2023-09-11

Character Creation

Assumptions

Start at 17 years of age. By the end of character creation, you’re assumed be a survivor in this world.

Each Skill adds a +1, +2, or +3 to a 2d6 roll. You only roll 2d6 when doing risky things like shooting a foe in a firefight or trying to pick a lock under duress. The number you need to beat is always an 8, no more, no less.

At times you roll with Advantage or Disadvantage which is rolling 3d6 and taking the two highest or lowest d6’s, respectively.

Apply multiple Skills to a single roll if applicable.

Background and Education

Decide on an ethnicity and or nationality. Choose whether you grew up here or not. You are fluent in 1d3+1 languages.

Roll 2d6 to determine your level of education. Some careers have a mandatory minimum for education level.

Careers

To gain skills for your character, choose a career. After choosing Secondary Vocation, your first term must always be either Educational or Military Grunt. Subsequent terms must be Educational, Civilian, or Military. Only roll on the Civilian or Military table once.

Each term ages your character by 4 years.

After the first term, roll 1d6. There’s a 1-in-6 chance you are drafted into the military. The chances go up per succeeding term. 2-in-6 next term, then 3-in-6, and so on until you are assuredly absorbed into service. If that’s the case, you may no longer choose an Educational or Civilian Career. Roll on the Military table.

If you are a foreign national, you may still be drafted by your country of origin, but stop rolling after a 3-in-6 chance.

At any point in time, even at 17 years old, you may start play.

Secondary Vocations

Any of these are hobbies or specializations you chose to develop throughout your youth.

Roll twice. These start at +1. Rolling on the same Skill a second time means you have +2 in it.

1d8	Skill
1	First Aid
2	Music
3	Mechanics
4	Artistry
5	Athletics
6	Driving
7	Sport Shooting
8	Strategical Sport (+1 to education level)

Educational

Choose from below, but make sure you fulfill the requirements for entry. Roll twice on every term for Skills unless otherwise specified. Each unique Skill rolled starts at +2. Rolling on the same Skill a second time starts it at +3. Rolling for the same Skill on subsequent terms permits you to freely re-roll for a new Skill.

	UNDERGRADUATE
Entry	Education 5+, can’t be taken more than twice
Boon	+1 education
Skills (1d10)
1	Biology
2	Chemistry
3	Engineering
4	Computer Science
5	Language
6	Meteorology
7	Humanities
8	Business
9	Music
10	Athletics
Contacts	1 Academic, media, or political.
Special	Choose to join preliminary military service.

	GRADUATE AND BEYOND
Entry	Undergraduate degree (see Special for effect of subsequent terms)
Boon	+2 education
Skills (1d8)
1	Biology
2	Chemistry
3	Engineering
4	Computer Science
5	Language
6	Humanities
7	Business
8	Mathematics
Contacts	1 Academic or political.
Special	Your second term here qualifies you for a doctorate. Choose an existing skill from above to raise to +3.

	MILITARY ACADEMY
Entry	Join ROTC or Education 5+, can only be taken once
Boon	+1 education
Skills (1d8)
1	Demolitions
2	Computer Electronics
3	Shooting
4	Stealth
5	Driving
6	Survival
Contacts	1 Academic or political. 2 military.
Special	Enter into the military as an officer after

	POLICE ACADEMY
Entry	None
Boon	The loyalty of and to the brotherhood
Skills (1d4)
1	Shooting
2	Athletics
3	Criminology
4	Forensics
Contacts	1 political and 1d8 police.
Special	Begin with an additional gun, a baton, and a flashlight.

	LAW SCHOOL
Entry	Education 7+ with an undergraduate degree, but can only be taken once
Boon	1d6 political contacts, +2 to education
Skills (1d2)
1	Diplomacy and Law
2	Criminology
Contacts	1 political.
Special	None.

	MEDICAL SCHOOL
Entry	Education 7+ with an undergraduate degree, but can only be taken once
Boon	+2 education, gain the First Aid and Medicine Skills at +3
Skills (1d2)
1	Biology
2	Chemistry
Contacts	1 political or military.
Special	If drafted or enlisted, immediately recommended as a medical officer

	TECHNICAL SCHOOL
Entry	None
Boon	Roll once more for Skills, +2 education, can be taken as many times as wanted
Skills (1d8)
1	Woodworking and Masonry
2	Piloting
3	Computer Electronics
4	Plumbing
5	Automobile Mechanics
6	Metallurgy
7	Aircraft Mechanics
8	Seamanship
Contacts	1 military
Special	None.

