Alpha ruleset 3, I am welcoming all ideas and input. Holdout rules are done, and weapon builds are coming online for next week in a few days if all goes well.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zLzjOmAtQQvT488bpGJIVh-KRFc9arCUgj3nZoPGHN8/edit?usp=sharing Holdout Update 2/26/2018

-Holdout rules including a new Talent

-Holdout Weapons in the NV theme

-Pulse, Holdout, and several other types of qualities added

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bXxkJImODPCS19pkn1PLPzDVczeXTovk Alpha 2 Ruleset 2/20/18

-added power armor talent

-added power armor stats for the t-45, t-51-t-60, and x-01

-added dice font to package

-drugs 2.0

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AK8jtXUUbPMqE91zHSv8t5_jY25164Ei/view?usp=sharing Alpha Ruleset 2/17/2018

Rough draft...

Enjoy your week, folks

Adder

Right, I will be updating this post with some links this weekend, but I am going to start on my base ruleset addition for my Fallout group. Sure, there is a complete setting, but I am taking this Fallout game to places where Traveller goes. Meaning, I am going to embrace the random charts that give backstory and depth to the Traveller characters. Anyways, the basic rules cover the Synths, Ghouls, Power Armor, and new Radiation mechanics. Short story, the rules allow for humans to mutate into ghouls.
So, I know you folks have been mucking with the system for a bit here. This is a preview bit on the Radiation ruleset.

"Yet Another Set of Radiation Rules 1.0

Born from the incandescent ashes from countless blasts in the past, both radioactive storms and irradiated environments tear the natural world apart while consuming the laws that govern the known world even as the echo of the blasts are faded into distant history.

Mechanically, the YASR Rules for Genesys represent the core aspect of the Fallout Lore's root as a video game. The rules provide, attempt to provide, a fast pace for the ebb and flow of the Radiation count that is at the heart of the dark mood of the original games. To be specific, the strain rules provide a mechanical vehicle to link the idea of radiation causing people to turn into ghouls to the beta mechanic of radiation exposure doing strain damage which links both the Player Characters and NPCs nearly into the system without creating a new system for either the Strain or Wounds. Basically, it is my hope that it keeps the rad count from becoming a redundant health mechanic.

The core system states that Players become incapacitated from having max strain damage while the NPCs shift that strain damage to wounds. The YASR Rules add a stage to both the Player mechanics and NPC mechanics which state that radiation damage to strain causes both the Players and NPCs to refer to the Exposure Chart which provides options for mutation, death, physical harm, and immunity options.

Stage Strain Damage per Hour
1 1
2 3
3 10
4 20
5 30

Radiation damage to strain heals at 1 strain point per hour. This is a direct story thing where exposure to radiation is constant in the Wasteland. Stage 1, the rate of healing for the Stage 1 exposure matches the rate of strain damage to reflect the dark side of the wasteland life in the rules. Also, it sets the scale for the implementation of RadX, Radaway, and the Power Armor rules. Stage 2 radiation is a very comfortable zone for the GM to stage the more dangerous story elements. It is a casual exposure that allows for players to venture into zones with limited damage while providing a constant danger to the players. Stage 3 is the target range for things such as pools of radioactive waste and drums of drums of radioactive waste. Even car engines, the atomic cars of the future leak, too. Fuel station leaks are within this range. Stage 4 is the tier for small explosive devices such as mini nukes. It is the tier defined by the prewar power armor rules, as well. The power armor prevents damage to troops at this level. Small pools of radioactive material, reactors leaks, and anything related to weapons grade events fall into this grouping. Stage 5 is direct exposure to large blasts, radioactive waste lakes, and ground zero effects. Hazmat suits, space suits, and specialized armors define this tier.

The idea here is that Radiation damage presents humans with a chance to turn into ghouls. Say, players are thrown into a pit where they are unconscious for days on end. some players die from radiation burns while another player turns into a ghoul. Cancer, disease, and other problems from the other games are things I want to have on the chart as well.
Rad-X would protect the user up to Stage 3, maybe? Radaway would remove conditions, all theory at the moment, inflicted due to radiation damage from the chart.

