Besides the ordinary combat risks of swords, guns, and spells, adventurers commonly face other hazards.
ACID
Acids range from extremely weak to extremely strong (e.g., hydrochloric, perchloric, nitric, and sulfuric acids). Most laboratory acids are dangerous only to the eyes, but strong or highly concentrated acids can “burn” through equipment and flesh. For game purposes, treat strong alkalis just like strong acids.
If the victim is splashed with strong acid, he suffers 1d-3 points of corrosion damage. If the acid splashes on his face, he must make a HT roll to avoid eye damage. On a failure, or on a direct hit to the eyes, the damage is to his eyes. Use the Crippling Injury rules to see whether he is blinded – and if so, whether the blindness is permanent. On a critical failure, permanent blindness is certain (acquire the Blindness disadvantage).
If the victim is immersed in acid, he takes 1d-1 corrosion damage per second. If his face is immersed, he must also roll for eye damage (see above) every second.
If the victim swallows acid, he takes 3d damage at the rate of 1 HP per 15 minutes. A successful Physician or Poisons roll can halt this damage; treatment requires 2d minutes. Used against a lock’s pins or other small, vulnerable items, acid requires 3d minutes to eat through the item. A vial of acid powerful enough to produce these effects is a TL3 item, and costs $10.
AFFLICTIONS
An “affliction” is a harmful effect other than direct injury or fatigue, usually the result of an attack, hazard, illness, magic spell, or toxin. In most cases, the victim gets a HT roll to resist, and only suffers the affliction on a failure. Duration depends on the cause; see the relevant disease, hazard, poison, spell, or weapon description for details.
Irritating Conditions
Coughing or Sneezing: You are at -3 to DX and -1 to IQ, and cannot use Stealth.
Drowsy: You are on the verge of falling asleep. Make a Will roll every two hours you spend inactive. On a failure, you fall asleep, and sleep until you are awakened or get a full night’s sleep. On a success, you have -2 to DX, IQ, and self-control rolls.
Drunk: You are highly intoxicated: -2 to DX and IQ, and -4 to self-control rolls except those to resist Cowardice. Reduce Shyness by two levels, if you have it.
Euphoria: You have a -3 penalty to all DX, IQ, skill, and self-control rolls.
Nauseated: You have -2 to all attribute and skill rolls, and -1 to active defenses. As well, roll vs. HT after you eat, are exposed to a foul odor, fail a Fright Check, or are stunned, and every hour in free fall or in any situation where you might suffer motion sickness. A rich meal in the past hour gives -2; anti-nausea remedies give +2. On a failure, you vomit for (25 - HT) seconds – treat as Retching, below.
Pain: You have a penalty to all DX, IQ, skill, and self-control rolls. This is -2 for Moderate Pain, -4 for Severe Pain, and -6 for Terrible Pain. High Pain Threshold halves these penalties; Low Pain Threshold doubles them.
Tipsy: You are slightly intoxicated: -1 to DX and IQ, and -2 to self-control rolls except those to resist Cowardice. Reduce Shyness by one level, if you have it.
Incapacitating Conditions
All of these afflictions prevent you from taking voluntary action for the duration. In addition to their other effects, you’re effectively stunned (-4 to active defenses). In combat, you must Do Nothing on your turn. If an affliction lets you drop, you can sit, kneel, go prone, etc. if standing, or go prone if kneeling or sitting. If it lets you stagger, you can drop, change facing, or step or crawl one yard. In all cases, you are still effectively stunned.
Agony: You are conscious but in such terrible pain that you can do nothing but moan or scream. If standing or sitting, you fall down. While the affliction endures, you lose 1 FP per minute or fraction thereof. After you recover, anyone who can credibly threaten you with a resumption of the pain gets +3 to Interrogation and Intimidation skill rolls. Low Pain Threshold doubles the FP loss and torture bonus. High Pain Threshold lets you overcome the agony enough to function, but at -3 to DX and IQ.
Choking: You are unable to breathe or speak. You may do nothing but drop. While the choking endures, you suffer the effects of suffocation (see Suffocation). If you have an object lodged in your throat, a friend can try a First Aid roll to clear it; roll at -2 before TL7. Each attempt takes 2 seconds. If you have Doesn’t Breathe or Injury Tolerance (Homogenous), you cannot choke!
Daze: You are conscious – if you are standing, you remain upright – but you can do nothing. If you are struck, slapped, or shaken, you recover on your next turn.
Ecstasy: You’re incapacitated with overwhelming pleasure. Treat as Agony, but neither Low Pain Threshold nor High Pain Threshold has any effect – and instead of a bonus for torture, someone offering to continue the pleasure gets +3 to any Influence roll! If you have Killjoy, you’re immune.
Hallucinating: You can try to act, but you must roll vs. Will before each success roll. On a success, you merely suffer 2d seconds of disorientation. This gives -2 on success rolls. On a failure, you actually hallucinate for 1d minutes. In this case, the penalty is -5.
The GM is free to specify the details of your hallucinations, which need not be visual. On a critical failure, you “freak out” for 3d minutes. You might do anything! The GM rolls 3d: the higher the roll, the more dangerous your action.Paralysis: You cannot move any voluntary muscles, and fall over if you are not in a balanced position. You remain conscious, and can still use advantages or spells that require neither speech nor movement.
Retching: You are conscious but vomiting (or suffering dry heaves). You can try to act, but you will be at -5 to DX, IQ, and Per, and automatically fail at any action that requires a Concentrate maneuver. At the end of the retching spell, you lose 1 FP. You gain no benefit from recent meals or oral medication – you’ve thrown it up.
