Rulebook: A Thousand Miles of Dust

Items

CURRENCY

The currency of the Flat is Scrap. Scrap is various metal, plastic, and glass parts that can be found in various places. A large sheet of steel, a bundle of copper rods, and a flexible plastic windshield with no scratches on it would all potentially be found in a scrap pile. 5 units of scrap occupy 1 passenger worth of space.

In general, a vehicle will have a scrap value equal to x2 the original Body Points of the vehicle. However, a damaged vehicle will only have scrap equal to the BP that are remaining, and a totaled vehicle may not have much to salvage at all. DM decides but a completely ruined, burnt-out SUV will not yield more than one or two scrap.

Fine Scrap: Given time, Scrap can be refined into Fine Scrap. Fine Scrap is used to make improved weapons and car mods, and it takes up considerably less room than scrap; 10 Fine Scrap takes up 1 passenger worth of space. To process Scrap into Fine Scrap, a character can spend 1 hour combing through a scrap pile and talking out all the best bits: gold fittings, brass connectors, rubber bushings, pipes and tubing, chemicals and lightbulbs. They must roll Perception + Engineering, difficulty 8; each success allows 3 Scrap to be turned into 1 Fine Scrap. Fine scrap is worth x3 the market value of regular ol’ scrap.

Bodies: Gravers can use human-sized bodies as 1 unit of scrap. It’s a macabre process where useful parts of the skin, ligaments, bones, and ornamentation are removed and cleaned. Bodies that have been converted to scrap can be further converted to Fine Scrap by the Gravers, selecting only the straightest bones, the whitest teeth, and anything else that people die with. A good supply of Fine Scrap from human bodies will contain precious metals from fillings, jewels, rare metals, entire sets of teeth, and sets of bones that fit together like mosaic.

COMBAT ITEMS

Solvent: This small bag is filled with acetone or something like that. If your windshield ever gets coated in tar or honey or napalm or human guts then an application of this will clear it right off! This item can be installed in a working windshield wiper cleaning reservoir, or it can be poured on a cloth and physically swabbed on the offending surface. Most solvents are very, very flammable.

Mechanical Patch: This looks like a medical patch that a kid made out of Legos. When slapped onto a vehicle, it can ‘grab’ recently damaged metal and bind the gap like a scab. Too bad you can only use it once, and only one per vehicle. Use Intelligence + Repair to use the patch, difficulty 5. If successful, the patch restores 2 body points to the vehicle, not to exceed its maximum. No more than one Mechanical Patch can be used per encounter.

MEDICINE

Med Patch: This is a small, condom-sized patch that can be applied to the skin. It will instantly heal the user by introducing stimulants, painkillers, and coagulants into the bloodstream via microneedles imbedded into the patch. Apply to yourself or any other character during a turn. A character needs at least 1 Medicine to know how to use a Patch successfully. Upon using, roll 5 dice(4 dice with no Medicine ability), difficulty 4, and heal that many health levels.

Medical Kit: This is a nice, metal box, filled with bandages, antiseptics, stiches, wire, swabs, splints, medicine, and other medical necessities. Some were even produced late enough that they have a few Med Patches in there! When making a First Aid check, add 2 dice to the roll as long as you have a MedKit in your possession. A typical MedKit will have about 5 uses worth of items; this should be tracked like ammo.

(First Aid: Roll Intelligence + Medicine Diff8 if outside of combat, Wits + Medicine Diff9 if mid combat, heal 1 health level per success; one attempt per injury only)

DRUGS

Back Honey: Short for ‘back-shelf honey”. This is a special honey curated by the Keepers, stored in small glass ampules designed to keep air out. Upon cracking an ampule open and drinking the contents, the user will feel a sense of painlessness, fearlessness, and calm. Opening and drinking the ampule takes a turn. The honey will give a single user the ability to ignore all wound penalties for an hour. In addition, the user gains +1 to Mental Attributes, but they lose 1 Alertness for the duration. Back honey cannot be used more than once every 24 hours.

Needle Juice: A terrible, painful concoction that is injected into the blood. Needle juice is what will keep a group of Sharps disconnected from their reality long enough to slaughter a family and forget it ever happened. This stuff is not to be messed with by anyone who wants their cortex to remain scab-free for long. It takes one turn to prepare the juice, and one turn to inject it using a Perception + Medicine check. If successful, the user will become foggy and distant, but full of energy and laughter. Mental stats are all lowered by 1, but Adrenaline will go up by 1 each turn for 10 turns. Once the character has gained all 10 adrenaline points, the character loses 1 point from all physical stats (this is in addition to their Mental stat loss) until 30 minutes have passed. After 30 minutes, all stats return to normal. Repeated use of this drug can have terrible effects on the body; overuse may lead to loss of Attribute Points, Health Levels, Adrenaline Max, or death!

Flameguts: A terrible, spicy satchel of peppers and barks that light blood afire. Eating this is a great way to boost your reflexes for a battle, but one must be prepared for the aftereffects. A character merely needs to eat the satchel; the effects happen 1 turn later. The imbiber gains 1 Dexterity for 1 hour, but they then have to violently evacuate the results via shitting it out. The diarrhea deals 3 damage over 9 turns, with the damage occuring every 3rd turn. Roll Stamina, difficulty 6, and soak 1 damage per success, shaving down on the total time spent evacuating.

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