CamTarn
Hi, my name is Cammy and I'm a recently-converted Exalted addict.
My journal can be found here: http://journal.camtarn.org
I make music: http://www.camtarn.org/music
Contents
Paradise
This is the game I'm hoping to run for four-six players at some point in the future.
The system would be Exalted, using Heroic Mortals rules, possibly with a magic/implant system that I need to work up at some point - I want something more low-key and simpler than Charms. The atmosphere will be (hopefully) Hong Kong action movie crossed with cyberpunk crossed with Advent Children: think dual-wielding gunmen with metal arms, vs crazy wire-fu bullet-catching martial artists, vs vicious biker gangs, vs mysterious swordsmen in trenchcoats.
Resources
Character sheets for my Paradise game (preview version): Page 1 Page 2
Character creation process:
A reference for those of us without the Core Book
The character creation process is basically Heroic Mortals rules from the Exalted corebook, with slightly more points for attributes (because I mis-read the book ^^;;) and the option of buying implants or Ki abilities with your bonus points.
To start off with, select Primary, Secondary and Tertiary groups of attributes (the groups are Str/Dex/Sta, Cha/Manip/App, Per/Int/Wits). You get six, five and four points each for your Primary, Secondary and Tertiary respectively, which can be spread around any way you like (although note that having less than two dots in an attribute means that you're greatly below average human levels in that attribute.) Attributes start with one dot in them already, to which you can add the dots you assigned.
Now, select a Favoured ability. This is what you're really uber at. This ability must be at least your joint highest at all times - it doesn't make much sense to have a Favoured ability that you're not very good at. Favoured abilities are cheaper to put up with XP, and to buy specialities for.
You get 22 dots to spread around your abilities. None of them can be higher than 3 dots at this stage.
You get five dots' worth of Backgrounds. No Artifact or Manse, since they don't exist in this universe, and no high-level familiars. I'll allow Familiar 1 (trained pet dog/cat/rat/etc) to Familiar 3 (dog/cat/rat/etc that obeys most simple commands, and which can communicate very simple facts to you by way of noises and body language). No telepathic communication here, I'm afraid, unless you have implants or Ki abilities which allow it.
The backgrounds are Allies, Contacts, Familiar, Followers, Influence, Mentor and Resources. I'd like everyone to take at least one dot of resources to reflect the fact that you can at least afford a pair of trousers. You all start out employed by one of the gangs/micro-governments that govern Paradise, so you'll have a moderate wage at the very start of the game.
You get the normal 7 health levels - one -0, two -1, two -2, a -4 and Incapacitated.
You have five points to allocate between your Virtues. Like Attributes, these start with one dot in them already, and anything below two dots is unusually low. Again, they can't be raised above three at this point.
You don't start with any implants or abilities - these must be bought with bonus points if you want them.
You'll get to pick starting equipment from a nice selection in the gang armoury, so don't worry overly much about being able to afford equipment. If there's anything that's not on the tables below, or if you want a specific customised weapon, give me a poke and I'll approve it (if it's something like a set of masterwork kitchen knives) or deny it (if it's something like undodgeable smart homing missiles) :P
Willpower is calculated by taking your two highest virtues and adding them together.
You may take Merits and Flaws (up to five points' worth of each.) You'll need access to a Players' Guide to find out those. I don't have one, which doesn't help me much.
Once you've picked up all that stuff, you now have 21 bonus points to spend on anything you like. Bonus point costs are as follows:
Attribute dot: 4 Ability dot: 2 (or 1 if it's Favoured) Speciality: 1 (if it's your Favoured ability, you get two specialities for a BP) Background dot: 1 (2 if you're buying a fourth or fifth dot) Virtue dot: 3 Willpower dot: 2 Minor cybernetic implant or Ki ability: 4 Major cybernetic implant*: 8 Major Ki ability*: 10
Specialities are associated with Abilities and are sub-areas you're particularly good at - for instance, "Light Weaponry: Dual Pistols". You can have a maximum of three dots per ability, regardless of whether the specialities are the same or different.
- To install major cybernetic implants, you must have the 'Energy Distribution System' major implant installed first. You can have both minor cybernetics and minor ki abilities at the same time, but once you install 'Energy Distribution System', you are restricted to cybernetics only. Similarly, major ki abilities require the Awakening major ability, which can only be learned with a cybernetic-free body.
Setting
The setting is Gibsonian cyberpunkish, set on a city-sized artificial island somewhere in the Middle East. Originally created to house all the area's industries, the island was used for many years, then suffered two disasters in quick succession (a terrorist bomb and a tanker crash) and was abandoned. Eventually, squatters moved in, and over fifty years later, the island has a population in the hundreds of thousands. Some wag once dubbed the polluted industrial wasteland 'Paradise', and the name stuck.
The world is not too different from today - America has split up into several smaller countries, there have been a couple more industrial/nuclear accidents and dirty-bomb terrorism creating wasteland areas and ghost cities, and technology has advanced quite a bit - but the world has stagnated somewhat, and overall things are still relatively similar.
People still go to work and return home dissatisfied, the Internet is still mostly used for downloading porn, and although computers are immeasurably faster, software has evolved along with them and they're still not fast enough. There is no cyberspace to speak of, no total-immersion virtual reality, no nanotech, no transhuman hive-mind civilisations. Humanity still hasn't majorly colonised any other planets, though there are small experimental settlements on the Moon and Mars, and nobody's invented faster-than-light travel or gravity generators yet.