So, any thoughts or suggestions...or even harsh words are welcome.

From my recollection radiation does not turn people into Ghouls within the game, some NPC's turned into Ghouls when the Nukes fell and over the few years afterwards. Personally I would allow the Player to select Ghoul from character generation if they wanted to play one, roleplaying the character being part of the group/vault.

As to the Rad damage, I think I might go with reducing the Wound threshold of the character from my experience of the game, with Radaway removing the wound cap and Rad x and Hazmat suits providing a soak equivalent. I seem to remember Radiation being quite lethal, killing rather than knocking out. I think the categorisations you have done work well with the obvious exception that with a lowered wound threshold you would need to reduce the numbers a bit.

All that said the important thing is that your Players have fun, so if they enjoy this style of game play then go for it.

I will pluck at the numbers over dinner, tonight. So, I will see how it looks.

The Rad thing, for me, is based off of the Grays numbers. To be honest, I am doing it mostly from memory. I think the Grays rating of 1 through 4ish is where folks find blisters and peeling of the skin. I believe it takes several weeks to die at 8ish Grays. It has been a while, but I think there is an "itis" in that range that crops up at the 8 Grays mark, too. I am placing the Rad scale of 3 in the 4-8 Grays range to give the Rad-X and Radaway a nice "gameplay" range for GMs. Scale rating 4, or 8-29ish Grays, is where you get hit with acute affects that take affect at the 24 to 1 week mark. Rating 5, or 30+Grays, is lethal in 24 hours as I recall.

So, does changing it to wounds make it too lethal? The chart I have to post on Sunday does place some wound damage on the roll chart. So, you can take wound penalties from the strain damage in the current system through the chart. In annny case, the Genesys system, and Star Wars, depend on the 1-5 difficulty rating system. So, I am really trying to find a good balance between the Fallout lore and "common" lore that comes from the Fallout: NV themes.

...and, I will have to take a look at the Ghoul conversion thing. I have been thinking it was Rad -> Ghouls for a while.

** Sunday Edit, Races First with Radiation Chart and Drugs in a Bit **

Synth, Gen 2 Prototypes

Brawn Agility Intellect Cunning Willpower Presence
2 1 2 3 2 2

Gen 2 Synths are fairly unique with only two known examples in the records. They date back to around 2187 which seems to be the transition point that shifts the Gen 2 design over to the Gen 3 programs.

Starting Wound Threshold: 12 + Brawn
Starting Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower
Starting Experience: 90
Starting Skills: A Gen 2 Prototype Synth starts with one rank in Computers during creation which is given at the start of character generation. Computers cannot be leveled above 2 as per normal.
Artifical: As per page 193 of the Genesys Rulebook, biological problems such as eating, breathing, and even sleep are not a problem for this type of Synth. Radiation immunity is included within this skill for the Gen 2 synths.
Limited Memory: Immortality comes with a price for this series, limits to their memory prevent them from taking advantage of their extended life. Cybernetics, if present in the game, are required to augment their memory capacity. Thus, Gen 2 Prototypes have a human grade intelligence despite their artificial nature which means that they are missing large portions of their past due to lack of storage space.
Fearsome : As per page 193 of the Genesys Rulebook, the blazingly obvious nature of their fake skin and fragile skin plates. They add a Black Die to their Charm, Deception, Leadership, and Negotiation checks. However, they add a Blue Die to their Coercion checks.

Synth, Gen 3

Brawn Agility Intellect Cunning Willpower Presence
2 2 2 2 2 2

Emerging in 2229, the Broken Mask Incident left many innocents dead at the hands of a rogue Synth. Possibly, it is one of the first known records of the Gen 3 Synth program in the Commonwealth. Gen 3 Synths appear quite frequently in the coming years at this point.