Seizure: You suffer a fit of some kind. Your limbs tremble uncontrollably, you fall down if standing, and you cannot speak or think clearly. You can do nothing. At the end of the seizure, you lose 1d FP.
Unconsciousness: You are knocked out, just as if you had suffered injury.
Mortal Conditions
Coma: You collapse just as if you had been wounded to -1¥HP or below and passed out; see Recovering from Unconsciousness (p. 423). You get a single HT roll to awaken after 12 hours. On a failure, you won’t recover without medical treatment. Until you receive treatment, roll vs. HT every 12 hours. On any failure, you die.
Heart Attack: Your heart stops functioning (“cardiac arrest”). You immediately drop to -1¥FP. Regardless of your current HP, you will die in HT/3 minutes unless resuscitated – see Resuscitation (p. 425). If you survive, you will be at 0 HP or your current HP, whichever is worse. Missing HP heal normally. If you die and it matters what your HP total was, treat this as death at -1¥HP or your current HP, whichever is worse. Injury Tolerance (Diffuse, Homogenous, or No Vitals) grants immunity to this affliction.
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Regardless of its composition, an atmosphere may be difficult or impossible to breathe if its pressure is wrong.
We measure air pressure in “atmospheres” (atm.); 1 atm. is air pressure at sea level on Earth. Trace (up to 0.01 atm.): Treat an atmosphere this thin as vacuum (see Vacuum.
Very Thin (up to 0.5 atm.): The air is too thin to breathe. Earth’s atmosphere becomes “very thin” above 20,000’. If you lack protection (e.g., the Doesn’t Breathe advantage, or a respirator and oxygen tanks), you suffocate – see Suffocation (p. 436). Vision rolls are at -2 without eye protection.
Thin (0.51-0.8 atm.): Earth’s atmosphere is “thin” between 6,000’ and 20,000’. Thin air is breathable if oxygen is present in Earthlike percentages, but it is hard on unprotected individuals. Increase all fatigue costs for exertion by 1 FP. Vision rolls are at -1 without eye protection. Finally, anyone who breathes thin air for an hour or more must check for “altitude sickness.”
Make a daily HT roll at +4.
Critical success means acclimatization – do not roll again.
Success means no effect today. Failure means headaches, nausea, etc., giving -2 to DX and IQ. Critical failure means the victim falls into a coma after 1d hours; see Mortal Conditions (above). Roll against Physician skill once per day to revive the victim before he dies.Dense (1.21-1.5 atm.): The air is breathable, with some discomfort: -1 to all HT rolls, unless you have a pressure suit. If the air contains more than 50% oxygen, you must wear a “reducing respirator” that lowers oxygen partial pressure, or suffer -2 to DX due to coughing and lung damage.
Very Dense (1.51+ atm.): As "dense,” but a reducing respirator is required if the air is more than 10% oxygen. Usually quite hot from green-house effects.
Superdense (10+ atm.): As “very dense,” but the atmospheric pressure is so great that it can actually crush someone who is not native to it, unless he has Pressure Support or an armored suit that provides this advantage; see Pressure. Visitors to Venus, or deep inside Jupiter, experience hundreds of atmospheres of pressure! Such atmospheres are often poisonous, which presents a separate problem. These rules assume you are native to 1 atm. and can function normally at 0.81-1.2 atm. If your native pressure differs from 1 atm., multiply all the pressure ranges above by your native pressure in atm.
For example, if you’re native to 0.5 atm., a “dense” atmosphere for you would be 0.61-0.75 atm. and a “thin” one would be 0.26-0.4 atm.
Hazardous Atmospheres
Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen (plus 1% comprising a number of other gases). Visitors to other planets (and victims of lab accidents or death traps) might encounter other atmospheres, most of which are unsafe for humans without proper protection. Of course, “breathable air” for humans might be deadly for nonhumans, and vice versa!
Corrosive: The atmosphere reacts with exposed flesh. Those with the Sealed advantage are safe; those in sealed suits might be safe, but some gases eat away at seals. Small concentrations in otherwise breathable air require a roll at HT to HT-4 every minute to avoid 1 point of corrosion damage. Victims suffer coughing (see Afflictions, p. 428) after losing 1/3 their HP, blindness (as the disadvantage) after losing 2/3 their HP. Atmospheres made up mostly of corrosive gases have effects comparable to immersion in acid (see Acid, p. 428) and count as suffocating. Corrosives include ammonia and nitrides. Chlorine and fluorine are extremely corrosive and toxic!
Toxic: The atmosphere is poisonous. Individuals without respirators, Doesn’t Breathe, Filter Lungs, etc. are susceptible. Ordinary airborne industrial pollutants might require a daily HT roll to avoid 1 point of toxic damage. Lethal gases would call for a HT-2 to HT-6 roll every minute to avoid 1 point of toxic damage. If such gases make up most of the atmosphere, they inflict at least 1d toxic damage per 15 seconds (no resistance possible) and count as suffocating. A typical toxic gas is carbon monoxide. Chlorine and fluorine are deadly in tiny concentrations, and also corrosive.
Suffocating: The atmosphere is unbreathable. For humans, this means it lacks oxygen. Those without Doesn’t Breathe or an air supply start to suffocate (see Suffocation, p. 436). Hydrogen, methane, and nitrogen are all suffocating. As noted above, an atmosphere made up mostly of corrosive or toxic gases is suffocating as well – but these usually kill so rapidly that suffocation becomes irrelevant.