With the increasing paranoia over terrorism, civilisation on the mainland has been getting more insular and less private. Citizens are now routinely implanted with chips for identification, banking, communication and various other uses. Surveillance is everywhere, and people regularly disappear off the streets.
Paradise is a massive contrast. Nominally, it belongs to one of the mainland countries, but they've given up on it (after two attempts to establish military control of the island were met with heavy resistance.) It has no laws apart from those enforced by whatever gang happens to be the most powerful at the time, and people tend to be pretty open-minded. It exists almost as a separate country, and it might even be one if anyone got organised enough to declare it as such. For people familiar with Exalted, it's quite similar to Nexus, except without the supernaturally powerful Council.
The landscape is massively industrial: chimneys, cranes and crumbling concrete towers make up most of the skyline, interspersed with skeletal girder structures of buildings under construction, and massive reactor vessels and cooling towers from the many oil and chemical processing plants on the island.
Three kilometre-high chimneys dominate the skyline, soaring upwards from the core of the island. The most polluting industries were clustered around these chimneys, pumping their gaseous waste products out over the ocean. Originally, there were four chimneys - the terrorist strike brought down one, causing massive damage and devastating the south-eastern quadrant of the island. Even today, fifty years later, the south-eastern quadrant is largely uninhabitable due to toxic chemical spills and the destruction of a small test-bed reactor.
The south-eastern quadrant is somewhat more livable, although one area was largely destroyed when an oil tanker rammed it, soon after the terrorist attack. It was never discovered whether the two were linked. Although there was a massive oil spill, the tanker still holds a large amount of oil. At some point, an enterprising island resident set up a pipeline into the hold of the tanker and scavenged enough lab equipment to set up a miniature oil refinery. With this production, plus the supplies left in the many storage tanks around the various abandoned refineries, fuel is plentiful on the island.
The fact that these two areas are less than livable hasn't really impacted too much on the amount of living space on the island. People live *everywhere*. Not only in the high-rise accommodation blocks, originally designed for factory workers, but on any flat (or not-so-flat) surface - factory roofs, gangways, balconies, horizontal pipe runs - in huts and houses built from scavenged materials and pressed-kelp fibreboard. For the less fortunate, the paranoid, or those that just appreciate fresh air, huts have been built hundreds of feet up, clinging onto the sides of towers, chimneys and cranes by rickety frameworks of bent rebar, bamboo and rope with gobs of industrial epoxy resin. People live under the pavement too, nestled between pipes and massive power cables in maintainance tunnels and conduits.
The island's food supplies come mostly from fishing and farming (kelp and hydroponics, plus the occasional roof garden fertilised with reprocessed human waste.) People keep chickens and goats for food, as well as more unusual meats - guinea pig, rat, dog, etc. The biggest industries on the island are scavenging (both finding and repairing technology left behind when the island was abandoned), 'services' for customers coming over from the mainland (these include drugs, prostitution, and other unsavoury deals) and dealing with various smugglers and traders who ship goods to and from the island.
The island uses paper dollars as currency - although the USA no longer uses paper dollars, they have been used internationally for so many years that there is a massive pool of them out there. There are no central banks on the island, as there is no government, although some enterprising individuals have set up banks and loan businesses. A few of these are even trustworthy.
Various places on the island
Trader's Landing
You can buy almost anything at Trader's Landing. Walking down the massive pier/dock complex, you'd be accosted by sales agents from the large trading syndicates, selling all manner of goods out of massive containers offloaded from their cargo ships; by dodgy-looking men in tiny speedboats selling small packages of very expensive and almost certainly illegal goods; by island residents hawking fresh meat, scavenged technology and intimate services to sailors and other islanders; by shady guys offering to sell you a new face, new identity, entrance to one of the mainland cities; by heavily-armed mercenaries looking for contracts, and a thousand others.
Originally, Trader's Landing was simply a convenient place for smugglers to offload their goods and have them couriered to the mainland, but over the years as the mainland security grew tighter and tighter and the island population grew, the focus changed to providing a floating market for island residents.
The Landing is now one of the busiest and most cosmopolitan areas on the island, with shops, cafes, restaurants and whorehouses set up in the warehouses and container depots scattered around the dock.
Nowadays, instead of couriering goods into mainland cities, the citizens of those cities drive out over the bridge to the Landing. Most of them make it home alive and intact. Of those who don't, usually only their identity chip is found, being sold in one of the shadier stalls in the more dangerous areas of the market.
The Bridge
The bridge to the mainland is cracked and pitted from fifty years of disrepair, but it's still good enough to drive on - and people do. As well as citizens coming over to partake of the island's black markets, the bridge is home to many vehicle gangs who battle for supremacy every night in a fog of burnt rubber, exhaust fumes, and sometimes gunsmoke.
The gangs range from the Peace Riders, who just want to get stoned and putter around on their rainbow-painted Harleys, to Guardian Scythe, a band of crazy wannabe cultists in stripped-down muscle cars festooned with blades and weaponry.
There are plenty of vehicles on the island, from electric scooters originally used to get around massive factory complexes, all the way up to gas-guzzling luxury sedans abandoned by high level execs when the island was evacuated. Yet more have been imported by the trade boats. There are even some military vehicles, including a couple of old tanks which must have mysteriously disappeared off the vehicle inventory in some underfunded Russian army base.
