Character Creation Part 4: Equipment - Part 1

Characters will find and use a wide variety of equipment and gadgets salvaged from the ruins, most importantly, their weapons and armor, as well as any light sources they find. The wastes are a dangerous place, filled with Aralia and bandits and beasts, all of whom want to kill and even eat you, so it is best to be prepared.

Coins

The most widely accepted currency amongst the free villages is generally pre-Nightfall coinage of whatever country inhabited the region prior to the general collapse of civilization. For the purposes of this game and pricing for equipment the generic term "coins" will be used, however the actual term will vary by area depending on whatever the smallest common denomination of currency in that area was prior to Nightfall, such as cents in the US, EU, or Canada, or pence in Britain.

Weapons

Weapons come in two varieties: Melee, and Ranged, with a different set of statistics for each.

Melee Weapons

Melee weapons have a Damage statistic, which is the type and/or number of dice used to roll when the weapon hits, and is added to the character's Melee Damage stat to find total damage, and a STR Requirement, which is a STR value the player must have to use the weapon without penalty. If this value is not met, the character recieves a -15% penalty to hit when using the weapon. Not all melee weapons have a STR Requirement, if none is present, it is indicated by a dash ("--"). A weapon may also have a special ability, indicated by a word at the end of the statline.

The format of the statline for a melee weapon is as follows:

Name: Damage, STR Req., Value (in coins), Weight (in lbs.), Special

Knife: 1d4, --, 25, negligible, 1-Handed
Club: 1d6, STR 6, 10, 2 lbs., 1-Handed
Axe: 2d4, STR 8, 40, 3 lbs
Sword: 1d8, STR 8, 80, 4 lbs, 1-Handed
Broadsword: 2d6, STR 12, 120, 8 lbs, Cleave*
Spear: 1d8, STR 6, 30, 6 lbs, Reach**
Staff: 1d6, STR 6, 10, 6 lbs, Reach**

* A weapon with Cleave may, upon successfully killing an opponent, follow through to the target next to it, essentially making a second attack at a -20% penalty. Only one additional attack may be made after the initial attack.
** A weapon with Reach makes a character more difficult to approach in combat, providing a bonus of 5% to the character's Defense.

Weapons with Reach or Cleave must be used with both hands, and so no other item may be carried in the character's off-hand during combat, such as a flashlight.

A 1-Handed weapon can be used comfortably in one handed, allowing another item such as a flashlight or lantern to be held in the other.

Archaic Weapons

Archaic weapons are statted in the same fashion as melee weapons, with the exception that all have a special attribute, Reload, followed by a number. This is the number of rounds it takes to reload the weapon so that it may be fired again. A character with an Archaic Weapons skill of 60% or more reduces this number by one, so long as he possesses a quiver or other harness that allows quick access to ammunition.

The Value of the weapon is followed by a slash and a second number, which indicates the cost of 10 rounds of ammunition for the weapon. When not applicable this space is marked with a dash (--). Archaic weapon ammunition may be retrieved after a fight. On a successful Archaic Weapons skill check, the character is able to recover all of his ammunition. On a failure, half of the ammo fired during the fight is broken or lost.

A character's Melee Damage stat bonus applies only to those weapons whose STR Requirement is marked with a plus sign (+), and the bonus only applies if the character's STR exceeds the listed value.

Name: Damage, STR Req., Value (in coins), Weight (in lbs.), Special

Sling: 1d4, STR 6+, 20/--, negligible, Reload 1
Bow: 1d8, STR 8, 60/10, 2 lbs, Reload 1
Crossbow: 2d4, STR 6, 100/10, 3 lbs, Reload 2
Javelin: 2d4, STR 8+, 5/--, 1 lbs, Reload 1*
Throwing Knife: 1d4, STR 8+, 20/--, negligible, Reload 1*, 1-Handed

* This a single weapon that is thrown at the target. The price given is for a single weapon, most individuals will carry a number of them on them at any given time. The Reload number is how quickly another may be extracted from a pack or quiver.

Firearms

All firearms have a Damage statistic much like melee weapons, given in dice, however they do not receive a bonus to this value from STR. They also have a STR Requirement, and like melee weapons if it is not met, a -15% penalty is taken. Additionally, if the STR requirement for a weapon is not met, burst fire may not be used, effectively limiting the weapons Rate of Fire to 1.
In addition to these, firearms also have a Rate of Fire, which is the maximum number of bullets which may practically be fired in a round, a Recoil penalty, which is incurred any time more than one bullet is fired in a combat round, and a Magazine, which is the number of rounds the weapon holds and thus the number of bullets which may be fired before a reload is required.

All guns have Reload 1, unless otherwise indicated as a special attribute. This functions exactly as it does for Archaic Weapons, except that the required skill for reduced Reload is that of the weapon's category, be it Small Arms, Heavy Weapons, or Alien Weapons.