COLD
Cold can be deadly, but only magic or superscience can produce cold quickly enough to cause damage in combat. Armor offers its usual DR against such “instant” cold attacks, but it must be insulated or heated to shield against prolonged exposure to ambient cold. Make a HT or HT-based Survival (Arctic) roll, whichever is better, every 30 minutes in “normal” freezing weather. For most humans, this means temperatures below 35°F, but see Temperature Tolerance (p. 93). In light wind (10+ mph), roll every 15 minutes. In strong wind (30+ mph), roll every 10 minutes. Additionally, strong wind can dramatically reduce the effective temperature (the “wind chill factor”). Also see the modifiers below:
Modifier to Situation HT Roll:
Light or no clothing -5
Ordinary winter clothing +0
“Arctic” clothing +5
Heated suit +10
Wet clothes additional -5
Every 10° below 0°F effective temperature -1
Failure costs 1 FP.
As usual, once you go below 0 FP, you will start to lose 1 HP per FP.
Recovery of FP or HP lost to cold requires adequate shelter and a heat source (flame, electric heat, body warmth, etc.).
Thermal Shock:
Sudden immersion in icy waters (e.g., any of Earth’s oceans far from the equator) or a cryogenic environment can cause death by thermal shock.
Note that impure water (e.g., saltwater oceans) can be below the usual freezing temperature!
If you are wearing a completely waterproof “dry suit,” you are only affected as per normal freezing. Otherwise, roll against HT once per minute of immersion. Do not modify this for clothing.
On a success, you lose 1 FP. On a failure, you lose FP equal to the margin of failure. Don’t forget to check for drowning as well!
COLLISIONS AND FALLS
When a moving object hits another object, this is a collision. Use the rules below for ramming attempts, accidental crashes, falls, and dropped objects.
Damage from Collisions An object or person’s Hit Points and velocity determine collision damage. Mass only matters indirectly:
massive objects usually have high HP, but it would hurt more to collide with a locomotive than with a pillow of the same mass! HP take into account both mass and structural strength.
“Velocity” is how fast the character or object is moving in yards per second (2 mph = 1 yard per second). Velocity could be anything up to Move. It might exceed Move when diving or falling; see High-Speed Movement.
An object in a collision inflicts dice of crushing damage equal to (HP * velocity)/100. If this is less than 1d, treat fractions up to 0.25 as 1d-3, fractions up to 0.5 as 1d-2, and any larger fraction as 1d-1. Otherwise, round fractions of 0.5 or more up to a full die.
If an object is bullet-shaped, sharp, or spiked, it does half damage, but this damage is piercing, cutting, or impaling, rather than crushing.
Immovable Objects
If a moving object hits a stationary object that is too big to push aside –like the ground, a mountain, or an iceberg – it inflicts its usual collision damage on that object and on itself. If the obstacle is breakable, the moving object cannot inflict or take more damage than the obstacle’s HP + DR.
Hard Objects: If the immovable object is hard, use twice the HP of the moving object to calculate damage. Clay, concrete, ordinary soil, and sand are all “hard,” as is a building, mountain, or similar obstacle.
Soft Objects: If the immovable object is soft – e.g., forest litter, hay, swamp, or water – damage is normal. However, elastic objects (mattresses, nets, airbags, etc.) give extra DR against collision damage, ranging from DR 2 for a feather bed to DR 10 for a safety net, trampoline, or airbag. When striking water or a similar fluid, a successful Swimming roll (or vehicle control roll, if “ditching” a vehicle) means a clean dive that negates all damage. This roll is at a penalty for velocity; use the speed penalty from the Size and Speed/Range Table (p. 550).
Falling
A fall is a collision with an immovable object: the ground. Find your velocity when you hit using the Falling Velocity Table.
Example: Bill is pushed out a fifth-story window. He falls 17 yards. When he hits the street, his velocity is 19 yards/second. Bill has 10 HP, but he uses twice this because he hit a “hard” surface. Damage is (2 * 10 * 19)/100 = 3.8d, which rounds up to 4d crushing.
Falls and Armor:
All armor, flexible or not (but not innate DR), counts as “flexible” for the purpose of calculating blunt trauma from falling damage. Thus, even if the victim has enough armor DR to stop the falling damage, he suffers 1 HP of injury per 5 points of falling damage.
See Flexible Armor and Blunt Trauma:
Flexible armor such as a leather jacket, mail hauberk, or a modern ballistic vest is much lighter than rigid armor, but it doesn’t absorb the full force of the blows it stops. An attack that does crushing (cr), cutting (cut), impaling (imp), or piercing (pi-, pi, pi+, pi++) damage may inflict “blunt trauma” if it fails to penetrate flexible DR.
For every full 10 points of cutting, impaling, or piercing damage or 5 points of crushing damage stopped by your DR, you suffer 1 HP of injury due to blunt trauma. This is actual injury, not basic damage. There is no wounding multiplier. If even one point of damage penetrates your flexible DR, however, you do not suffer blunt trauma.
If you layer other DR over flexible DR, only damage that penetrates the outer layer can inflict blunt trauma.
Controlled Falls:
If you are free to move, you can use Acrobatics skill to land properly. On a success, reduce falling distance by five yards when calculating velocity. If falling into water, you can do this or attempt a proper dive (see above) – decide which first!
Terminal Velocity:
“Terminal velocity” is the maximum speed a falling object can achieve before air resistance negates further acceleration under gravity. Air resistance is relatively negligible for distances shown on the table, but increases drastically for longer falls. Terminal velocity varies greatly by object. For human-shaped objects on
Earth, it is 60-100 yards/second. Use the low end for a spread-eagled fall, the high end for a swan dive. For dense objects (e.g., rocks) or streamlined objects, it can be 200 yards/second or more!