Starting Wound Threshold : 10 + Brawn
Starting Strain Threshold : 10 + Willpower
Starting Experience : 110
Starting Skills : A Gen 3 Synth starts with one rank in Deception during creation which is given at the start of character generation due to the inherently deceptive nature. Deception cannot be leveled above 2 as per normal.
Unique Abilities : Listed below, Pick One
Escaped : Escaped synths are always looking out for dangers to their lives as a fugitive. Having fled the Institute, they are constantly aware of their surroundings which reduce the difficulty of Perception checks by 1 difficulty dice.
Refugee : Abandoned, Refugee synths gain 1 rank in 2 skills which are always career skills for the synth which represent the training and programming left in place at the time of its abandonment.
Corsair : Always on the hunt, Corsairs are trained in weapons and stealth. They gain 1 rank in both Gunnery and Stealth which are always career skills. As always, they cannot be leveled above 2 at creation.
Railroad, Wiped : Reprogrammed, the Railroad gives these Synths special cover identities and carefully tailored habits which protect them from discovery by the Institute. It raises the difficulty of detection, by any means, from hunters by 1 Difficulty Dice. Note, the ability is different from A Face in a Crowd as the Railroad gives increases their ability at social interaction in general.
Railroad, Unwiped : Unchained, the unwiped synth knows that he or she is a synth and revels in the freedom unlike the Refugee. They may spend a Story Point to automatically Resist the phrase or keyword that disables them for the rest of that session.
Hunted : Wanted by many parties for various reasons, synths are the target for hunters ranging from the Institute to the Brotherhood of Steel. They always have somebody out to get them.
Off Switch : All Gen 3 synths have a phrase or keyword that disables them and renders them unconscious for several hours. It's built in and cannot be disabled by normal means.

Gen 3 synths must make a Discipline Check of 3 Difficulty Dice in order to resist the effects of the off switch command. If they fail, they are incapacitated for 3 hours. If they pass, the off switch command is disabled for 12 hours.

Ghouls

Brawn Agility Intellect Cunning Willpower Presence
2 1 2 2 3 2

Radiation damage and mutation rot flesh and turn ghouls into rotting corpse like shells with a constant barrage of radiation affecting the mental stability of the humans inside those husks. Yet, hope lives on despite the damage to the flesh. Increased life span, radiation immunity, and even resurrection from death are all symptoms of ghoulification.

Starting Wound Threshold : 10 + Brawn
Starting Strain Threshold : 10 + Willpower
Starting Experience : 75
Starting Skills : Ghouls start with 1 rank in any 2 skills during creation which is given at the start of character generation which represent the experience of the ghouls long life. Skills cannot be leveled above 2 as per normal.
Radiation Immunity : Radiation immunity gives ghouls immunity to the strain damage from radiation. It does not grant immunity to blast damage.
Child of the Atom : Child of the Atom embraces the radiation for the miracle of healing. It heals wounds at the rate of 1 wound per hour. Injuries heal over time, even death, outside of decapitation and dismemberment.

Humans that become ghouls gain Radiation Immunity and Child of the Atom as their flesh twists under the radioactive ****. They gain a +1 to Wound Threshold and +2 to Strain Threshold. However, they lose 1 point of Agility as their flesh toughens up.

Power Armor

Base Power Armor

Stats for the armor give a baseline of Def: 1 and Soak: 2

l Reduce 20 strain damage from radiation

l Reduce 30 fall damage

l Built in Enhanced Lifting Servos add +1 Brawn increase Soak value with a max Brawn of 5. Lifting Servos cannot be added to an existing frame as they already have the upgrade.

l Armor Pieces act as armor attachments which provide room for 5 attachments throughout the suit.

l Encumberance in power armor is 10 + Brawn

Power Armor pieces
+1 wound
Special properties
+x soak
+x defense

Drugs

Radaway : Acting over the span of 4 hours, Radaway removes all strain damage from radiation at the time of application. Also, it removes 2 points of wound damage from radiation per hour for 2 hours. It removes 1 point of wound damage from radiation per hour over the last third and fourth hour. It inflicts a 2 strain penalty on the user for the duration of the 4 hours.

