of) somc nccdcd itcm; provided the item exists in the area o f the search. (Wp, Fred's got a 11n1pct mint..) Thc rcfcrcc may ;lpl>lv rntjdifiers for unusually casy or difficult items to find. Alterna- tivcly, a charactcr may try to search through unscarched rubble to find uscful items. In Ehis case the rcferce should randomly dctcr- mine what is found using either h ~ s own imagination o r the table provided (scc Random Finds Ta- hlc).

Mutations Mutations arc t o hc considcrcd

as advantages or disadvantages. In ordcr u) buy any mutations, though, a character must first in- vest 10 charactcr points in an unu- sual background: mutant. All indi- viduals who were less than 10 vcars old during the war must buy this hackground.

Ronus suts may hc h(lught. The worst disadvantage a lowcrcd stat can have is - 1, and the best adv~ntagc a raiscd stat can have is + 2 Thc cost is as fol- lows: 1 = . 10 points, + 1 = 10 points, and t 2 - 20 points. Rc- mcrnhcr that bonuses are added after you buy thc stat up or down (i.e. A non - mutant with a strength o f 14 would havc to spend 45 CPs. A mutant with a + 2 strength would only havc to spcnd a total of 40 CPs, 20 CPs for the + 2 bonus and 20 CPs for a strcngth of

mutant would have a strcngth of 14).

A character that is a mutant can buy psionics, as per GURPS Horror, but a maximum psi power of 10 should bc cn- ftrrccd.

Therc are many colorful perversions o f thc human body that arc possible. Somc of thcsc involve a combination (or package) o f rccog- nized GURPS advan- tages andfor disadvan- tages A package should bc given a 5 "/o discount in cost t o balance the fact that a player may not want everything that he is forced to buy Somc cxamples o f packagcs arc as follows:

I-Iardcned Skin: 'Ibughness 3 (DR -3) [35 Ch], liigh Pain 'I'hrcshold (rcduccd pain fiber function) [lo CR], Ugly [-20 Ch]. 'Ibal = (35 + 10 - 20)*.95 = 24 CPs,

Supcr-Sensitive Eycs: Night Vi- sion [I0 CPs], Peripheral Vi- sion 11 5 CPs], + 3 Acutc Vision [6 CR]. ibtal - - (10+15+6)*.95 = 29C:Ps.

Overactive Immune Response: Immunity to D~scascs I10 CFs], Rapid Ilcaling [IT) CPs]. Note: bccausc of rnurant sm- tus, a PC nccd not havc a 111.11 of 12 for this package ?btal - (10 t 10)*95 = I9 CPs.

The referee and players should fed free to make up more pack- ages. Remember, though, that you only get a package bonus whcn one change made to the organism gives rise t o several advantages (or

disadvantagcs). For cxarnple, you could not take Toughness and + 3 Acute Vision and call it a package sincc thcrc is no singlc ovcrall change.

Thcrc arc still othcr things that can be done to a mutant to give it powcrs that might logically hap- pen but that havc no ct>rnparahlu GURPS advantage or disadvantage. Iletcrmining the point valuc o n such ncw mutations is largcly left to the discrction of thc rcfcree. Some cxarnplcs arc:

l!ltra - Acutc T<)uch: Thrs mu- tant possesses extremely sensitive touch receptors on his skin. Ac- cordingly, he finds that wearing anything that binds his skin - tight clothcs, belts, slung wcap- ons - to be extrcrnely annoying. All modifiers for encumbrancc arc doubled for this mutant (i.e. light

Fa11 1991

Page 4: GURPS Holocaust

cncurnbrancc gives - 2 to Ilodgc, ctc.). Early in lifc, though, this mu- tant will learn that there arc certain advantages gained from this mu- tant ability.

For exarnplc, whcn barefoot on solid ground (rock, building floors, etc.) the mutant will be able t o fcel the vibrations made by pco- plc moving around him (stationary targets cannot bc felt). Targccs will be noticed on an I Q roll and the mutant can idcntify people known to him on a similar roll at - 3. Pco- ple can bc dctectcd at a mngc out

to thc mutant's I Q in yards. This distance should bu halvcd on packcd carth o r similarly "It#)sc" material. Largc objccts (or ohjccts that makc hcavy vibrations) can hc felt much farther away. A car driv- ing down a mad that thc mutant is walking along might be felt at IOxIQ in yards, and a tank might he felt at 25OxIQ in yards. The ref- crcc should also apply mc~dificrs f o r many targets; feeling your friend Yoshcr sneaking up to slit your throat while you're on guard is one thing, hut realizing that Un- cle Ross is sncaking up behind the slavcr group that has kidnapped you is anothcr thing cntircly. Thc first situation would requirc an I Q roll to scnsc and another roll at - 3 t o know Yoshcr. Thc sccond situa- tion might havc each of the n~lls at - 2 f o r your hcing in a l agc group. Notc: On scnsc rolls, AIcrtncss is added to thc IQ tf thc mutant has i t . ALSO, if hhc mutant has morc than just his fcct touching thc ground, hc will gct positivc modi- ficrs; on hands 2nd knccs, -c 2 ; ly- ing prone and nakcd on the ground, + 5 . This power costs the mumnt 15 CPs.