The terminal velocity rules assume Earth-normal gravity (1G) and atmospheric pressure (1 atm.). Multiply terminal velocity by the square root of gravity in Gs. Then divide it by the square root of pressure in atm. Thus, gravity under 1G, or pressure above 1 atm., reduces terminal velocity; gravity over 1G, or pressure below 1 atm., increases it. Note that terminal velocity is unlimited in a vacuum!
Damage from Falling Objects
If an object falls on someone, find its velocity on the table above and calculate damage as for an ordinary collision. To hit someone with a dropped object, use Dropping skill. Most dropped objects will have Acc 1. Your target cannot avoid the object unless he knows it’s coming. If he’s aware of it, he can dodge.
A falling object with a Size Modifier equal to or greater than that of whoever it lands on impedes the victim’s movement. He may move only one yard on his next turn, and his active defenses are -3. These penalties result from bulk, not mass, so ST is irrelevant.
Hit Location from a Fall
If using hit locations, roll randomly for the hit location damaged in a fall. If the injury is to an extremity or a limb, do not ignore injury in excess of that required to cripple it. Instead, subtract the full amount from HP! If the fall would cripple a limb, roll 1d. On 5-6, all limbs of that type are crippled, although there is no extra injury.
Collision Angle
The angle at which you hit adjusts velocity, affecting damage. This is especially true in collisions between two moving objects!
Head-On: In a head-on collision between two moving objects, collision velocity is the sum of the objects’ velocities. The slower object cannot inflict more dice of damage than the faster one.
Rear-End: If a faster object over-takes and strikes a slower one, collision velocity is that of the striking object minus that of the struck object. The struck object cannot inflict more dice of damage than the striking one.
Side-On Collisions and Falls: If a moving object strikes a stationary one, or strikes a moving object side-on, collision velocity is that of the striking or falling object. The struck object cannot inflict more dice of damage than the striking or falling one.
Example: A car with 60 HP, moving at 50 mph (velocity 25), strikes a pedestrian with 10 HP. The pedestrian was fleeing from the car at Move 5, so this is a “rear-end” collision. Collision velocity is 25 (car) - 5 (pedestrian) = 20. The car inflicts (60 ¥ 20)/100 = 12d crushing damage on the pedestrian; the pedestrian inflicts (10 * 20)/100 = 2d crushing damage on the car.
Overruns
If the Size Modifier of the striking object in a collision exceeds that of the struck object by two or more (e.g., a car hitting a man) the striking object “overruns” the struck object. This inflicts additional crushing damage: roll thrust damage for ST equal to half the striking object’s HP (or half its ST score, if it has one). Even a slow-moving elephant or a tank can crush someone who doesn’t get out of the way. This rule does not apply to falls. Anything with a ST attribute can deliberately trample as well; see Trampling.
You can trample a victim if your Size Modifier exceeds his by 2 or more – or by only 1, if he’s lying prone and you’re not.
Trampling is a melee attack: roll vs. the higher of DX or Brawling to hit. The victim’s only legal defense is a dodge. If you hit, you inflict thrust/crushing damage based on your ST; if you have Hooves, add +1 per die of damage.
If you knock down a foe in a collision or slam and keep on moving, you automatically overrun and trample your opponent. Do not make any attack or defense rolls – roll damage immediately, based on half your ST, rounded down. In all cases, if your SM exceeds your victim’s by 3 or more, don’t worry about hit location – your attack counts as a large-area injury.
Whiplash and Collision
Anyone inside an object that comes to a sudden stop in a fall or a collision (a falling elevator, a crashing car, etc.) takes damage. Find the speed lost in the “stop” and work out falling damage for this velocity. Seatbelts or straps give DR 5 vs. this damage; airbags give DR 10. In a collision involving an open vehicle, also work out knockback from this damage for those who weren’t strapped in. This is how far they fly . . .
ELECTRICITY
If an uninsulated person is exposed to electricity, he may receive a shock. The effects of electric shock are highly variable, ranging from momentary stunning to instant death! This section helps the GM assess these effects if a character receives a shock during an adventure. If a specific attack or scenario gives different rules, they over-ride the guidelines below.
All electrical damage falls into one of two classes: nonlethal or lethal.
Against either, metallic armor (e.g., plate armor) provides only DR 1 – and if the wearer is grounded, he actually attracts electrical attacks, giving the attacker +2 to hit.
Nonlethal Electrical Damage
High-voltage, low-power shocks are unlikely to kill, but can stun the victim or even render him unconscious. This is called “nonlethal electrical damage.” Examples include electric stun weapons, realistic electric fences, and static shocks on a cool, dry day. The GM should require an immediate HT roll whenever someone is zapped.
Modifiers: From +2 for a short circuit in a battery-powered gadget down to -3 or -4 for a specially designed stun weapon. Nonmetallic armor gives a bonus equal to its DR – but surface shocks (e.g., from a cattle prod) tend to flow over armor rather than through it, and have an armor divisor of (0.5), while energy weapons designed to arc through armor have an armor divisor of (2) or even (5). On a failure, the victim is stunned.
An instantaneous jolt (static electricity, electrolaser, etc.) stuns for one second, after which time the victim may roll vs. HT once per second to recover.
A continuous shock (stun gun, electric fence, etc.) stuns for as long as the victim is in contact with the source, and for (20 - HT) seconds after that, with a minimum of 1 second. After this time, the victim may roll vs. HT each second to recover. The basic HT modifier for the strength of the shock (but not for DR) applies to all recovery rolls.