Civilian

“The war was like lightning—I didn’t hear the cries until after the blinding flash.”

All gained skills here start at +2.

Roll 1d4 then another, the order matters. Consult the table below.

d44	What happened?
11	Construction Worker. Gain woodworking and masonry. You ran with your family to an civilian evacuation shelter. When you turned around, they weren’t with you anymore. You haven’t seen them since.
12	Software Developer or IT Professional, gain computer electronics. Your tech startup wanted to assign you abroad for a better life. On your last call with them, you heard gunfire, pleading, and screaming.
13	Criminal Underworld. Gain shooting and Driving. Hard times befell upon you. Drugs and guns were a profitable way to survive. A 4-in-6 chance you were jailed and forcibly drafted in exchange for freedom.
14	Clergyman. Gain 1d6 contacts from the Guiding Light and survival. You and the refugees you housed fled the church on the eve of a battle. You made a new home in the remains of a dead mall.
21	Refugee. Gain survival. Your city was among the first to fall to occupying forces. A local parish fed you and many others when the soldiers came.
22	Factory Worker, you didn’t choose to be one. Gain 1d6 civilian contacts. 1d4 of them died when your factory was hit by an airstrike. You survived that day by malingering.
23	Journalist, gain 2d6 media contacts. The higher dice is the number of those who died under mysterious circumstances. You chose to continue investigating and reporting despite the risks.
24	Entertainer, gain athletics and shooting. You became a mouthpiece promoting government pro-war propaganda. Many still remember the loved ones who believed your lies and are no longer here.
31	Welder. Gain 1d4 military contacts and Metallurgy. You knew of metal and its intricacies intimately. You also survived successive occupations by trading your liquor stash to the soldiers in exchange for safety.
32	Medic. Gain 1d4 military contacts. There was a tally of bodies accumulated. Innumerable names of people you couldn’t save.
33	Activist, gain 1d6 Leftists contacts and athletics. You demonstrated right at the very seat of governments to blame for all this. They greeted you with armored police. You lost more comrades than you should have.
34	Guerilla rebel. gain shooting and survival. You have 1d6 leftist contacts. When you believed you had nothing to lose, they came for your family. Both chosen and blood, the soldiers sent after them didn’t care.
41	White collar worker, gain Business. When the company had to cease all operations in the country, you were left with nothing. For all the promised progress, currency couldn’t spare you from war.
42	Teacher. Gain Language. The bombs fell and the radiation poisoned your homes. You fled with your students for months until finally finding a safe haven to rest.
43	Government Worker, gain 1d6 political contacts. You and your colleagues tried to hoard relief and other supplies from people who needed it more. They burned your co-conspirators alive. You were forced to watch as a messenger.
44	You didn’t survive.

Military

Regardless of enlistment or draft, you become an officer if you have an undergraduate degree or greater. Otherwise, roll on the grunt table.

All skills gained here start at +2 unless otherwise specified.

Officer

d44	What happened?
11	Gain athletics and shooting. You were only promoted due to the constant deaths of your commanding officers. One of them was your brother.
12	Gain automobile mechanics and electronics. You flew past most of the war in relative safety while building ordnance. You were on leave when the bombs fell.
13	Gain piloting at +3. You were meant to soar the skies like a bird of prey, but the bombs fell. It made short work of the airbases and carriers.
14	Gain driving at +3. You never wanted this. When you tried to leave, they nearly shot you, but your family intervened. The war took them soon after. Now you’re all that’s left of the name.
21	Starting Luck is now 1d6. You drew straws with those under you for low stakes gambling. You often drew the longest one. You always listed the losers’ names in a journal. Now, that list is all you have to remember them by.
22	Gain stealth and shooting. You wreaked havoc behind enemy lines. Unconventional warfare was the name of the game. Unconventional targets too. Children aren’t meant to hold guns. Unfortunately, you were always quicker on the draw.
23	Gain shooting and survival. An enemy soldier saved your life, but you couldn’t save theirs. They left with you a letter in a language you don’t understand and a photo of loved ones.
24	Gain iron liver and mechanics. You were ordered by your superiors to have your soldiers forcibly evacuate and commandeer a village as a strategic military outpost. You waited months for an enemy that never came.
31	Gain athletics and survival. You were meant to guard a VIP, but the enemy forces overwhelmed you. You ran, abandoning your post and your people. You’re not sure who else survived.
32	Gain 1d4 media contacts. You were the sole survivor of a suicide mission. They paraded you around as the pride of the nation. The dog and pony show ended when the politicians needed a scapegoat.
33	Gain shooting at +3. You were promoted by virtue of the sheer amount of confirmed kills under your name. You made an art out of ending lives. You swear you can’t stop smelling iron in the air. The blood stains never washed off of your clothes either.
34	Gain survival at +3. You and your men took no prisoners. When the enemy found you, they extended the same courtesy. One-by-one they lined you all up. They left you alive as the messenger.
41	Gain first aid and athletics. Your sister, the only kin you have left, remained a civilian while you served. She thought you were never coming home. She was surprisingly in tears when she saw you again.
42	Gain survival and stealth. You cared for the health of a squadron of soldiers crossing enemy lines. You remember each of their last words as the wounds festered.
43–44	You didn’t survive.