Scx Phcremones: This mutant produces an undctcctablc gas (ac- tually a very trace amount of an odorlcss "scent"). Whcn mcrnbcrs o f thc opposite scx smdl this gas, (gas masks will prevent this), thcy must makc an I Q roll (plus Stnmg Will, minus Weak Will). Failing this roll, thc victirn(s) will bc instilled with a mild case o f lust. Thc vic- t im(~) will havc t o make the sarnc Will roll as per Lecherous (GI?RPS, pg 261, hut with a + 2 modificr. Thc victim@) will have no knowl- edge of who is exciting thcm and will in no way bc drawn towards thc character with the pheromone. Mcrnbcrs of the sarnc sex as thc murant will react at - 4 to mutants who use this powcr around their matcs. In addition, this powcr will

not work in well ventilated areas. This mr~rarion costs 10 (IPS.

The last class o f mutations arc hhosc that arc a disadvantage to thc mutant. Many arc minor and scv- eta1 possihle murations are alrcady listed in the GWRPS rulo book, but arc stilI a possibility for manv more, somewhat weirder, clisaci- vantages. Some cxamplcs follow.

1)efcctive UV Repair: Evcryc)ne is constantly hcing hombardcd by uitrdviofct radiation whcnevcr thcy arc in thc light. Hecausc of this, cvery person is equipped with a UV rcpalr mechanism to fix darnagc that thc UV light causes. This mutant's UV repair mecha- nism is damaged and is unable to fix damage caused by normal light exposurc. For each 15 hours the charactcr spends with his skin cx- poscd to light, he gets one charac- tor point towards Had Appearance. I f he has normal lonks, after 75 hours in the light, hc will havc an Unattr~ctivc Appcarancc; aftcr 150 hours, he will have an Ugly Ap- pcarancc, and so on. This is caused hy warts and open sores forming cm the skin that can only bc rcmovcd; thcy don't hcat.

Once the character reaches Hideous Appearance, each 15 hours o f light rcmoves 1 CP o f I-dealth. So, after 150 hours o f light a I 0 HLH will drop to a 9 and so on until the mutznt is dcad. A good physician can remove thc warts and treat the sores, thus re- moving the negative reaction modifier. This treatment does not rcstorc thc loss charactcr points worth o f looks; i.c. it docs not give

the character mother 15 hours be- fore he starts losing MLH again. One Physician roil will ncgatc 1 lost CP and takes about 2 hours to pcrform. There arc ways around this affliction; hcavy clothes prop- crfy worn (5 t o 10 Ihs) will allow thc murant to trdvcl in thc daylight;

Page 5: GURPS Holocaust

; I good sunscreen will allow him t o n~ovc. about 3t dusk o r insida an ;irt ~ficially lighted building. Of c ~ i wrse, trdvclling hy night is al- n-ays safe This disadvantage is ~ v o r t h - 15 CISs

Rlack and Whitc Hlindncss: 'I'hic mutant is missing a11 o f the roclcclls in his c . y s I f a mutant has 1 ~ ) th this clisadvantagc and Color IJlindness, hc is cornplctely blind. 1)iirlng thc day, o r any other time I hr%rr is a lot o f light, thc charac~cr 11,i.s no rcal problems. Hlack and

I~itc' colors arc just pcrccivcd as Lirk blues o r light ycllows. tnvrimo that tllc lighting is poor

rn 1 . k ~ ~ . dusk, a full moonlight night, a ti~rnlv lit room) thc mutant is com- 1'Ectcly blind and should bc con- -~cir.rr.d a hlincl charactcs (GIJRPS, 1 , 0 ) . A srnalI flashlight will pro- i i~ic unt~ugh light for the m u a n t ro scc in the two hcxcs in front o f 11 im, a torch will let him scc a cir- I Ic. w ~ t h a radius o f 1 yard. This cil\advanragc is worth 15 CPs.