Electro-muscular Disruption (EMD): Some ultra-tech weapons deliver a more powerful current that induces convulsions. The HT roll is at -5, and if the victim fails, he is knocked down and paralyzed instead of merely stunned. Otherwise, the effects are as above.
Lethal Electrical Damage
High-power shocks cook flesh and inflict real damage; they can even stop the victim’s heart! This is called “lethal electrical damage.” Examples include power mains, lightning bolts (natural and magical), and cinematic electric fences.
Lethal electric shocks inflict burning damage: only 1d-3 to 3d around the house, but 6d on up for lightning, transmission lines, etc. A victim who suffers any injury must make a HT roll at -1 per 2 points of injury suffered. On a failure, he falls unconscious for as long as the current is applied, and for (20 - HT) minutes afterward, with a minimum of 1 minute. He will be at -2 DX for another (20 - HT) minutes when he recovers.
Failure by 5 or more, or any critical failure, results in a heart attack; see Mortal Conditions (p. 429). Lethal electrical damage also causes “surge” effects in victims who have the Electrical disadvantage (p. 134).
Localized Injury: Attacks that don’t affect the target’s entire body – including most magical electricity attacks – cause pain and burns, but not unconsciousness or cardiac arrest. Treat this as normal burning damage, except that the victim must make a HT roll at -1 per 2 points of injury suffered. On a failure, he is stunned for one second, after which time he may roll vs. HT once per second to recover. If the injury is to the arm or hand, he must also make a Will roll or drop anything carried in that hand.
FLAME
Exposure to flame inflicts burning damage. See Wounding Modifiers and Injury (p. 379) and Hit Location (p. 398) for wounding effects. Below are some additional special rules.
Fire Sources
Adventurers often encounter flaming oil (see Molotov Cocktails and Oil
Flasks, p. 411), high-tech weapons,
Innate Attacks, and battle magic (see
Fire Spells, p. 246) . . . not to mention
the burning rubble these attacks leave
behind!
If you spend part of a turn in a fire
(e.g., running through the flames), you
take 1d-3 burning damage. If you
spend all of a turn in a fire of ordinary
intensity – or if you are on fire – you
take 1d-1 damage per second. Very
intense fires inflict more damage; for
instance, molten metal or a furnace
would inflict 3d per second! Use Large-
Area Injury (p. 400) in all cases.
Continued exposure to a fire can
result in intense heat that can rapidly
fatigue you even if the flames them-
selves cannot penetrate your DR. See
Heat (p. 434).
Incendiary Attacks: Any attack with
the Incendiary damage modifier
(p. 105) does one point of burning
damage in addition to its other dam-
age; in effect, it has a one-point linked
burning attack. Examples include
torches (see Torches and Flashlights,
p. 394) and flaming arrows (see
Flaming Arrows, p. 410). High-tech
tracer bullets also qualify.
Catching Fire
A single hit that inflicts at least 3
points of basic burning damage
ignites part of the victim’s clothing.
(The Ignite Fire spell does this at its
third level of effect; see p. 246). This
does 1d-4 burning damage per second
and is distracting (-2 to DX, unless the
damage simply cannot harm the tar-
get). To put out the fire, the victim
must beat it with his hands. This
requires a DX roll, and each attempt
takes a Ready maneuver.
A single hit that inflicts 10 or more
points of basic burning damage
ignites all of the victim’s clothes. This
does 1d-1 burning damage per second
and is very distracting (-3 to DX,
except when rolling to put out the
fire). To put out the fire, the victim
must roll on the ground. This requires
a DX roll, and each attempt takes three
Ready maneuvers. Jumping into
water takes only one second, and
automatically extinguishes the fire.
If a wooden shield takes 10 or more
points of burning damage in one sec-
ond, the bearer is at -2 to DX, and
takes 1d-5 burning damage per second
until he gets rid of it.
In all cases, remember to apply
shock penalties to DX if the flame
inflicts injury!
The above guidelines assume ordi-
nary clothing. Armor is good protec-
tion against fire; clothing worn over
armor (e.g., a surcoat) might burn, but
the armor’s DR reduces the damage
normally. Clothing that is wet or worn
under armor is almost impossible to
ignite, and won’t stay lit. On the other
hand, fancy dresses, lace cuffs, and so
on, ignite if they take even 1 point of
burning damage!
Remember to divide damage from
tight-beam burning attacks by 10
when applying the rules above.
Making Things Burn
Materials are grouped into six “flammability classes,” based on the
amount of burning or incendiary damage needed to set them aflame:
Super-Flammable (e.g., black powder, ether): Negligible damage
(candle flame).
Highly Flammable (e.g., alcohol, paper, tinder): 1 point.
Flammable (e.g., dry wood, kindling, oil): 3 points.
Resistant (e.g., seasoned wood, clothing, rope, leather): 10 points.
Highly Resistant (e.g., green wood, flesh): 30 points.
Nonflammable (e.g., brick, metal, rock, fireproof synthetics): N/A.
A fire source (including any incendiary attack) that inflicts the list-
ed amount of burning damage in a single damage roll ignites the mate-
rial immediately. Divide damage by 10 for tight-beam burning attacks.
If the flame fails to ignite the material immediately, but could do so on
its best damage roll, roll damage once per second for as long as it is in
contact. Even if the flame is incapable of inflicting enough damage on
its best roll, it may set things afire with prolonged contact. Roll 3d for
every 10 seconds of contact. Materials one category up (e.g., Flammable
materials taking 1 point per second) catch fire on a 16 or less; those two
categories up (e.g., Flammable materials touching a candle flame)
catch on a 6 or less.
Once a material starts burning, it may ignite adjacent materials.
