deadEarth: The Chargenning

•

I won't be able to help much with the lookups today, I'm afraid.

6 isn't bad, all things considered. Now for Resiliency, my ability to take punishment:

1d6

•

I add three to that, for a starting Resiliency of 6 also. So far, so average?

11:37 AM

Pretty good, pretty good.

Strength starts at 0. It'll get modified later.

The character can currently lift his own arms and breathe.

...I'm gonna make a Drive doc for this.

docs.google.com/document/d/…

Now I roll for age. This is where things start getting Fun (tm Dwarf Fortress).

Rolling percentiles on the table on page 14.

...for particularly eclectic values of "fun".

2d10

11:40 AM

7

3

> Roll again and subtract D6 radiation manipulations.

Awwww.

2d10

4

7

I am 47 years old. I have -5 moves, 960+1d6x10 skill points, -1 Strength, -3 Resiliency, and 3d6 radiation manipulations (henceforth radmans).

Now I roll for height: 48 + 6d6 inches.

6d6

11:42 AM

•

I'm five feet six inches tall.

Still averagish.

Still survivable.

For weight I roll 5d6 on this chart (which mysteriously was left out of the book) and then apply the modifiers on the chart on page 15.

5d6

•

Weight = height x2.

I'm 132 in unstated units which I assume to be pounds.

That gives me +2 Moves, +0 Res, and -1 Strength.

For the record, I now have -2 Strength.

> A person with a strength less than zero will be crippled and will have a hard time carrying their own body weight. An average person who is in fair physical condition will probably have a strength of one (1). Someone with a strength of three is comparable to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Anything above three is considered super-human.

My carrying weight, then, is 30 + (strength x10), in pounds.

11:48 AM

Character can no longer lift his own arms. Fantastic.

IE, I can lift ten pounds.

Gender is my choice, but it matters. I shall be a Manly Weakling.

afk a tick

Okay, this is the point where I'm supposed to roll 2d6 a hundred times to determine a tertiary outcome for each of one hundred skills. Skip.

Now I choose one of the following: add a d6 to one of my stat values; add d6x10 skill points; gain the ability to spend skill points to purchase more radmans during that part of chargen.

I'm going to try getting my Str into the positive numbers.

1d6

•

Hah! I have a Str of 2!

...wait, no.

Str isn't on the list of things I can add a d6 to. Of course.

No, we wouldn't want to enable that sort of behavior. Like, you know, walking.

I'm going to use that d6 to reduce my age, instead.

11:55 AM

Moves, then?

Ah, ok.

That shifts me a category, which means...

I regain 2 moves, I lose 160 skill points, I regain 1 Strength and 2 Res, but keep my radmans.

I can carry 20 lbs!

Hurrah!

Now I'm supposed to assign skill points, which is a major pain and generally pointless once I've started rolling radmans. Skip.

Now, I roll radmans. This is the fun bit.

First, I roll to find out how many I get. My age means I get 3d6, but I reduce it by d6 because of my re-roll on the age table.

It's unclear whether that means I roll 3d6 - 1d6, or just 2d6. Opinions?

3d6 - 1d6

Okay!

4d6

12:00 PM

•

deadEarth means moar rolls!

5?

Yup.

The list of radmans starts on page 21. There are a thousand of them.

3d10

10

5

10

> 050 Renovate. Your radiation list is restored to its original pristine
condition. Keep any radiations you had at character creation,
and remove all other non-permanent radiations, including renovate.
cost: none. range: self. effect: temporary.

Ahhh.

Ok.

12:02 PM

That is gloriously anticlimactic.

Second of five:

3d10

3

6

4

> 364 Scholar. You are driven to seek out knowledge entirely for
the sake of having knowledge. From now on, for every skill point
you spend on any non-technical skill (physical, weapon skill,
drive, etc.) you must spend at least two skill points on a technical
skill (computers, medic, metallurgy, etc.). Also, in every technical
skill area, it takes ve fewer skill points to raise a skill to the next
level. cost: none. range: self. effect: binary.

I'm a wussy scholar, okay.

Third of five:

3d10

2

6

> 266 Amplied pain. Take D6 extra stun every time you are hit in
combat. cost: none. range: self. effect: cumulative.

I'm a really wussy scholar.

This is thus far uncannily playable.

Fourth of five:

3d10

7

5

12:05 PM

> 755 Justice. Help those who cannot help themselves. Gain one
renown for each, less fortunate, life you save. Lose one renown
for each life you take, no matter what the circumstances. cost:
none. range: self. effect: permanent.

I'm a really wussy scholar who probably gets himself killed trying to help some poor unfortunate.

Fifth of five:

3d10

10

8

3

...hahahahahah.

> 083 Hercules. +4D6 to weight training. cost: none. range: self.
effect: binary.

> Weight Training. Advanced training in strength. Use this skill for
basic strength rolls. Add one to strength per even skill level (4D6,
6D6, etc.). Use this skill to control how much force you exert
where strength is required. It can be used to control the amount
of damage you do in combat and / or so you don't break fragile
objects while using them.

