Experience points are what let your character learn and grow. At the end of each adventure session your Narrator will award you a number of XP. These can be spent on any skill you successfully used during the course of the playing session. It costs a number of XP equal to the skill level you are attempting to buy to increase your level with a skill and you must pay for each new level in turn. For example, if you had pistol +1 and wanted to get to pistol +2, it would cost you 2 XP. If you had pistol +1 and you wanted to get to pistol +3 then it would cost you 5 XP. That would be 2 XP to get you to pistol +2, then 3 XP to get to pistol +3. You do not need to spend XP, they can be saved from session to session and spent when you like. If you can find someone to teach you, you can learn a skill you don’t already possess at a cost of 2 XP. This gets you the basic skill. You then have to spend XP to get skill levels.
Here is the master list of all the skills available to the PC’s in A Fistful of Credits.
Blade This skill is a measure of how good you are with chainswords, swords and daggers
Bludgeon This is a measure of how good you are with clubs, maces, axes and other impact weapons of this type.
Climbing This skill is a measure of how well you can climb up walls, cliffs and other vertical or near vertical surfaces.
Dodge This skill shows how good you are at dodging. It is used as a modifier against ranged attacks whenever you are aware of an incoming attack. There is no non-proficiency penalty for not having dodge. Everyone can try and do it.
Driving This skill shows how good you are at driving ground vehicles.
Forceblade This is a measure of your proficiency with the deadly close combat weapon known as a forceblade.
Handgun This skill is a measure of how good you are with all pistols.
Heavy Weapon This is a measure of how good you are with machine guns and other heavy automatic fire weapons.
Martial Arts This is the highly sophisticated form of unarmed combat training originally perfected in the Shogunate. This skill gives you a basic damage multiplier of 1 in hand to hand combat rather than the usual 0.5 that most people get when fighting with their bare hands.
Pickpocket This skill measures your ability to pick pockets without being noticed. It is resisted with your victims Intelligence.
Quick Draw (Weapon Type) This skill lets you draw a weapon and attack with it in the same action phase, providing you make a successful Quick Draw roll. You need a different version of this skill for each weapon you intend to quick draw with. Quick draw can generally only be used with handguns and blades.
Rifle This is a measure of how good you are with all rifle type weapons.
Ride (Beast) This tells you how well you ride certain creatures. The name of the creature is given in the brackets. Riding is a limiting skill. When you are riding, your other DX based skills are limited to your riding. So if you had riding 3 and sword 5, you could only use your sword at level 3 while you were mounted.
Special Weapon (Type) This is a catch all skill description for all those weapons that are so specialized that they need a special skill to use them, for example Special Weapon (Psi Blaster) or Special Weapon (Ice Gun). Where a weapon requires a special weapon skill, this will be stated in the weapon’s description.
Security Systems This skill shows your ability at picking locks and overcoming security systems of all sorts.
Stealth This skill shows how good you are at moving quietly, using cover and generally not being noticed.
Thrown Weapons This skill is a measure of how good you are with thrown weapons such as grenades, stones, shuriken and spears. There are no separate slots for these. They all come under one category.
Unarmed Combat This skill is used as a modifier in hand to hand combat using your bare hands and feet. Retractable claws and other weapons attached to bionic implants use this skill.
Awareness This is a measure of your awareness of your surroundings and ability to spot unusual things. It is used by the Narrator when someone tries to pick your pocket or ambush you.
Fast Talk This skill is a measure to talk people into doing things not always in their best interests. You can con, sell, lie and cheat with the best of them if you have a high rating in this skill.
Gamble This shows your knowledge of various forms of gambling for money and measures your skill with them. It is used as a modifier whenever you gamble, whenever you attempt to cheat or whenever someone attempts to cheat you.
Healing This measures your skill at patching up, and healing wounds and diseases, and of performing first aid on the wounded.
Interrogation This skill is a measure of your ability to gain information from an unwilling prisoner or informant.
Intimidate This skill is a measure of your ability to inspire fear and cause people to think twice about crossing you.
Navigator You know how to find your way across the trackless deserts of Waste World. You can tell your position from the stars, the rough lay of the land, etc.
Seduction This tells you how good you are at seducing members of the opposite sex.
Shadowing/ Tailing This measures your ability to follow someone without being noticed in an urban environment. It is also a measure of your ability to spot people when they try to do the same to you.
Streetwise This is a measure of how you handle situations involving lowlife and street scum. It is an indicator of your “street smarts.”
Survival This is a measure of your ability to survive in the deadly deserts and zones of Waste World. To use this skill properly you will require the proper equipment; a survival pack and other gear.
