These are largely untested rules that I developed the core of for the Robot Wasteland 3-shot game that I am working into a campaign to run in the near future. I cannot swear for balance or feasability, but I would appreciate constructive feedback from those who use these Psionics for OpenQuest.

Psionics Robot Wasteland-Pdf, 284KB

Editor’s note: As well as the Psionic’s rules Clint explains the house rules that he uses for the game.

Further information.

A quick write up of the 3-shot game which spawned the game can be found here.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

If you have any feedback or questions about the rules you can email Clint about it.

• Contact Clint

Follow the Character generation process spending points on skills and magic from the suggestions in the package. Roll for money as normal, but write down all the suggested equipment on the character sheet instead of the normal default starting equipment given above.

Each Concept has the following components;

• A one sentence summary of the Concept.
• Skills
• Battle Magic
• Equipment

So here we go, ten ready made Concepts for players who are stuck for ideas.

Savage and tough barbarian warrior

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Healing, Natural Lore, Perception, Resilience, Ride, Language (Other), Close Combat

Battle Magic
Fanaticism, Heal, Coordination, Mobility, Protection, Speedart, Strength, Vigour, Weapon Enhance.

Equipment
Appropriate weapons, warm animal furs, water skin.

Flamboyant and daring travelling entertainer

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Influence, Performance, Deception, Lore (Theatre), Streetwise.

Battle Magic
Befuddle, Coordination, Multimissile, Enhance skill (Influence) , Enhance Skill (Performance), Enhance Skill (Deception)

Equipment
Travelling clothes, appropriate costume for act, leather armour, any weapons that the character has skill in.

Priestly protector of the poor

Skills
Healing, Influence, Natural Lore, Perception, Persistence, Language (other), Religion(Own), Unarmed Combat

Battle Magic
Heal, Weapon Enhance, Dispel Magic, Protection, Second sight, or as taught by Cult

Equipment
Appropriate religious clothing, alms bowl, leather armour, staff, dagger or appropriate cult weapons

The default skills/magic of this package give a rough approximation to a wandering monk type of cleric for Game Masters who don’t want religion to feature heavily in their games, with an option to substitute specific cult skills/spells if they do.

Fast-riding nomadic raider from the steppes

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Healing, Natural Lore, Perception, Resilience, Ride, Ranged Combat

Battle Magic
Clear Path, Mobility, Multimissile, Speedart, Vigour, Weapon Enhance

Equipment
Nomad bow, spear, dagger, leather armour, waterskin, warm animal pelt jacket and hat.

Widely-travelled sailor

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Perception, Resilience, Engineering, Language (other), Natural Lore, Sailing, Ranged Combat.

Battle Magic
Weapon Enhance, Coordination, Extinguish, Firearrow , Water Breath

Equipment
Any weapon or shield the character possesses skill in. Leather armour. Peg leg or Eye Patch optional.

Adventurous and knowledge-hungry scholar

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Perception, Persistence, Engineering, Language (other), Lore (Ancient Dead Civilisation),Lore (any)

Battle Magic
Detect X, Dispel Magic, Second Sight, Protection, Mindspeech, Mobility.

Equipment
Scholar’s robes over leather armour, Staff or dagger, Sling + stones.

Grizzled veteran of the imperial guard

Skills
Athletics, Dodge, Healing, Natural Lore, Perception, Resilience, Riding, Language (Other), Lore (Military Tactics), Engineering.

Battle Magic
Demoralise, Fireblade, Firearrow, Heal,Pierce, Protection, Strength, Weapon Enhance.

Equipment
1H Sword and Shield or 1H Spear and Shield or 1H Axe and Shield, plus Bow and Dagger, leather armour, water-skin, rations.

Downtrodden ex-sorcerer’s apprentice

Skills
Dodge, Perception, Persistence, Language (other), Sorcery, Streetwise, Drive

Battle Magic
Befuddle, Countermagic, Dispel Magic, Heal, Light, Mindspeech, Protection, Second Sight.

Equipment
Robes over leather armour, Staff or dagger, Sling + stones.

Note the magic of a Sorcerer’s apprentice is primarily Battle magic. Although their master’s have taught them the rudiments of Sorcery, via the Sorcery skill, they have been too lazy to actually teach them any sorcery spells!

Stealthy and sneaky thief

Skills
Athletics, Deception, Dodge, Healing,Perception, Language (other), Mechanisms, Streetwise.

Battle Magic
Befuddle, Coordination, Darkwall, Extinguish, Light, Mobility, Multimissile, Protection, Slow, Weapon Enhance.

Equipment
1H sword or 1H mace, dagger, five throwing daggers or Short bow, leather armour, hooded travelling cloak, set of lockpicks.

Opportunistic trader looking for new markets

Skills
Deception, Driving, Influence, Language ( Other ), Lore ( Specific Country’s culture ), Perception, Persistence, Ride, Streetwise, Trade.

Battle Magic
Befuddle, Clear Path, Countermagic, Detect X, Protection.

Equipment
Travelling clothes over leather armour, appropriate weapons, water skin, large back pack or mule.

There are many occasions in a role playing adventure that the adventurers will find themselves entering into a battle. This is a quick and simple way to determine mass battle situations without resulting to hours of needless and boring dice rolls. Only one dice roll is needed, and with the quick reference chart you can have the result of any mass battle within minutes. The generals on both sides roll against their Lore (Military Tactics) skill, add or subtract any modifiers, then compare their result against their opponents and consult the chart below. In the case of Non-player generals the Games Master rolls on their behalf.