Make separate rolls for it based on the fire’s damage (1d-1 per second
for an ordinary fire).
GRAVITY AND
ACCELERATION
A change in gravity can be harmful.
These rules describe health effects; see
Different Gravity (p. 350) for the effects
of gravity on common tasks.
Space Adaptation
Syndrome
(“Space Sickness”)
Those who are not native to micro-
or zero gravity (“free fall”) may
become nauseated and disoriented by
the constant falling sensation. Roll
against the higher of HT or Free Fall
when you first enter free fall. The
Space Sickness disadvantage (p. 156)
gives -4.
On a success, you are unaffected.
On a failure, you are nauseated (see
Afflictions, p. 428), which may trigger
vomiting. If you begin to retch while
wearing a vacc suit, you may choke;
treat this as drowning (see Swimming,
p. 354). Roll against the better of HT or
Free Fall every 8 hours to recover. If
you suffer from Space Sickness, you
cannot adapt!
High Acceleration
Make a HT roll whenever you expe-
rience a sudden acceleration (“G-
force”) of at least 2.5 times your home
gravity. Treat a home gravity under
0.1G as 0.1G for this purpose.
Modifiers: -2 per doubling of accel-
eration (-2 at 5¥ home gravity, -4 at
10¥, and so on); +2 if seated or lying
prone, or -2 if upside down.
On a failure, you lose FP equal to
your margin of failure. On a critical
failure, you also black out for 10 sec-
onds times your margin of failure.
A sudden acceleration may throw
you against a solid object. If this
happens, treat it as a collision with
that object at a velocity equal to 10 ¥
G-force of the acceleration.
HEAT
In ordinary hot weather, you will
experience no ill effects if you stay in
the shade and don’t move around
much. But if you are active in temper-
atures in the top 10° of your comfort
zone or above – over 80°F, for humans
without Temperature Tolerance (p. 93)
– make a HT or HT-based Survival
(Desert) roll, whichever is better, every
30 minutes.
Modifiers: A penalty equal to your
encumbrance level (-1 for Light, -2 for
Medium, and so on); -1 per extra 10°
heat.
Failure costs 1 FP. On a critical fail-
ure, you suffer heat stroke: lose 1d FP.
As usual, if you go below 0 FP, you
start to lose 1 HP per FP. You cannot
recover FP or HP lost to heat until you
move into cooler surroundings.
In addition, at temperatures up to
30° over your comfort zone (91-120°
for humans), you lose an extra 1 FP
whenever you lose FP to exertion or
dehydration. At temperatures up to 60°
over your comfort zone (121-150° for
humans), this becomes an extra 2 FP.
Intense Heat: Human skin starts to
burn at 160°; see Flame (p. 433) for
damage. Even if no damage pene-
trates your DR, you will rapidly over-
heat if the ambient temperature is
more than 6 ¥ your comfort zone’s
width over your comfort zone (e.g., in
a fire). After 3 ¥ DR seconds, make a
HT roll every second. On a failure, you
lose 1 FP. Your DR provides its usual
protection against burning damage,
but it has no effect on this FP loss.
Sunburn: After a day of full sun on
unprotected skin, an albino will be
near death and a light-skinned
Caucasian will be very uncomfortable
(1d-3 damage). Darker-skinned indi-
viduals may itch, but aren’t in much
danger. Details are up to the GM.
Armor: Armor prevents sunburn
and provides its full DR against burn-
ing damage – but only armor that pro-
vides Temperature Tolerance (through
insulation or a cooling system) can
prevent FP loss due to heat. This fea-
ture is standard on battlesuits and
TL9+ combat armor.
PRESSURE
Adventurers are most likely to
encounter extreme pressure in super-
dense atmospheres (see Atmospheric
Pressure, p. 429) or deep underwater
(where pressure increases by about 1
atmosphere per 33’ of depth).
Pressures in excess of your native pres-
sure – 1 atm., for a human – are not
always immediately lethal, but present
serious risks.
Over 2 ¥ native pressure: You risk
“the bends” (see below) if you experi-
ence over 2 ¥ native pressure and then
return to normal pressure. With
Pressure Support 1, the bends are only
a risk when returning from over 10 ¥
native pressure. With Pressure
Support 2 or 3, you are immune to the
bends.
Over 10 ¥ native pressure: You may
be crushed! On initial exposure and
every minute thereafter, roll vs. HT at a
basic +3, but -1 per 10 ¥ native pres-
sure. If you fail, you suffer HP of injury
equal to your margin of failure. If your
Size Modifier is +2 or more, multiply
injury by SM. With Pressure Support
2, read this as “Over 100 ¥ native pres-
sure” and “-1 per 100 ¥ native pres-
sure.” With Pressure Support 3, you
are immune to pressure.
The Bends
When you are breathing air that
has been compressed (e.g., using
scuba gear), your blood and tissues
absorb some of the nitrogen gas in the
compressed air. When you return to
normal pressure, or “decompress,”
this nitrogen escapes, forming small
bubbles in the blood and muscles.
This can result in joint pains, dizzy
spells, possibly even death. These
symptoms are known as “the bends.”
You risk the bends if you return to
normal pressure after experiencing
pressure greater than twice your
native pressure (or 10 times native
pressure, with Pressure Support 1).
To avoid this, you must decompress
slowly, spending time at intermediate
pressures to allow the nitrogen to
escape harmlessly.