Similar to the archaic weapons, the Value of the weapon is listed as two numbers, the first the cost of the weapon, the second is the cost of a single magazine of ammunition.

The list of firearms follows, broken into three sections for the different firearms skills: Small Arms, Heavy Weapons, and Alien Weapons.

Small Arms

Name: Damage, STR Req., RoF, Recoil, Magazine, Value (in coins), Weight (in lbs.), Special

Revolver: 2d6, STR 4, 1, --, 6, 200/12, 2 lbs, Reload 2, 1-Handed
Auto Pistol: 2d6, STR 4, 2, -10%, 12, 400/24, 2 lbs, 1-Handed
SMG: 2d6, STR 8, 10, -10%, 30, 800/60, 3 lbs.
Shotgun (dbl. barrel): 2d10, STR 8, 2*, -10%, 2, 325/10, 4lbs Reload 2
Shotgun (pump): 2d10, STR 10, 1, --, 8, 400/40, 5 lbs, Reload 3
Shotgun (auto): 2d10, STR 12, 2, -10%, 8, 500/40, 5 lbs, Reload 3
.22 Rifle: 1d8, STR 6, 1, --, 1, 120/2, 3 lbs, Reload 2
Hunting Rifle: 2d8, STR 8, 1, --, 5, 250/15, 4 lbs, Reload 3
Auto Rifle: 2d8, STR 10, 2, -15%, 10, 500/30, 5 lbs
Assault Rifle: 3d6, STR 12, 10, -15%, 30, 850/90, 5 lbs

* The double barreled shotgun can unload both barrels in a single combat round, effectively doing double damage but expending both rounds at once.

Heavy Weapons

Name: Damage, STR Req., RoF, Recoil, Magazine, Value (in coins), Weight (in lbs.), Special

LMG: 3d8, STR 14, 20, -20%, 100, 2000/400, 10 lbs., Mounted
Rocket Launcher: 6d10, STR 10, 1, --, 1, 1200/*, 10 lbs.
Grenade Launcher: 6d10, STR 8, 1, --, 1, 900/200, 3 lbs. Reload 2
Multi-shot Grenade Launcher: 6d10, STR 12, 1, --, 6, 3000/1200, 10 lbs., Reload 4
Anti-materiel Rifle: 6d6, STR 14, 1, --, 10, 4000/500, 20 lbs., Mounted
Flamethrower: 3d6, STR 14, 1, --, 5, 3000/500, 60 lbs., Backpack, Flame
Minigun: 4d6, STR 16, 20, -20%, 500, 10,000/2000, 60 lbs, Mounted

* The rocket launcher is a single use disposable tube containing the rocket. Price given is thus for one unit, and the device is not reloadable.

A Mounted weapon is too heavy to be utilized as a personal weapon, and must be mounted on a vehicle, or fired from a stationary position mounted on a bipod or tripod.

A Backpack weapon has it's ammunition contained in a container worn on the back. As such a normal backpack cannot be worn along with it, and additional ammunition cannot be carried.

A Flame weapon ignites the target upon impact, doing it's base damage the initial round, and continuing to do damage every round thereafter unless the flames can be extinguished.

Alien Weapons

Name: Damage, STR Req., RoF, Recoil, Magazine, Value (in coins), Weight (in lbs.), Special

Zal-illar Plasma Pistol: 4d6, STR 6, 1, --, 8, 4000/500, 2 lbs, Plasma, 1-Handed
Zal-ankar Plasma Rifle: 5d6, STR 10, 1, --, 15, 6000/700. 5 lbs, Plasma
Mitum-gisema Heavy Plasma: 8d6, STR 14, 1, --, 6, 10,000/1000, 15 lbs, Plasma
Mir Coilgun: 2d6, STR 8, 6, -0%, 30, 3000/300, 3 lbs
Masatum Laser Rifle: 3d6, STR 10, 3*, -0%, 50, 5000/500, 20 lbs, Laser
Gesamaru Gatling Laser: 3d6, STR 16, 10, -0%, 200, 10,000/2000, 40 lbs, Backpack, Laser

* The Masatum laser rifle is prone to overheating. There is a cumulative 10% chance per round of burst fire after the first, that the weapon will overheat and be permanently destroyed. E.g. on the first round of burst fire there is no chance of failure, on the second there is a 10%, on the third there is a 20%, and so forth.

Plasma weapons are extremely destructive. When fired at organic matter, the plasma projectile causes a limited chain reaction on impact, boiling or melting away surrounding flesh and tissue. If a target is killed by a Plasma weapon in a single attack, the body is effectively liquified. Because of the massive tissue damage caused, even if the target survives, he will take twice as long to heal, and there's is a 40% chance that a limb was permanently destroyed.

Laser weapons pierce through the target, cauterizing the wound as the beam follows through, due to the extreme heat. Laser wounds take twice as long to heal as normal.