Falkenest
Just below the very top of the three remaining chimneys is an odd construction of solar panels, ropes, lightweight aluminium struts, and canvas sheets. It looks like a tent would look if it were scaled up massively, and pitched almost a kilometre above the ground. Falkenest is possibly the nicest area on Paradise - well out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the streets below, easily defensible from intruders, and almost self-sufficient due to some clever scavenging of hydroponic equipment, solar panels and water purifiers. The only connections to the main island are a cluster of pipes and cables carrying water, waste, and data; plus a petrol-powered crane hoist with a minivan on the end of its cable, used as a lift. Falkenest is not for those with vertigo.
The settlement holds about a hundred people, and resembles a 1970s hippie co-operative in its structure. Some of its residents are veteran squatters who came onto the island forty years ago. Others are their descendants, and those who they felt worthy of their canvas castle in the sky.
Cybernetics vs Ki manipulation
Cybernetics are things bolted onto your body. Each implant either has its own source of power, or draws power from your body's bioelectric energy. All implants need to be attached to your nervous system to work.
The most mundane and basic implants - for instance, diplomatic pouch, basic implanted weaponry or armour, integrated tools - only require a small amount of surgery, and are free to operate. More advanced implants - artificial limbs, weapons with targeting systems, electronic interface systems - require the user to interface with them. This requires intense concentration, and often causes the user to experience phantom pain or other unusual sensations.
If overused, implants may cause permanent damage to the user's nervous system, or to their body from excess heat or physical strain. An artificial arm may be able to punch through a concrete wall, but what happens to the user's shoulder when it's acting as the pivot for fifty pounds of metal accelerating rapidly?
Implants require regular recharging and maintainance, and in most cases (with the exception of small mundane implants which are designed to be discreet) are very obvious. They must be fitted by a surgeon capable of doing the required nerve grafts. A bad slip may cripple the user for life. Surgery involves agonising pain, as the patient must be conscious and unanaesthetised in order for the correct nerves to be selected. Afterwards, it takes several weeks for the patient to become competent at operating anything but the simplest implants.
In terms of game mechanics, mundane implants are permanent charms, whereas advanced ones cost willpower to operate. If you're out of willpower, they start consuming health levels. Installation involves taking several health levels of bashing damage.
Ki manipulation is somewhat different. Ki users are able to control and direct the flow of ki, an energy that flows through the human body. Like cybernetics, this involves intense concentration, and one can only push the body so hard before permanent damage is done.
However, unlike cybernetics, ki abilities require no external equipment. This makes them very discreet: it's very hard to detect a ki artist, unless you're one yourself. Some of them are obvious, of course: the wiry old guy in saffron robes with a glint in his eye is likely to be a ki artist. However, what about that burly motorcycle mechanic over there? Given enough patience, anyone can learn to use ki. Obviously, it takes some people a lot longer than others.
Ki abilities don't need any recharging or maintainance. However, there are less permanent abilities than in cybernetics - a ki user who can generate a supernaturally sharp blade out of thin air must spend willpower to do so, whereas there may be a cybernetic implant which allows the user to carry a blade within their arm and release it by flexing an arm muscle, with no willpower expenditure. However, the latter is easily detectable, requires surgery to install, needs regular maintainance, and precludes any other installations in that arm, whereas the ki artist's blade is almost undetectable when not shown (and possibly when it *is* shown), and he may develop his skill on his own, given enough training time.
In both cybernetics and ki manipulation, there is a base of easily-obtained abilities which are roughly equivalent between the two. Above that, they diverge until both reach a point when the user must create their own implants or techniques, or find someone to do so for them.
Both those with cybernetic implants and ki users have a Clarity track. Using advanced ki techniques or cybernetic implants requires you to think in a totally different way to most humans. Ki users need to calm their mind and become one with their body and surroundings, whereas cybernetic users need to interface on a machine level with their implants. Eventually, both will become more and more accustomed to thinking that way, and traces of it will begin to seep into their everyday interactions. Both will appear cold and distant - ki users may talk in riddles, while those with implants may appear more and more machine-like.
Weapon houserules
I will be using a modified version of the Exalted Modern Lite Firearms System houserules as a base for my weaponry.
I'll hopefully be running the game in such a way that firearms are fairly balanced vs melee weapons. The setting should help a lot: there are very few wide, flat open spaces on Paradise, so there's plenty of cover.
Melee Weaponry
Note that these are somewhat more lethal than the Exalted mundane weapons. I've justified this as all these weapons being made with modern steel and techniques, so they can be a lot sturdier and sharper. The actual reason for the change is that there wasn't enough granularity in the damage ratings at the lower levels to allow any differentiation between different types of weapons...