I.;istly, thurc arc sevcral clisaci- i ;irlr;lgcs out o f the CI!RPS rule

) c ,E; that are likely to bc found on ruuclnts They arc Albinism, Had \ ~ g l ~ t . Klinclness, Color Blindness, I k..tfncss, Dwarfism, Gigantism, I l.irc1 o f Wcaring, Hemophilia, I .imc. Mutc, and Anormia. Somu o f I t~c.sc. can uomc about by cnviron- 1rlr.nLt1 factcxs ("I Iost my arm in i t~ w;lrnj, hut thcy can also he duc t~ I nlutations ("I was born without rn! lcft arm*). The rnuunr PC with .i 'tlormal" disadvantage should c;c c.idc whcther o r not i t is a muta- I I i )II

Mutations can never he bought 1 1 1 1 with CPs. As always, refcrccs .~nd players should fccl free t o in- \.cnt morc mutations as thcy arc nc.c*dc*cl

Economics Although F ~ C ~ C is no ccntral-

izccl currency, this article will kccp to thc GURPS convention o f using thu dollar ($) value for costs. A starting character will hc glvcn $1000 to buy starting gear, although he must spcnd all of it , as having $30 has no n~eaning.

A list of common items and thclr costs is givcn below. Tho rcf- crcc must consider that, when fix- ing, rhc pricc of a ncw itcm, in a scavcngcr cconomy, an ~tcrn's valuc is dctcrmincd morc by its

utility and rarity than by the cost to makc tho ohjcct in thc first place. In ( ~ t h e r words, cvcn though a cigarcttc machinc is rather com- plex, i t 1s common, and has littlc valuc (mostly just for parts). So a cigarette machine should havc less value than a c h a p 2 2 p~stol which has lots o f use. Considering that thcrc C X ~ S ~ S no form o h moncy, all rxchangrs must takc thc fornm of hartor. When buying o r sclling, rcaction rolls should be made to dctcrminc thc pricc Groups o f

PURCHASE LIST A Day of Natural Food (keeps 3 days)

Preserved Food (keeps 2 months) C m d Pood (keeps m y years) Freezed Dried F a d s (keeps years, is Iight) FIand Can Opener Glasses (specific prescriptions, can be bought with starting money) Hearing Aid Sleeping Roll Sleeping Bag (prewar, 1 in 3 will be srnurf type bag) knlight (3 mem range) Small FJashlight (20 meter range) Large Flashlight [a teal long r a m ) (3% Mask Aak Jacket (PD 2, DK 2,15 Ibs) Kwlar E s t (PD 2/1, DR 412: ~ r u s h ~ m p a l i n g ) Electrician's Tool Kit (10 Ibs in a box) Lockpicks Small Caliber Pistol (ammo costs 5.50 per round) Large Caliber Pistol (ammo costs $1 per round) Shot Gun (ammo costs I I per round) Assault Riie [ammo costs $1 p e r round) Knik

Working Car

Liter of Ga? Fishing Gear Wlkie -'hIkie oust one!) Batteries First Aid Kit (+ 1 skill)

Fall 1991

Page 6: GURPS Holocaust

I 1'1'1 1 Wuapitr~s:

Wcapon Sig Stick

(: hninsdw Hoard wtnail

Uac wkpikes H(~dt E IOO~S

Chair

Amount

Swing + 2 'l'hrust + 2 Swing t Id

Swing 3 Swing -- 2

Swing - 1

Swing 12

(Swing-?) ji

por whccl -1'hrust 3 S w i n g - 2 3 'I'hrusr - 2

Swing - 2 -

firc arms scc cithcr

;~dvcnturcrs will find that having a rncrchant o f high rcactlon person is csscntia1 if thcy don't want to be losing moncy at cach tmnsactit~n.

In ccrtain situations, the rcf- ercc may find that hc wants t o in- crcasc some pricc duc to a givcn cvcnt; for cxamplc, cach wtntcr, rlac pricc of f o o d rnight douhlc. Also, if the PUS arc operating in a small rntmctary hasc, for cmrnplc, if therc. arc: only a fcw htlndrcxcl pcoplc living in the area, thc char- actcrs' actions may cause a pricc changc. An cxamplc is if the play crs found a wdrchousc h111 o f pocket flashlights. In this casc, if thc players don't play their cards right, rhc bottom o f chc flashlighr m;~rkct c'oulcl kd1 out frorn unclcr them

PCs must spcnd a certain amount o f moncy o n thcir upkccp. I t is rccc)mmcndcd that thc rcfcrcc and playcrs keep track of all thc Iittlc things as thcy come up ("that acid ate your shoc, you'lI have to l ~ u y a ncw onc."), hut some people