Mass Combat Modifiers

As with regular combat, Mass Combat can be affected by numerous factors which can grant bonuses and penalties. The table below gives any modifiers that will affect mass combat in certain situations. If necessary, the Games Master can create other modifiers to restrict combatants further. Only the highest modifier is taken into consideration.

BLOODY CONFLICT

Not all conflicts will bring a swift and deceive result. A bloody conflict represents both armies being locked in a bitter struggle with no overall winner. Left with a stalemate, both forces withdraw in order to regroup and gather reinforcements. When the two forces next engage, compare the results for the previous battle for both generals. Apply a +25% modifier to the general who had the higher level of success with their roll from the previous engagement.

Editor’s Note

This is the second varient of Mass Combat rules that has been sent to me.

It needs more extensive playtesting.

Mass combat involves the commanders’ skills of the two opposing sides, modified by the armies involved.  The command skills involved are Lore (Military Tactics), and either Influence or Performance.

The actual battle is resolved by opposed Lore (Military Tactics) checks made by the leaders.  A successful check means a force inflicts casualties equal half its size on the opposition.  Half of these casualties are deaths; the other half are injuries.  These numbers are doubled on a critical success.

Further, the commander of a losing side in a battle must make an Influence or Performance check to prevent a rout.  Routing troops either flee in panic, or surrender when they cannot flee.  A further 10% of an army’s numbers are lost in a rout.  Further a critical success on the Influence or Performance check is needed for a force to continue fighting rather than retreating in a more orderly manner.  If a force has nowhere to retreat to, it can continue to fight.

The Lore (Military Tactics) check is modified by various situational factors.

• Better equipped than enemy :+25% bonus
• Better trained than enemy: +25% bonus.
• Has special forces (eg: artillery, cavalry, combat mages) that the enemy lacks: +25% bonus for each.
• Outnumber enemy by two to one or more: +25%
• Enemy in defensive position: -25% penalty
• Enemy fortifications: -50% penalty.
• Player character heroics (eg: taking out significant enemy, capturing strategic position): +25% bonus.

Larger forces might split into several armies, each with their own commander.  The rules are still as above, but each army must pick another force to attack.

Editor’s Note

This is the first variant of Mass Combat rules that has been sent to me.

It needs more extensive playtesting.

2 points for a major edit, which puts the player character at an advantage. For example, not only is the dungeon door open but the jail guard is asleep at his table.

3 points for a drastic edit, where something dramatic and almost impossible happens to put the player character at a major advantage. For example, the king trips up on his fl owing robes and, as he falls
over, he brings down the three body guards who are standing close by, giving the player character assassin a clear bow shot at the tyrant.

5 points for an implausible edit, where the player stretches the boundaries of plausibility (even within a fantasy setting), to the player’s advantage.For example, a passing dragon swoops downand attacks the castle the player characters are imprisoned in, allowing them to escape as the guards are busy fighting off the flying fire breathing reptile.

Plot edits must always come with sensible narration from the player so that even with the five point implausible edit must not break the group’s suspension of disbelief. The Games Master has the final say on whether a plot edit is allowed or not.

Players should not rely on plot edits to constantly overcome obstacles, but save them for moments where they are truly stuck or have a cool situation in mind.

Plot edits may never completely remove obstacles such as opposing characters or imposing physical challenges., but they can be used to temporarily give players the upper hand. For example you can’t use a plot edit to remove a mountain range or instantly kill a major recurring villain, but you can use one to have your player character fi nd an obscure mountain pass or have the villain temporarily knocked unconscious.

Design notes:
This was another section that was removed from the final OpenQuest core rules because I felt it was too narrative. It has been playtested and I found that player’s greatly enjoyed it since it allows them to take control of the narrative and get one over on the Games Master

This rule was directly inspired by the Plot Edits rule in Mark Galeotti’s Mythic Russia game

Long term goals are things that are life goals, and are only achievable over the period of a linked set of adventures, commonly known as a ‘campaign’.

Example long term motives.

• Become King of the Amber Lands.
• Defeat the evil Sorcerer Zanab Khan.
• Become the richest man in Red Hat County.
• Avenge my Father’s death.

Short term motives are usually relevant to the adventure currently being played, and are determined near the beginning of the session by the Players.

For example a set of short term goals coming out of a Royal Monster hunt in the bleak ice deserts of Zhaind

• Kill the biggest monster on the hunt.
• Secure the rights to trade the hides of the monsters.
• Use the hunt to impress the King and improve their social standing at court.
• Map the ice deserts of Zhaind to increase the body of knowledge of the Royal Library.

At the end of character generation choose two long term Motives for your character and at the beginning of the adventure choose a suitable short term motive.

Every time a motive is brought into play in a concrete way, the character earns one improvement per session.

Short term motives are removed at the end of the session, and if completed earn an additional two improvement points.

When a Long term motive is finally achieved it is removed from the player’s character sheet and the character earns five improvement points.

As well as giving the Players inspiration on how to roleplay their character, motives also drive the direction of play as they strive to bring into play motives to earn improvement points. The Games Master makes a note of motives and creates events which provide opportunity for the player to bring their motives into play.

Designer’s Notes

Motives were in the game almost up until its release. They were removed because I felt at the time that they belonged more in a narrative game than in a straight D100 game.

Motives work well were you want the players to push their characters play through goals that they are pursuing.  Not only does the player have the incentive to achieve the goal in a roleplaying sense but also to gain the Improvement Point bonus.

This rule definitely needs play testing in a long term campaign.  Motives work very well in con games, since they give the players an immediate handle on what their character is trying to achieve. I’ve found that players often try to achieve all three Motives in the space of the game, leading to much friendly competition