Name Range Acc Dam Def Cost Minimum
Thrown:
Shuriken 10 +1 1L -3 $10/5 S o
Throwing knife 15 +2 2L 0 $30/3 S o
Name Speed Acc Dam Def Cost Minimum
Barefisted:
Punch 0 0 0 0 nothing S o
Barefoot kick -2 -1 2B -1 nothing S o, D oo
Booted kick -3 -2 3B 0 $15 S o, D oo
Brawling aids:
Brass knuckles 0 0 3B 0 $10 S o
Fighting gloves -1 0 2L 0 $15 S o
Punch dagger -1 0 3L 0 $20 S o
Steel-toe boots -4 -1 5B 0 $20 S o, D oo
Khatar -1 +1 4L +1 $400 S o
Sword gauntlet -1 0 4L +3 $500 S o, D oo
Tiger Claws -1 +1 3L 0 $200 S o
Buzz-khatar [1] -4 +1 10L -1 $1000[2]S ooo, D ooo
Small blades:
Screwdriver 0 -1 0L -2 $1 S o
Razor blade 0 -1 1L -3 $1 S o, D oo
Knife +2 0 2L -2 $5 S o
Paired knives +2 +1 2L 0 $10 S o, D ooo, M ooo
Switchblade +3 0 2L -3 $10 S o
Straight razor +3 +2 2L -3 $30 S o, D oo
Boot blade -3 -1 3L -1 $50[2] S o, D ooo, M oo
Combat knife +1 0 3L 0 $40 S o
Large blades:
Short sword 0 +1 4L +1 $200 S o
Machete 0 0 5L 0 $20 S oo
Sickle 0 0 2L +2 $15 S o
Sabre +3 +1 3L +1 $350 S o
Rapier +4 +3 2L 0 $600 S o, D oo
Katana +1 +2 7L +1 $500 S oo
Katana/Wakizashi+1 +4 7L +3 $1000 S ooo, D ooo, M ooo
Dual kodachi +3 +2 4L +2 $800 S oo, D ooo, M ooo
Nodachi -1 +2 9L -1 $2000 S ooo
Cleaver sword -4 0 11L -1 $3500 S oooo
Greatsword -2 +2 9L 0 $2000 S ooo
Chainsaw [1] -4 +1 13L -1 $400 S ooo
Mountaintoppler -2 +3 20L 0 N/A [5] S ooooo
Bludgeons:
2x4 -1 0 3B -2 nothing S oo
Sock+halfbrick -2 0 2L [3] nothing S o
Pipe -1 0 5B +1 nothing S o
Heavy pipe -2 -1 4L 0 nothing S oo
Mace/sledge -3 +1 7L 0 $10 S ooo
Hammer -3 +1 6L +1 $5 S oo
Warhammer -3 -1 8L -2 $100 S ooo
War sledge -6 -2 13L -4 $1000 S ooooo
Metal staff 0 0 5L +1 $5 S oo
Hatchet 0 0 5L +1 $5 S oo
Axe -2 0 7L -1 $30 S oo
Blackjack +1 0 3B -2 $20 S o
Spears:
Pipe spear -2 -1 3L 0 nothing S o
Bladed Spear +1 +1 4L 0 $150 S o
Long Spear +3 +1 4L 0 $160 S oo
Exotic weapons:
Nunchaku +3 0 5B +1 $100 S oo, D ooo, M ooo
Paired 'chucks +3 +2 6B -2 $200 S oo, D oooo, M oooo
Sai +3 0 1L +3 $80 S o, D oo
Jitte +1 +1 3B +3 $50 S o, D oo, M oo
Paired tonfa +2 +1 5B +3 $100 S o, D ooo, M ooo
Bladed tonfa +1 +1 4L +3 $500 S o, D ooo, M ooo
Paired kama +1 +1 2L +2 $100 S o
Kusari-Gama [4] +3 -2 2L +3 $300 S o, D oooo, M oooo
Tazer -1 -1 10B -2 $200 S o
[1] The buzz-khatar is a motorised buzz-saw mounted on the fore-arm. The chainsaw is just a normal chainsaw.
Used by the truly batshit brawler. Both explode if unsuccessfully used to parry any large bladed weapon,
inflicting 4L dice of damage on wielder, and 1L dice on anyone within a few feet. On a successful parry
roll opponent's disarm at -1 penalty as blade is wrenched out of their hand. Both weapons must be started
before being used, as a Simple action. If not started, the damage goes down to 0L and accuracy to -2.
[2] Requires craftsman to install or manufacture
[3] Cannot be used to parry
[4] kama + fighting chain
[5] Provided for comparison purposes only. The Mountaintoppler is a Perfect cleaver sword, hence the
ridiculously high stats.
Ranged weaponry
These are all pretty lethal. They're intended to be used in a combat style that involves lots of movement, diving for cover, and extensive stunting, rather than just standing there and firing. However, depending on how the game goes, I might have to tone them down a little...
Class Acc Dam Rate Range Area Clip Cost Minimum
Cheap guns:
Saturday Night Special (revolver) [1] Single -3 3L 1 10 6 (2) $50 Str o
Cheap derringer [1][2] Single -2 2L 2 10 2 (2) $40 Str o
Pipe shotgun [1] Single -2 6L 1 10 1 (3) $30 Str oo
Pistols:
Jiang ZH-9 Semi 0 3L 2 25 10 (4) $200 Str oo
Jiang ZE-45 Semi 0 4L 2 25 7 (5) $280 Str oo
Bock 17 Semi +1 3L 2 50 13 (4) $300 Str o
Bock 26R "Baby Bock" [3] Semi 0 3L 2 25 8 (4) $350 Str oo
Paretta 92F Semi +1 3L 2 100 15 (4) $400 Str o
NF Five-seven Semi +1 2L 2 50 20 (13) $500 Str o
Kalt 1911 Semi +1 4L 2 50 8 (5) $400 Str oo
Bock 20C Semi +2 6L 1 100 13 (7) $800 Str ooo
Borova Model 6 Long Pistol Semi +1 5L 2 100 12 (5) $700 Str oo
Borova Model 22 Scoped Pistol [5] Semi +2 5L 2 350 10 (5) $1100 Str oo
Desert Eagle 10mm Semi +1 6L 1 100 8 (7) $1500 Str ooo
Desert Eagle 10mm Target [5] Semi +3 6L 1 350 9 (7) $2200 Str ooo
Paretta 87 Gold [5] Single +3 6L 1 200 14 (7) $1100 Str ooo
H.S. Arms 13mm Auto "Jackal" Semi +2 10L 1 200 6 (8) $lots Str ooooo
Revolvers/Derringers: All revolvers take two rounds to reload without a speedloader.