Cost: 180

*10% chance of addiction?

Stimpaks : As painkiller rules on page 94

Cost: 30 caps

RadX: Provides resistance to Radiation over the span of two days. It gives a 10 resistance to the user for the first day. It gives 5 resistance to the user on the second day.

Cost: 180 caps

Radiation Damage Chart

Radiation damage to strain sets the base modifier. Incoming radiation damage adds to the roll of the modifier. Additional effects can either decrease or increase the modifier. Thus, sitting in an open reactor with a +30 mod gives a character 15 strain a base chance of +45 to the roll for example. Effects from different conditions stack, but an increase to the severity of the conditions only upgrades the condition to the most severe.

Radiation Exposure...sample of the top of the chart
01-05 Easy Headaches: 1 Black Dice to 1 Intellect Skill of the player's choice
06-10 Easy Unwellness: -1 penalty to Strain
11-15 Easy Loss of Appetite: 1 Black Dice to Resilience checks
16-20 Easy Nausea: 1 Black Dice to Perception checks
21-25 Easy Vomiting: 1 Black Dice to Athletics checks
26-30 Easy Blistering: 1 Black Dice to either Charm or Negotiation skill checks, player's choice.
31-35 Easy Blood Problems, the player takes 1 extra damage from Bleeding effects
36-40 Easy Minor Radiation Poisoning: 1 Black Dice to Brawn related skills

To be added.. .

+ Right, adding Sterility to both Gen 3 and Ghouls

+ Ageless: Ghouls do not die from old age

+ Wound damage from radiation more common on the Rad Chart

+ Vats is likely a maneuver that grants an automatic success

+ Going with the ghouls stemming from exposure to radiation! There is the idea of FEV as a factor, but... *shrug*

On 2/10/2018 at 7:55 AM, eldath said:

From my recollection radiation does not turn people into Ghouls within the game, some NPC's turned into Ghouls when the Nukes fell and over the few years afterwards. Personally I would allow the Player to select Ghoul from character generation if they wanted to play one, roleplaying the character being part of the group/vault.

As to the Rad damage, I think I might go with reducing the Wound threshold of the character from my experience of the game, with Radaway removing the wound cap and Rad x and Hazmat suits providing a soak equivalent. I seem to remember Radiation being quite lethal, killing rather than knocking out. I think the categorisations you have done work well with the obvious exception that with a lowered wound threshold you would need to reduce the numbers a bit.

All that said the important thing is that your Players have fun, so if they enjoy this style of game play then go for it.

So, there are two Origin stories upon further research... One says both the FEV and Radiation does the ghoul thing, but most of the sources cite the radiation as the only cause for the creation of ghouls.

And, I am going to wrap the wound damage into the radiation exposure chart for Average+ results on the chart.

I am sorry if I wasn't as clear as I could have been, what I meant was that Ghouls were not created within the very short time of gameplay. Any Ghouls created by Radiation were made so over time or with much more massive amounts of Radiation (i.e. Nukes dropping).

No problem here, I am thankful you responded. I adjusted the chart a bit to reflect the wound damage on it. Instant ghoul is right at the death point. I am trying for a dark and grim wasteland with this bit. I am going to tidy up the format and get it into a pdf over the next few days as I work on the weapons and creature section. If it goes well, I want to add a Robot guide and FEV project.

Rough Draft on the Exposure Chart

Radiation exposure is checked hourly. It is a Resilience check against the Stage rating. Failure points the characters to the Radiation Exposure chart. (Dev note: the stage number is the difficulty rating. It will be changed in formating stages to reflect it in text.) Radiation damage to strain sets the base modifier. Additional effects can either decrease or increase the modifier. Exposure to different ratings over the course of an hour do not stack. Players use the highest rating to determine their modifier. Effects from different conditions stack with the base chance, but an increase to the severity of the conditions only upgrades the condition to the most severe.