Grunt

d44	What happened?
11	Gain athletics and shooting. You killed a commanding officer who treated you all like fodder. You and those involved swore not to tell a single soul.
12	Gain survival and shooting. A wild boar killed someone close to you during a training exercise. You hunted it down within less than a fortnight and ate it. You wear its tusk as a memento around your neck.
13	Gain first aid and shooting. There were three of you. You all swore that silhouette was the sniper’s. A woman’s corpse holding a baby was all you saw as you approached. The infant was still alive, but needed care.
14	Gain artistry and computer electronics. You met an older man whose prized possession was a computer from a bygone era. His sons had served and never came home. His last wish was to leave it to you.
21	Gain athletics and survival. You deserted and ran from a battle to find your family. You are still looking for them.
22	Gain athletics at +3. Though thick as thieves, you deserted and ran from an ambush on your squad. You swear that the last thing you heard was them shouting your name then silence.
23	Gain demolitions and shooting. When soldiers came for a church, you saved the people and the clergymen all from execution. You all swiftly evacuated before hostile reinforcements came.
24	Gain stealth at +3. You killed a priest who was like a wolf with lambs. The children didn’t deserve this.
31	Gain driving and mechanics. The enemy occupied your hometown. You weren’t able to participate in its “liberation.” You can still remember the smell of scorched earth when you returned.
32	Gain first aid and survival. You helped a family evacuate from a town on the eve of its siege. They were a second home to you. You could do little when disease and misfortune came after them.
33	Gain athletics and shooting. You scoured the corpses of enemies for loot and glory when you return. News of the bombs that razed your home came soon after.
34	Gain seamanship and survival. You were in the ocean for months on a boat far from seaworthy. When the shells came, your lifeboat was one of the few to escape the fires.
41	Gain music and survival. An elderly couple housed you during a storm. You played a now barely remembered classic song on their grandson’s guitar. Knowing the young man would not be returning home, they let you keep the instrument.
42–44	You didn’t survive.

Contacts

Useful individuals you know and have built rapport with. Call upon them for favors if still alive. There’s a 2-in-6 chance they’ve passed when first contacting them in a game.

Inventory

You have 12 Inventory slots. First 4 are quick slots, anything you pull out at a moment’s notice. These could be things in your pockets, belt, bandolier, coat, or hung on your back. The next 8 require 5 seconds or more to pull out from your cary-all.

A ballistic vest adds 4 more quick slots.

Starting Gear

Refer to the Gear List. When you start play, you begin with the following:

1 gun with two slots worth of ammunition (roll on the starting gun table)
2d6 common items
1d4 valuable items
1d2 rare items
7 days worth of rations
5L water bladder (3 day’s worth)

1d6	Starting Guns
1	Pistol
2	Revolver
3	Double-barrel shotgun
4	Combat shotgun
5	Sub-machine Gun
6	Hunting Rifle

Luck

Spend Luck points to add to 2d6 rolls. You may also spend Luck to have things go your way, if possible.

Roll 1d4 at the start of every session. You start with that many Luck.

Aging

As you age, both during character creation and after, your potential Luck reduces.

A negative modifier to your starting Luck rolls is applied at age 38 and periodically increases following the rubric below.

Age	Total Luck Modifier
38	-1
50	-2
58	-4
70	-6

Last Steps

Don’t forget about a name.