Kruger .22 Holdout [3] Single -1 3L 1 10 5 (2) $100 Str o
Kruger .22 Pocket [2] Single 0 3L 1 25 6 (2) $120 Str o
Kruger .22 Derringer [3] Semi 0 3L 2 10 2 (2) $200 Str o
Kruger .357 Derringer Semi +1 6L 2 50 2 (12) $400 Str oo
Whit & Sesson .357 Magnum Single +1 6L 1 100 6 (12) $700 Str oo
Mateba Autorevolver 5 Unica Long Semi +1 8L 1 200 5 (11) $2200 Str ooo
Whit & Sesson .500 Magnum Hunter [5] Single +2 8L 1 350 5 (11) $3000 Str ooo
Shotguns: Pump shotguns take two rounds to reload fully, but can be fired after one round.
Besington 870 Single +2 10L 1 25 8 (3) $500 Str oo
Besington 870 Police Entry Single +1 9L 1 25 6 (3) $600 Str oo
Besington 870 Sawn-off [4] Single +2 9L 1 10 4 (3) $700 Str ooo
Hanchi SPAS12 Semi +1 9L 1 25 8 (3) $1500 Str ooo
Taiwu USAS-12 Auto +1 9L 2 25 20 (3) $2500 Str ooo
Nabella Heritage Double Magnum Semi +1 13L 2 50 2 (1) $2000 Str ooo
Sawn-off Double-barrel Magnum Semi +3 10L 2 5 2 (1) $500 Str oooo
Rifles: The two lever-action rifles reload as shotguns.
Crossman "Rat Catcher" (silenced) Single +2 3L 1 100 1 (6) $250 Str o
American Arms Coyote 22 [5] Single +3 4L 1 350 4 (6) $700 Str oo
American Arms Hornet Lever-action Single +1 4L 2 200 8 (6) $400 Str oo
American Arms Trapper Lever-action Single +1 7L 2 200 8 (9) $600 Str oo
Dragunov SVD [5] Semi +4 8L 1 500 10 (9) $1200 Str oo
Paretta 501 Sniper [5] Single +5 8L 1 650 5 (9) $2000 Str oo
Barrett Light 50 Single +4 11L 1 800 5 (16) $4000 Str ooo
Assault rifles:
AK-47 Auto +2 7L 2 200 30 (9) $500 Str oo
AK-74 Para Auto +1 5L 3 100 30 (10) $600 Str oo
[[M14A1]] Auto +1 5L 2 200 30 (10) $800 Str oo
FAMAS G2 Auto +1 5L 2 200 30 (10) $1200 Str oo
Steyr AUG Auto +2 5L 2 350 25 (10) $1500 Str oo
Submachine guns:
Jiang CHMK-10 [1] Auto -1 3L 4 10 30 (4) $150 Str ooo
Bock 18C Automatic Pistol Auto +1 3L 3 50 22 (4) $600 Str ooo
Micro Uzi Auto 0 2L 4 25 20 (4) $400 Str oo
Mini Uzi Auto +1 3L 4 50 25 (4) $450 Str oo
Uzi Auto +1 3L 3 100 32 (4) $500 Str oo
Kockler & Hech [[MP5SD]] (silenced) Auto +1 3L 3 100 30 (4) $800 Str oo
Kockler & Hech [[MP5K]]-PDW [6] Auto +1 3L 3 25 30 (4) $900 Str oo
NF P90 Auto +2 2L 4 100 50 (13) $1500 Str oo
Heavy weapons: It takes two rounds to fit a new belt to a machine-gun.