Min S'I

h h

12

10

1 0

7

10

find that this involves too much book work. Thc following bhlc should hclp thc pIaycrs dcturminc how much "moncy" thuv should spcnd. A ckay's Toocl is worth $5. s o $90 is thc minimum pcr month. Add to this m o u n t an m o u n t dc- rived frorn status. This moncy gocs for thc upkeep o f a rcsicicncc, maintcnancc of cIothcs and gear, and thc coszc of keeprng oneself in power, C ~ C . If a character fails t o pay his upkcep costs for t o o long, hc will drop in status, with a corrc- sponding drop In privilcgc.

Radiation Whcrher the players arc

scroungina for food in thc ruhhlc o f San Francisco o r nobly trying t o rcstart the ahancloncd nuclear powcr station In Eureka. every now and thcn they will bc cx- poscci to hatasdous radiation The intcnsitv o f radiation for an arca should bc tatcd in REMs pcr hour. Thc contarninatcd wastelands might ho 5 REMIhour and thc coolant hay in a power plant 500

REMlhour. Thc amount is arbi- trary, ancf shouId be sct hy thc rcf- crco whcn dcsrgning t hc sccnarto. Rcmcmher, thc higher the REM, thc lcss time rhc PCs c'.m spcnd in thc conuminatcd arca hcforc in- jury.

The following uhlc is con- stmcfcd from information from " E:nvironrncnt;~l rk~clioactivitv'>y M. Eiscnhud (19G5).

110 N O T TRY THIS AT HOME

'I'hc. v ~ l u o s givcn in thc tablc ahovc arc: nor tho latcst compilcd valucs. However, thcy work bcttcr for gamc purposes. Currently, the accepted v;lluc h) r dcarh t o all liv- ing mactcr is GOO REM.

4%

Page 7: GURPS Holocaust

Radiation Exposure Char t EXPOSURE IN REM VOMITING DELAY

I 0 0 16+ 3 hours

200 11 + 3 hours

300 5 + 2 hours

600 Yes 1 hour

1000 yes 30 min.

5000 + YC" 30 min.

SYMPTOMS

N/A

N/A

(1)

(1)

(2)

(3)

DEATE1 THROW CONVALESCENCE

N/A 1 day

N /A 1d6+ 1 week5

16 2d6+2 weeks

13 3d6 months

5 ld3 ycars

auto NfA

Exposure in REM: This value is found by taking the REM per hour and multiplying it by the length of time that the PC was exposed (in hours). With this chart, always round ta the next higher numbet Example: Eliot rmds a neat meml can and carries it home to ask Morgan what the words "CAUTION: RADICMCTIVE" mean. The can is givmg off 200 REMihour. If it takes Eliot one and a half hours to get home, he will have absorbed 300 REM. 1.5 hours X 200 REMhour = 300 REM. (Bet you though you'd never have to do word problems outside of your algebra c k , did you?) When Morgan sees the can, hc immediately throws it rway. Unfortunately, this takes him six minutes, which is one tenth of an hour, so Morgan is exposed to 20 EM. Now here's the neat thing abut radiation exposure: it's cumulative. This means that if Morgan takes 20 REM now (see above), and 80 REM haw been taken in-the past, he now has 100 REM and will experience radiation sickness. There are some drug that will lower ehe total exposure, but skowly. For each day that you take a dose of this drug, your total REMs are lowered by 1. If an excess of the drug is taken, it wll not have a greater effect; the character will take one point of fatigue. Vomiting: 3& must be rolled. If the given number, or greater comes up, the PC will start vomiting several minutes after mching the given level of exposure; 2 X HLH in minutes. Every 30 secands after he starts, the PC can make an HLH roll to slop. Until the roll is made, creal the character as stunned. Delay: This is the length d time from the statt of exposure to when the fust signs of sickness begin &o show. Even if there are no other symptams given, an irradiat- ed PC still loses Id6 fatigue a k r this time. Symptoms: The physical signs of illness: (1) Purpura - excessive brubsing. Just a touch will cause a bruise. Until convales- cence time is w c r , treat as Rernophlia. (2) As above plus diarrhea and fever. (3) As above plus convulsions, ttcmors, ataxia (a lack of controlled movement), and lethargy. Death Throw: An irradiated PC must roll 3d6. I f the number roled is equal to or kss than the given numbet, he lives. Otherwise the character is dead. Convalescence: This is the lenglh of time hat the symptoms of the exposure, in- cluding fatigue loss, will persist.

Fall 1991