Thus, characters sitting in an open reactor with +30 radiation damage, Daunting Difficulty, gives a character a base modifier of +30 to the roll for example.

Dev Notes: The checks are hourly in order to limit the number of checks made due to radiation. Also, it gives players some flexibility in how they use the drugs. Five players making checks every other roll over the course of a small dungeon, even a simple combat, quickly bogs down into a series of rolls combating the radiation exposure. In Fallout, the game engine handles it. On tabletop, we will see how it plays out.

Radiation Exposure

01-05 Easy Headaches : 1 Black Dice to 1 Intellect Skill of the player's choice

06-10 Easy Unwellness : -1 penalty to Strain

11-15 Easy Loss of Appetite : 1 Black Dice to Resilience checks

16-20 Easy Nausea : 1 Black Dice to Perception checks

21-25 Easy Vomiting : 1 Black Dice to Athletics checks

26-30 Easy Blistering : 1 Black Dice to either Charm or Negotiation skill checks, player's choice.

31-35 Easy Blood Problems: the player takes 1 extra strain damage from Wound damage

36-40 Easy Minor Radiation Poisoning : 1 Black Dice to Brawn related skills

41-45 Average Severe Headaches : 2 Black Dice to 1 Intellect Skill of the player's choice

46-50 Average Severe Loss of Appetite : 2 Black Dice to Resilience checks

51-55 Average Constantly Vomiting : 2 Black Dice to Athletics checks

56 60 Average Severe Blistering : 2 Black Dice to either Charm or Negotiation skill checks, player's choice. Burns permanently alter the characters skin in large patches as the blisters spread over the whole body.

61-65 Average Advanced Radiation Poisoning : 1 Black Dice to Brawn and Agility related skills

66-70 Average Hairloss : The character looses all of his or her hair. It can be regrown if the radiation is purged.

71-75 Average Nerve Damage : -1 penalty to Wounds

76-80 Average Stomach Problems : the character cannot make a free maneuver due to constant internal problems

81-85 Average Severe Nausea : 2 Black Dice to Perception checks

86-90 Average Critical Radiation Poisoning : 1 Black Dice to Brawn and Agility related skills. -1 to Brawn

91-95 Hard Sterility: permanent

96-100 Hard Blindness: permanent

101-105 Hard -1 Intellect

106-110 Hard Permanent Hairloss : It's gone

111-115 Hard Wound Damage causes 1 additional point of Bleed damage

116-120 Hard Bad Day: you start the ghoulification process. It takes several weeks of change before you complete the shift.

121-125 Hard Deadly Radiation Poisoning : 1 Black Dice to Brawn and Agility related skills. -1 to Brawn and Agility

126-130 Daunting Severe burns cover your body . -2 penalty to Agility. 1 Agility minimum

131-140 Daunting Head Injury : -2 penalty to Intellect. 1 Intellect minimum

141 150 Daunting Real Bad Day , you change into a ghoul over the span of a single day. Blistering flesh, leathering of the flesh, and other changes take place at a quickened rate.

151+ Daunting Fatal Radiation Poisoning

I don't know if Worst Fallout (aka Fallout 4) changed the narrative, but Actually Good Fallout (1, 2, New Vegas) does make it clear that persistent exposure to background radiation will cause a regular human to mutate into a ghoul. It's not just from the era after the bombs dropped (which apparently made the west coast of the US also more socially and technically advanced than the east coast, which is basically stagnant over centuries, amirite Bethesda?) but a continued risk.

FO4 changed the narrative in small ways, but I have not seen much that would change anything in the ghoul area. The ghoul child bit, maybe? It does kind of lock in the ageless bit.

Annyways, the link is up in the first post, but I will link it here because I can. The Alpha rule bit, it is going to playtest this weekend. So, any thoughts are welcome.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AK8jtXUUbPMqE91zHSv8t5_jY25164Ei/view?usp=sharing