Divers and mountaineers use pre-
cise tables to determine decompres-
sion times based on time spent at a
given pressure. For game purposes, at
up to 2 atm. (about 33’ underwater), a
human can operate for any amount of
time and return without risk. At up to
2.5 atm. (50’ depth), a human can
safely operate for up to 80 minutes
and return without requiring slow
decompression. Greater pressures
reduce the safe time without slow
decompression: at 4 atm. (100’
depth), it’s about 22 minutes; at 5.5+
atm. (150’ depth), there is no safe
period.
Safe decompression involves slow-
ly lowering the pressure, either natu-
rally (e.g., a diver deliberately taking
hours to reach the surface) or in a
decompression chamber. The time
required increases with both pressure
and exposure time. It can be several
hours – or even days.
If you fail to decompress slowly
enough, make a HT roll. Critical suc-
cess means no ill effects. Success
means severe joint pain, causing
agony (see Incapacitating Conditions,
p. 428); roll vs. HT hourly to recover.
Failure means unconsciousness or
painful paralysis; roll vs. HT hourly to
regain consciousness, with each fail-
ure causing 1d of injury. Once con-
scious, you suffer joint pain, as
described above. Critical failure
results in painful death. Recom-
pression to the highest pressure expe-
rienced lets you roll at HT+4 every
five minutes to recover from all
effects short of death.
An instant pressure reduction can
also result in explosive decompres-
sion; see Vacuum (p. 437) for details.
All effects are cumulative!
RADIATION
Radiation threatens high-tech
heroes in the form of solar flares, cos-
mic rays, nuclear accidents, radioac-
tive materials, and lethal weapons
(nuclear bombs, particle beams, etc.).
Exposure is measured in rads. The
more rads received, the greater the
chance of ill effects.
Whenever a character is exposed to
radiation, the GM should note both
the dose and the date. Each dose
diminishes separately from all others;
it starts to heal after 30 days, at the
rate of 10 rads per day. However, 10%
of the original dose never heals (except
via ultra-tech, magic, etc.).
Example: A reactor technician
spends a day in a “hot” environment
and receives a 200-rad dose. After 30
days, that particular dose starts to heal
at 10 rads/day. After another 18 days,
the remaining dose is 20 rads – 10% of
200 rads – and stops healing.
Effects of Radiation
on Living Things
When a living being accumulates
at least 1 rad (but no more than once
per day, for continued exposure to a
given source), he must make a HT roll.
On the Radiation Effects Table, below,
find his current accumulated dose in
the “Accumulated Dose” column.
Apply the modifier in the “HT” col-
umn to his HT roll. Then roll the dice.
Use the first result in the “Effects” col-
umn on a critical success, the second
on a success, the third on a failure,
and the last on a critical failure.
Radiation Effects Table
Accumulated
Dose HT Effects
1-10 rads +0 –/–/A/B
11-20 rads +0 –/A/B/C
21-40 rads +0 A/B/C/D
41-80 rads -1 A/B/C/D
81-160 rads -3 A/B/C/D
161-800 rads -4 A/B/C/D
800-4,000 rads -5 C/D/E/E
Over 4,000 rads -5 D/E/E/E
–: The dose has no obvious effect,
but doses continue to accumulate.
A: Radiation burns and chronic
“somatic” damage. HT hours after irra-
diation, suffer 1d of injury and gain
Low Pain Threshold for one week
(those with High Pain Threshold lose
this instead). If you recover, make two
more HT rolls with the modifier on
the table: one to avoid sterility, the
other to avoid gaining the Terminally
Ill (1 year) disadvantage. Gain either
condition only on a critical failure.
B: Hematopoietic syndrome. As A,
but as well, after HT hours you are
nauseated (see Irritating Conditions,
p. 428) for a further (40 - HT) hours;
lose 1d each from DX, IQ, and FP; and
acquire the Hemophilia disadvantage.
Each day, make a HT roll with the
modifier on the table. On a critical
success, you heal 2 points each of DX,
IQ, and FP; on a success, you recover
1 point of each; on a failure, there is
no improvement; and on a critical fail-
ure, you lose 1 point of each and are
nauseated that day. After recovering
all lost DX, IQ, and FP, you no longer
suffer from Hemophilia or need to
make daily HT rolls.
C: Gastrointestinal syndrome. As B,
but in 1d/2 weeks, you also lose all
body hair and must make daily HT
rolls. On a critical failure, you suffer
1d points of injury; on a failure, 2
points of injury; on a success, 1 point
of injury; and on a critical success,
injury stops and normal recovery can
occur (and hair starts to grow back).
Until injury stops, you have
Susceptible to Disease -3 (p. 158) and
suffer from nausea. If you lose more
than 2/3 of your HP to radiation, your
teeth and nails start to fall out.
D: Terminal radiation sickness. As
C, except HP loss begins in 1d/2 days,
and even a critical success won’t stop
daily HP loss – it only postpones it for
a day. Death is certain.
E: Rapid cerebrovascular death.
After one hour, you lose 1d from each
of DX, IQ, and FP; take 1d of injury;
gain Hemophilia, Low Pain
Threshold, and Susceptible to Disease
-3; and are nauseated. Make an hourly
HT roll. Critical failure means instant
death from brain hemorrhage; failure
means loss of another 2 points of DX,
IQ, and FP, and 2 more points of
injury; success means 1 extra point of
each; critical success mean no decline
that hour.
Other Effects: In addition to these
effects, a single dose of 200+ rads caus-
es sterility and blindness for 1d
months; a dose of 500+ rads makes it
permanent. An accumulated dose of
100+ rads increases the risk of birth
defects. Should you become a parent,
make a HT roll, at +3 if you are male.
On a failure, the child has some sort of
birth defect (GM’s option).
Radiation and
Nonhumans
The above effects apply to humans
and most other mammals. Other crea-
tures may have Radiation Tolerance
(p. 79).