M249 Squad Automatic Weapon Auto +1 5L 2 200 200(10) $3000 Str oo
[[M249A]] Short SAW Auto 0 5L 2 100 100(10) $3500 Str oo
Kalashnikov RPK Squad Machine Gun Auto 0 7L 2 350 75 (9) $2000 Str ooo
M60 General Purpose Machine Gun Auto +1 7L 2 350 200(9) $4000 Str ooo
M2 .50cal Machine Gun "Ma Deuce" Auto +1 11L 1 500 100(16) $15000 Str ooooo[9]
M-79 "Blooper" Grenade Launcher [7] Single 0 10L 1 100 5 1 (14) $1000 Str oo
M203 Under-Rifle Grenade Launcher [7] Single 0 10L 1 25 5 1 (14) $700 Str oo
Gorovsky GM-94 Grenade Launcher Single 0 10L 1 50 5 3 (14) $1000 Str oo
MK19 Automatic Grenade Launcher Auto 0 10L 1 350 5 30 (14) $20000 Str ooooo[9]
Gunther's Home-made Bazooka [1] Single -3 11L 1 100 6 1 [13] N/A Str ooo
M72 Light Anti-Armor Weapon Single -1 15L 1 100 3 N/A[8] $1000 Str oo
RPG-7 Antitank Launcher Single 0 15L 1 350 3 1 (15) $1200 Str oo
Wasp 6-40 "Pocket Rocket" Single -1 7L 2 200 2 6 [10] Str ooo
Brushclearer Gas Flamethrower Auto[11] 0 4L 1 4 [11] $2000 Str oo
[[M2A1]]-7 Flamethrower Special [12] -1 [12] 1 10 2 [12] $10000 Str ooo
Non-lethal:
Airsoft pistol Single -2 -4B 1 3 10 $10 Str o
Paintball gun Semi 0 -3B 1 10 10 $100 Str o
Tranquiliser dart pistol Single 0 [14] 1 10 1 $250 Str o
Tranquiliser dart rifle [5] Single +2 [14] 1 100 1 $750 Str oo
Other weapons:
Wooden short bow Single -1 2L 2 50 [15] $200 Str < 3
Wooden long bow Single 0 2L 3 100 [15] $300 Str < 4
Composite bow Single 0 2L 3 150 [15] $500 Str < 5
Sporting compound bow Single +1 2L 2 250 [15] $1000 Str < 6+
Crossbow Single 0 2L 1 50 1 [16] $100 Str oo
Scoped hunting crossbow Single +1 4L 1 100 1 [16] $1000 Str oo
Pistol crossbow [2] Single -1 0L 1 10 1 [16] $20 Str o
Repeating pistol crossbow [2] Single 0 1L 1 10 4 $300 Str o
Spring bow [3] Single -2 2L 1 5 1 [16] $250 Str o
Heavy crossbow Single 0 5L 1 50 1 [16] $2000 Str ooo
Blowpipe Single -1 [17] 1 25 1 $10 Str o
Black powder pistol Single -2 3L 1 10 1(17)[16]$200 Str oo
Black powder musket Single -1 5L 1 25 1(17)[16]$400 Str ooo
Black powder hand cannon Single -2 8L 1 25 1(17)[16]$600 Str oooo
Black powder revolver Single -1 2L 1 10 6(17)[16]$800 Str oo
[1] Explodes on botch
[2] Easily concealable
[3] Very easily concealable
[4] Easily concealable, for a shotgun. The difference between the three shotguns is that the normal 870
is massive and very noticeable, the Police Entry is designed for use in tight quarters but still
isn't discreet, and the Sawn-off could be hidden down some baggy pants if necessary.
[5] All of these weapons are scoped, and suffer a penalty if used within 50 yards, unless the scope
is removed. Note: don't drop scopes. They will probably break.
[6] This is the stock-less, very cut-down version of the MP5. It can be fired from within a special briefcase.
[7] This may be used in short-range combat with the higher of Light Weaponry or Heavy Weaponry
[8] The LAAW is not reloadable. This is balanced by the fact that it's somewhat smaller, lighter and
less obvious than any other rocket launcher. It's also fully waterproof. The round itself is similar
to the RPG-7 HEAT round. (I know it's not at all similar in real life - but I'm taking some liberties
here :P)
[9] This would normally be vehicle-mounted!
[10] Mostly created as vanity weapons for very rich gang leaders, these miniature rocket launchers are
incredibly rare and can command any price. They use 40mm miniature rockets, which are virtually
impossible to find apart from the case usually included with the rocket launcher.
[11] This agricultural flamethrower is designed to burn off grass with a 4m-long plume of flame. Treat
as an automatic weapon that cannot be aimed. Anyone hit by the flames takes 2 dice of lethal damage
until they extinguish themselves. The flamethrower's tanks contain enough gas for 20 turns of fire,
soak 2L/5B, have three health levels, and will explode when those are exhausted, inflicting 10L to
the wielder and 4L in a 5-meter radius.
[12] This military flamethrower projects a stream of inflammable liquid over 10 yards. Each 3-second burst
is enough to set a 2m-diameter area alight. An unignited burst can also be fired to spread the fuel
over a wider area (area increases by 1m/turn.) Anyone hit by the flamethrower takes 4 lethal health
levels per turn until the fire is extinguished. Anyone standing within the radius of effect takes 2
lethal levels per turn until they exit the area (and extinguish their flaming clothes), or 2 dice of
lethal damage if they are running through the area. The flamethrower's tanks contain enough fuel for
20 turns of fire, soak 3L/5B, have three health levels, and will explode when those are exhausted,
inflicting 14L to the wielder and setting the ground on fire in a 6-meter radius. Anyone within 6
meters should roll a dodge, with difficulty increasing the closer they are the wielder. On a fail,
they take 4 lethal health levels per turn until the fire is extinguished. The wielder is automatically
on fire.
[13] Home-made rocket propelled grenade. Explodes on a botch, dealing 13L dice of damage within a 5-meter
radius.
[14] 4B/turn, soakable only with stamina, until unconscious. Does not deal lethal damage. If target is
within 1 yard / 3 yards (for pistol/rifle respectively), deals 1L damage and does not deliver
tranquiliser if any health levels of damage were taken (ie: the dart was travelling too fast and
broke on impact)
[15] Depends on the size of the quiver - anything from 5 to 20 arrows.