4d6

•

So I get... +2 Strength.

For a total of Strength +1.

You can lift 40 pounds!

I am impressed that you just rolled Hercules and became average.

12:10 PM

50 lbs.

And okay, that's an astonishingly playable character. He's bound to get beat up and shanked, but he can at least walk toward his attackers.

Character 2!

Moves:

2d6

•

Resiliency:

2d6

•

Also, considering the fact that Renown is basically the currency with which you win the game (yes, explicitly), having a formal path to gaining it is very useful.

@lisardggY Yup!

And wow, 6 moves and 9 Res? I'm starting out ninja-ish with this guy. Okay, age...

2d10

12:12 PM

2

8

I'm 28 years old, with no modifiers, 380 + d6x10 skill points and 1d6 radmans.

How boring!

Height... 48'' +

6d6

•

5'6'' AGAIN.

Weight:

The magic number.

5d6

12:14 PM

•

height x3 = 198lbs.

Tank.

That gives me +1 moves and +1 res, +0 Str.

and/or blobba fett.

30 lbs carrying weight.

Gender... female, this time.

12:16 PM

This, of course, modifies our abilities, right?

Being female? nope!

It only matters because some radmans care.

does being male do anything else?

Nope.

It's only important to chargen because of absurdly sexist radmans.

I'm going to add 1d6 to my age; it might bump me up to 2d6 radmans.

1d6

•

Radmans that would have been considered sexist and out-of-place in a 50's advertising boardroom.

Yay!

12:19 PM

I'm now 34, which gives me +130 skill points and +1d6 radmans.

And now... radmans.

More radmans for our superdense lady.

2d6

•

NINE RADMANS.

Let's jump in! First of nine:

3d10

2

10

5

12:20 PM

> 205 Natural leader. Command is now a natural ability. cost:
none. range: self. effect: binary.

> Command. Skill in organizing people to perform tasks and in
giving orders in battle; involves the judicious use of coercion and
force of will. To refuse a command, roll your reason. To redirect
a command someone else has given, roll your command; your
roll must beat the original. Someone in a military position is not
likely to resist a command given by a superior. P: Charisma or
Guile, Intimidate.

Skill-related radmans are phooey.

Well, remember my Hercules one gave me +2 Str.

That's true.

Still, reinforcing the tanky theme.

Okay. Second of nine:

3d10

5

10

7

12:22 PM

> 507 Translucent. You are still visible, but you are clear. +D6 to
hide and stealth. cost: none. range: self. effect: cumulative.

.....

I'm the see-through commander!

Third of nine:

3d10

4

10

8

> 408 Overwhelming. Intimidate is now a natural ability. cost:
none. range: self. effect: binary.

@lisardggY ... I really want to find out what these are.

@doppelgreener I'm hoping we'll run into some.

Fourth of nine:

3d10

1

7

12:25 PM

If Lady MacDense doesn't roll up some of them, we'll find them in the pdf.

> 117 Read preternatural. You have an ability that some would
nd very useful. You can not only determine whether someone
has been altered by radiation, but can also tell how. You can
determine exactly what radiations a player has and what effect
they produce, even if the person that has them, is not aware
of their existance. cost: 10 skill points. range: touch. effect:
binary.

Ah, yes, deadEarth's refusal to accept such outdated concepts as "in-world" vs. "out-of-world" concepts.

I... what?

Okay, let's keep going. Fifth of nine:

3d10

2

8

> 228 Attitude. You have a real attitude problem. Natural inability
to haggle, inuence, and command. You now have a natural
ability to guile. cost: none. range: self. effect: binary.

12:28 PM

Ah, of course. The ever-popular conflicting radmans.

Bee-yoo-tiful.

Did that one just overwrite the other one completely?

"You can do this!" "Nope. No, you can't."

Yes.

Yes, it did.

Dang.

This is why I don't both rolling 200d6 and assigning hundreds of skill points before rolling radmans.

12:29 PM

That's ok, there's a good change that newer radmans will overwrite that as well.

Sixth of nine:

3d10

9

10

6

I have a good feeling about this one (being amusing)

> 906 Troublemaker. Gain an extra skill point every time you roll
jimmy lock, hork, or escape. cost: none. range: self. effect:
cumulative.

hork is a thing?

what kind of thing is called hork

12:30 PM

@doppelgreener The PDF is badly scanned and OCRed.

@lisardggY Yes, but that's not the problem here.

> Hork. Sleight-of-hand among thieves. Some call it ve-ngerdiscount.
You can steal something while someone is looking at it,
and s/he won't see you (if you are good). Note that hork will allow
you to snatch an item from view, but you had better have a good
hide skill to get it out of the area. P: Guile, Streetwise.

Yikes.

I was giving them too much credit.

Hork is also a popular onomatopoeia for vomiting.

(BTW, it amuses me to no end that they chose to use typographical ligatures.)

Seventh of nine:

3d10

3

12:32 PM

....well, it's a good thing nobody's gonna be following me anymore.

> 333 Lost. Navigate is now a natural inability. cost: none. range:
self. effect: binary.