Machines are not affected unless
they have the Electrical disadvantage
(p. 134). Each time such a machine
accumulates a dose of 100 rads, make
a HT roll at a basic +4, -1 per 100 rads
accumulated dose. On a failure, it
ceases to function until repaired. On a
critical failure, it is destroyed (any
data stored on it is also lost).
Radiation Protection
Any material between you and the
radiation source grants a Protection
Factor (PF) that reduces your received
dose. Divide your dose by PF; e.g., PF
100 means 1/100 the dose. Half an
inch of lead, 1.5 inches of steel, or 750
yards of air has PF 2; a yard of water
has PF 8; a yard of earth has PF 27;
and a yard of concrete has PF 64.
Shielding protects differently
against certain types of radiation.
Radiation from solar flares and plane-
tary radiation belts (like the Van Allen
belt) is mostly free electrons and alpha
particles: multiply PF by 20. Against
cosmic rays, divide PF by 100!
Radiation Treatment
All costs below are per treatment.
At TL7, drugs are available that can
halve your effective rad dosage if a
dose ($500) is taken 1-3 hours in
advance. Chelating drugs are also
available to get radioactive fallout out
of your system; a dose ($500) halves
exposure after 3 days and eliminates it
entirely after a week. This has no
effect on radiation already absorbed!
At TL8, advanced chelating drugs
($500) encapsulate and remove fallout
in 12 hours.
At TL9, advanced anti-radiation
drugs or cell-repair nanotechnology
($1,000) can give +3 to all HT rolls vs.
radiation for 2 weeks.
At TL10+, cell-repair nanotech or
rejuvenation technology might be
able to completely repair the ravages
of radiation, provided the victim is
still alive.
Radiation Hazards
Cosmic Rays: A constant hazard for space travelers. Inflict 1
rad/week. Only massive shielding protects people.
Fallout: Small radioactive particles, such as those produced by a
ground-burst nuclear bomb. Inflicts 2-5 rads/minute within a few hours
of the blast, and several rads/hour over the next day. If you breathe or
swallow fallout (in contaminated food or water), the ingested material
delivers a continuing dose (see below).
Fission Plant Accident: 1,000 rads/hour or more! This is only in close
proximity (e.g., the reactor room); divide dose by the square of the dis-
tance in yards from the source.
Ingested Radioactive Material: Plutonium, radium-226, uranium-
235, etc. Even tiny doses can cause 1 rad/day to several rads/minute,
depending on the isotope. (Some radioactive materials, such as pluto-
nium, are also extremely toxic!)
Innate Attack: An attack with the Radiation damage modifier
(p. 105) delivers one rad per point of damage rolled.
Nuclear Blast: One-megaton fission air or space burst at 2,000 yards:
6,600 rads!
SEASICKNESS
Those aboard a seagoing vessel
(excluding large, modern vessels with
roll stabilizers) must check for sea-
sickness on their first day afloat. Use
the rules for the Motion Sickness dis-
advantage (p. 144) – but if you lack
that disadvantage, you roll at HT+5,
and with a success by 5 or more, or a
critical success, you suffer no ill
effects at all.
SUFFOCATION
If you completely lack air – see
Actions After a Grapple (p. 370), Choke
Hold (p. 371), and Holding Your Breath
(p. 351) for examples – you lose 1 FP
per second. If you are drowning after
a failed Swimming roll, you can get
some air, but you also inhale water:
roll vs. Swimming every five seconds;
failure costs 1 FP (see Swimming,
p. 354).
At 0 FP, you must make a Will
roll every second or fall unconscious.
You are likely to die unless rescued
(see Lost Fatigue Points, p. 426).
Regardless of FP or HP, you die after
four minutes without air.
If you get clean air before you die,
you stop losing FP and start to recov-
er FP at the usual rate (see Recovering
from Fatigue, p. 427). If you are
unconscious, you awaken once you
have 1 FP. If you were drowning, a res-
cuer must also make a First Aid roll to
get the water out of your lungs in
order to save you – see Resuscitation
(p. 425).
If you went without air for more
than two minutes, roll vs. HT to avoid
permanent brain damage: -1 to IQ.
VACUUM
Vacuum is the absence of air – but
these rules also apply in trace atmos-
pheres, where there is almost no air. If
you are exposed to vacuum without
protection (e.g., a vacc suit or the
Vacuum Support advantage), the fol-
lowing rules apply.
Breathing Vacuum: You can’t hold
your breath in vacuum – and you may
rupture your lungs if you try (1d of
injury). If you exhale and leave your
mouth open, you can operate on the
oxygen in your blood for half the time
listed under Holding Your Breath
(p. 351). After that, you begin to suffo-
cate (see Suffocation, p. 436).
Explosive Decompression: When
an area suddenly goes from normal
pressure to little or none (a
“blowout”), body fluids boil, blood
vessels rupture, and eardrums pop.
Take 1d of injury immediately, and
roll vs. HT to avoid the bends (see The
Bends, p. 435). Also roll vs. HT+2 for
each eye; failure means One Eye or
Blindness, as appropriate. Finally, roll
vs. HT-1 to avoid Hard of Hearing.
Use the Duration of Crippling Injuries
rules (p. 422) to determine how long
these disadvantages last.
Extreme Temperatures: Vacuum
itself is neither “cold” nor “hot,” but in
the absence of air, surfaces in shadow
will eventually grow very cold, while
those in sunlight will become extreme-
ly hot. For example, on the moon –
with its month-long “day” – the tem-
perature can range from -243°F (at
night) to 225°F (at noon).