[16] Takes two turns to reload.
[17] Poison darts, slow-acting poison: make Sta+End roll (diff 3) every half hour, success 2L, fail 4L.
Antivenin is usually bought at the same time as poison. Both are very unusual to find on the market,
and cost several hundred dollars.
(1) 10-gauge Magnum shot shell
(2) .22 Short
(3) 12-gauge shot shell
(4) 9mm Auto
(5) .45 Auto
(6) .22 Long Rifle
(7) 10mm Auto +P
(8) 13mm Auto (armor piercing)
(9) 7.62mm NATO (armor piercing)
(10) 5.56mm NATO (armor piercing)
(11) .500 Magnum
(12) .357 Magnum
(13) 5.7mm (armor piercing)
(14) 40mm grenade (HE, Tear Gas, Buckshot, Smoke, Incendiary, Flare)
Buckshot round: Acc: +2, Damage: 13L, Range: 10
At < 10m, damage for all grenades becomes 3B (grenades are not armed until 10m away from launcher)
(15) 40mm/100mm Rocket Propelled Grenade (anti-tank)
At < 10m, damage becomes 3B (rocket not lit until 10m away from launcher)
(16) .50 BMG (heavy armor piercing - half damage if not wearing armor)
(17) Lead ball, black powder and cotton wadding
Vehicles
Size:
0: Skateboard
1: Bicycle
2: Sports motorbike
3: Large motorbike, compact car
4: large car
5: 4x4, pickup truck
6: Medium lorry
7: Articulated lorry
8: Road train
Speed:
0: Movement?
1: Up to 30 mph (downhill)
2: Up to 60 mph
3: Up to 110 mph
4: Up to 250 mph
5: Up to 400 mph
Note: at top speed, a Speed 5 vehicle could theoretically cross Paradise in about fifteen seconds.
Maneuverability:
0: Built to go very fast in a straight line. May not possess steering.
1: Wallowing land yacht
2: Don't turn too fast.
3: Pass an obstacle course without too much trouble
4: Jump over the obstacle course without too much trouble
5: Obstacles? What obstacles?
Acceleration:
0: Powered by rubber bands and hamsters
1: Putt-putt-putt-putt-brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt...
2: Easy does it.
3: Hold on tight.
4: Leaves lesser riders in the dust.
5: Requires fighter-pilot stamina.
Two-wheeled: Cost Size Speed Accel Maneuv Soak HL
Muscle-powered:
Bicycle $20 1 1 1 3 1L/1B -0x1/-2x1/-4/I
Mountain bike $200 1 1 1 4 2L/2B -0x1/-2x1/-4/I
BMX $120 1 1 1 5 1L/1B -0x1/-2x1/-4/I
Cheaper bikes:
Cosmo Blazer moped $300 2 2 1 2 1L/1B -0x1/-2x1/-4/I
Lancione 520 scooter $500 2 2 1 2 2L/2B -0x2/-2x2/-4/I
Singh Santhanam motorcycle $300 2 2 2 2 4L/6B -0x5/-2x3/-4/I
Yamasaki Wasp trail bike $500 2 2 3 4 4L/4B -0x3/-2x2/-4/I
Saito Scrambler 150 $750 2 2 4 4 3L/3B -0x2/-2x2/-4/I
Sports bikes:
Yamasaki Lynx $1250 2 3 2 3 4L/4B -0x2/-2x2/-4/I
Yamasaki Cheetah $2000 2 3 3 3 4L/4B -0x3/-2x2/-4/I
Saito Mercury 9 $5000 2 3 4 2 4L/4B -0x3/-2x2/-4/I
Saito Mercury 9 Custom Stunt $9000 2 3 4 3 3L/3B -0x2/-2x2/-4/I
Yamasaki Nitro 500 $11000 2 4 3 2 4L/4B -0x3/-2x2/-4/I
Yamasaki Nitro 1000 $20000 2 4 4 2 4L/4B -0x3/-2x2/-4/I
Cruisers:
Yamasaki Voyager 5 $8000 2 3 2 2 5L/5B -0x4/-2x4/-4/I
Saito Jupiter Cruise $10000 2 3
Harley Davidson Fat Boy $18000 3 3 2 1 6L/6B -0x5/-2x6/-4/I
Honda Gold Wing $30000 3 3 3 2 5L/5B -0x6/-2x8/-4/I
Exotic bikes:
Speed Custom drag bike $80000 3 4 5[1] 0 3L/3B -0x1/-2x5/-4/I
Dodge Tomahawk 2 [4] [2] 3 5 4 2 5L/5B -0x4/-2x6/-4/I
Nighthawk One "Nitro Drag" [2] 3 5 5[1] 0 3L/3B -0x1/-2x5/-4/I
Nighthawk Four "Shuriken" [2] 2 4 4 4 3L/3B -0x2/-2x2/-4/I
Nighthawk Eight "Slipstream" [2] 4[3] 5 5[1] 1 5L/5B -0x5/-2x8/-4/I
Nighthawk Thirty "Razor" [5] [2] 2 3 5[1] 5 1L/1B -0x1/-2x2/-4/I
[1] Nitrous oxide feed system fitted
[2] This motorbike was only ever built a few times, by hand. Don't get your hopes up.
[3] Stupidly large. Think Advent Children.