Eighth of nine:

3d10

9

2

3

[bwahahahah]

> 923 Corpulent. You are fat. Add 100 pounds and adjust your
attributes accordingly. cost: none. range: self. effect: cumulative.

is it just me or are all of these things turning your character awful

Wait, she's now 300 lbs, and translucent?

I am now 298 lbs at 5'6''.

That's +0 moves, +2 resiliency, +1 Strength (changed from +1 Moves, +1 res, +0 str).

12:36 PM

You got stronger, so I'm gonna pretend you didn't become just fat.

Last radman:

3d10

3

8

4

Riiight.

>384 Lockjaw. Every time you enter an intense situation, roll a
D6. On a one or a six, your jaw locks and your throat muscles
seize for D6 days making speech, eating, and drinking impossible
without medical assistance during this time. cost: none.
range: self. effect: binary.

Remind me: how did I gain so much weight?

@doppelgreener Another rule of deadEarth: the flavour doesn't match the mechanics except by pure coincidence.

@BESW this helps things make sense.

So, Lady MacDense is... playable. barely.

We just roll her in front of the rest of the party.

12:39 PM

also, sneaky and transluscent, so bare is the best way to play her apparently.

[face/palm]

wait

> 507 Translucent. You are still visible, but you are clear. +D6 to
hide and stealth. cost: none. range: self. effect: cumulative.

this seems like it'd count even if she's wearing something full body.

is that one of those flavour/mechanics things?

Yes.

There are some radmans I don't even feel comfortable quoting here.

Like #217

Yeeeah.

12:42 PM

Wow. XD

This is incredible.

Because everybody wants a chance to become an extra in Star Trek Five.

216 is one heck of a radman.

Okay, third character.

you become a shadow beast with a natural ability to do everything in the dark, and the sun is lethal.

Also, they're a mix of in-game character modifications (which radiations were supposed to be), entirely narrative character aspects (#120) or entirely out-of-game features (like #292)

12:44 PM

2d6 1d6 2d10

•

3

4

Moves 6, Res 4, age 34 (2d6 radmans).

2d6 is the barest minimum I'm willing to accept. :)

height:

6d6

•

12:46 PM

@lisardggY And the lady MacDense is able to tell that you can ask the game master to back up a bit.

76'' = 6'4''

@doppelgreener "Wait! Roll me away from him! He's too powerful!"

Weight:

5d6

•

@doppelgreener Of course. She can probably also tell that you had a radman that erased a previous radman.

height x3 = 228 lbs

Yay, not 5'6"!

12:48 PM

+2 moves, nothing else.

Gender... female again.

Wait, you became super fat but don't have any strength and gained moves where becoming fat lost them before?

Yes.

Stop trying to find patterns.

Just become one with the derp.

Yeah! For instance, radman #20 (Decapitation) doesn't automatically kill you.

@RedRiderX [wave] Tracking sheet is here.

@lisardggY Wow. XD

12:50 PM

I don't have any chance of gaining more radmans from manipulating my age or anything, so I'm going to take the option to buy more radmans with skill points.

Rolling for radmans now.

2d6

•

Aw.

First of four:

3d10

1

10

7

> 107 Stink. You have the worst body odor that anyone has ever
produced. cost: none. range: self. effect: binary.

Classy.

Second of four:

3d10

10

2

10

12:52 PM

Ultra classy.

Oh, hey, speak of the chopping block.

> 020 Decapitation. Radiation blows your head right off. Take
10D6 damage to your head. cost: none. range: self. effect:
binary.

whoops

is character #3 dead now?

I have no interest in digging into the combat rules to find out.

@doppelgreener Chargen isn't over.

There are plenty of radmans that can reverse it.

Third of four:

12:53 PM

@lisardggY so if we get a radman that provides a mutant extra head...

3d10

1

6

10

Even the ever-popular "Viablilty", which says "Radmans that kill you, won't"

@lisardggY what a name.

Well, if losing my head doesn't kill me...

> 160 Lead magnet. Bullets seem to be attracted to you. -D6 to
dodge when under re. cost: none. range: self. effect: cumulative.

I think I stink because I'm a zombie.

Okay, fourth of four:

3d10

12:55 PM

7

4

7

> 747 Rite of rejection. Your body can reject radiation mutations.
Immediately after rolling on the radiation table, before the effect
of the mutation occurs, you may remove 2D6 hit points (of your
choice) to remove the radiation mutation. cost: none. range:
self. effect: binary.

Oh! Oh! You can do that to make yourself no longer stinky!

Or no longer dead.

Except I'm already stinky and dead.

No, I think we'd better keep that one.

12:56 PM

Radmans don't apply retroactively unless they say they do.

This just makes the funeral rites a little more bearable.

However, I've got at least 52 more radmans I can purchase.

Oh man.

The ultra-sexist one, by the way, is #771 and its spin-off radmans. It randomly flips your gender every d6 days. If you became male, you add #008 (Bottoms Up: you can't get drunk). If you become female, you get #662 (PMS)