[4] Nominally, this V10 motorbike is actually four-wheeled - each 'wheel' has two tires and double
independent suspension.
[5] Like all Nighthawk bikes, this stunt bike was hand-built using the lightest materials possible.
It's not particularly fast compared to most Nighthawks, but it weighs almost nothing and riding
it at its maximum speed is a terrifying experience. Only a few exist any more - the company folded
years ago, and most of the bikes have been destroyed when their owners overestimated their own
riding abilities.
Random
Yi Jin the Mountaintoppler
Every community has its legends, and Paradise is no exception.
Your party are wandering around Trader's Landing, and have stopped at a container-stall that at first glance looks lethally dodgy: most of the container is taken up by a massive battle-tank, which looks like late-twentieth-century vintage to the trained eye. Surely this guy isn't selling obviously stolen military assault vehicles right out in the open?
Of course, he's not. Once you get closer to the stall, you can see that the tank is in fact only half a tank: a hollow replica made from scavenged materials with slapdash camo paint. His main business appears to be selling weaponry - replicas, decommissioned, or the real thing, you can't tell at this range. He's talking to a customer. Behind him are two men holding the largest sword you've ever seen, and obviously struggling to bear its weight.
The customer looks disinterested, and eventually shakes his head and walks away. The shopkeeper notices your glance and beckons to you. Once you reach him, he engages you in conversation in a booming voice, obviously one used to telling stories.
"Hey, you like this sword, ah? I tell you ... it is a direct copy of Hua Yi Jin's sword. Made by the apprentice to the assistant of the master who made the original. Oh, you don't know of Yi Jin the Mountaintoppler? You poor untravelled fools! Here, let me educate you...
"Hua Yi Jin was a master swordsman known all over the land. They said he was over a hundred years old, that he touched his first sword as soon as he could crawl, and was never without one thereafter.
"Anyway, this story takes place in my grandfather's time, when the world was in upheaval. Yi Jin had allied himself to forces opposing the government at that time, and was known for being exceedingly dangerous - for in a world of tanks and guns, no-one knew how to deal with a lone swordsman who could seemingly slip into a base un-noticed, and leave with everyone dead.
"So, one day, they tracked him down to a small village in a mountainous region. Yi Jin heard of their coming, and got out minutes before the tanks rolled through the village, crushing and burning everything in their sight. He called his challenge to them from a peak nearby, and told them to meet him in the valley.
"So they did. Two hundred soldiers, helicopters, five tanks. They saw him standing there in the middle of the valley, with his massive sword - look, the same as this one here. One foot wide, ten feet long, weighing three hundred pounds. Legend says it was forged for him from a steel girder from a building in a town the government had wiped out, and that it carried the weight of vengeance of the thousands of souls who perished in that town...
"Anyway, he stood there. Calm. His sword not even readied. Like he was willing to die. So the soldiers shot at him, but he was no longer there. Whoosh, half the soldiers were cleaved in half, and those that weren't were peppered with the bullets of their fellows that had ricocheted off Yi Jin's sword. And then he was back standing in the middle of the valley.
"So the helicopters shot at him, and he caught the missiles and threw them back, and then there were no more helicopters. And still he stood there, not a scratch on him.
"Then the tanks, the only ones left, fired. It is said that he used the resulting explosion to propel himself up to the very top of a mountain, whereby he cleaved the mountaintop right through and sent half the mountainside tumbling down into the valley, burying the tanks, the burning helicopters, and the dead soldiers - and himself with them, for he rode the rockfall all the way to the bottom. For, from the mountaintop, he had seen the burning wreckage of the village that had sheltered him, and had sworn that no more innocent lives would be lost for simple association with him.
"And that, my friend, is the story of Hua Yi Jin, the Mountaintoppler. Now, what would you give me for this excellent replica of his sword?"
Fallen
(click.)
"Agent." The voice is dry and cold.
"Yes." As if through gritted teeth. "I was wondering when you would call to gloat. Why the..."
"Agent, you were sent to observe."
"You abandoned me! I could have died on this godforsaken island - whether in battle, or by the hand of one of my loyal subordinates after all the things I promised failed to materialise."
"Your ... actions ... did not fall under the category of 'maintaining cover'. You overstepped the bounds of your duty."
"I asked for funding, that's all - not a squad of airborne, nor a shipment of weapons, just funding. I promised them a triumph, a return to order, not a massacre. I..."
"Agent, you were not authorised to promise anything. You were not authorised to change, to overthrow, to triumph. You were authorised to observe."
"And what better place to observe than from the head of a clan?"
"You have an ... interesting definition of 'observe', Agent. This definition does not match our own, and we have no need of agents who ... stand out."
"I ..."
"We will arrange for your extraction, the destruction of evidence relating to your involvement, and your rehabilitation into society. Your memories will be erased, of course. Extraction will be from point Epsilon, at 0400 tomorrow. Goodbye ... Citizen." (click.)
Shout
Very, very good work. I'll be watching this closely. It's inspired me to start working on my Cyberpunk mod for Exalted, again... -bassist159
- Thanks =) I'm hoping to start the game in a couple of weeks, so I guess I'll see how the material I've built up stands up to actual play. I'm expecting to have to do a lot of 'winging it' - I've already run through character creation, and I still haven't even finished the cybernetics/Ki abilities! - CamTarn