Tracking This skill is a measure of how good you are at following
tracks and trails in a wilderness situation. If you succeed in your tracking
roll by 3 or more then you will be able to tell more than the basic details
about the direction of the trail. You will be able to make a good rough guess
at how many vehicles or individuals there are.
Ambidextrous You can use either hand just as well, and can carry a
weapon in each hand and use both with no penalty for using the off hand.
This can be particularly useful if you lose the use of a hand during
combat.
Armor Your skin may be scaly and reptilian. It may be thick and rhinoceros
like. It may be covered in a thick insect like carapace or covered by
intermeshing plates of bone or cartilage. It does not matter. You have armor
that is cumulative with any other armor you wear.
Beautiful/Handsome You are extremely beautiful or handsome. This gives
you +2 on all fast talk, trade and seduction rolls.
Bloodhound scent This ability allows you to track like a bloodhound
if you make a successful scent perception roll.
Dark sight You can see in the dark light a cat. So long as their is
even the faintest hint of illumination you can see.
Fangs You have huge spiky teeth that let you make an extra 1M attack
in close combat.
Hardy You are tougher than most people. You do get +3 modifier when
making death rolls.
Keen eyes Your eyes are amazingly keen. +2 to all sight Perception
rolls.
Keen ears Your ears are amazingly keen. +2 to all hearing Perception
rolls.
Spiked tail You have a massive spiked tail that allows you to do an
additional 1M+2 attack in close combat.
The following cybernetic implants are commonly available in Waste World
Lite.
Cybernetic eyes One, or both, of your eyes can be replaced with a machine hooked to your optic nerve. Your bionic eye may have one or more of the following subsystems.
Iris. This eye allows you to see heat signatures, which enable you to spot foes even in pitch dark. You see objects as red heat outlines. The hotter the object, the brighter it glows in your sight.
Targeting eye. Your bionic eye superimposes targeting crosshairs and a digital readout telling you the speed, vector and velocity of anything you look at. This gives you +1 to hit with any ranged weapon. Cost: 500 M.
Telescopic eye. You have a telescopic eye hooked to your optic nerve and linked to powerful image enhancement software. This enables you to see up to 100x as far as you normally might. You can see clearly to the horizon, with no penalties.
Bionic arm You have had one of your limbs replaced with mechanical prosthetics, powered by servo motors and sheathed in plastic synthskin. You can use the bionic arm’s ST as a damage bonus when you hit in close combat with any weapon held by that arm. This is used in place of your own ST. Bionic arms can have the following subsystems:
Retractable claws. These claws are honed to glittering razor sharpness, capable of slicing the flesh of any foe. They do 1M+1 damage in close combat.
Bionic legs These legs are used to replace limbs lost during combat. They are mechanical creations, every bit as good as the ones they replace. You can use the legs to make an additional kick attack in close combat, doing 1M+ the leg’s ST. The leg’s ST damage is used in place of your own ST damage bonus when making this attack.
Super leap legs. This subsystem of bionic legs uses mighty pneumatic
pistons to enable you to make great leaps. You can spring up to five times
your normal jumping height and distance.
The following weapon systems are available in Waste World Lite:
Chainsword Favored by Skavengers and the more brutal slum criminals
of Waste World, this is a long blade wrapped with duralloy chainsaw teeth
and powered by an electric motor in the hilt - makes this a favorite among
the more psychotic warriors of Waste World. It makes a throaty roar when
activated, and the distinctive sound made as it rends through armor, rips
through flesh and then saws through bone is never forgotten by anyone who
hears it. Damage: 1M+4.
Bayonet/Dagger The standard fighting knife in Waste World is wickedly
sharp and almost half a meter long. They are carried by all Skavengers. Bayonets
are knives that are clipped onto the end of rifles and other long barreled
ranged weapons. Damage: 1M.
Forceblade First created during the dark days of the Demon Wars, this weapon proved to be invaluable against human foes as well as Demons. It was swiftly adopted by the samurai of the Shogunate as their favored close combat weapon, and is now their badge of office.
This innocuous looking weapon appears to be little more than a short duralloy tube when it is not in use. That appearance is deceptive. When the activation stud is pushed, a meter long blade of pure force is projected from the active end of the tube. This blade is capable of shearing through any material substance. It can hurt energy beings such as Demons even when they are in nonmaterial form, disrupting the balance of their energy fields.
Forceblades ignore all armor, it does not even slow them down. Damage: 1M
Power gauntlet This weapon was originally designed for the use of
the Promethean hero, Amalrik Deathstorm, in his campaigns against the Swarm.
It is designed to give a human being a fighting chance in close combat, even
against a Swarm Hivelord. Using his power gauntlet, Amalrik killed 19 Swarm
warriors at the Battle of Malakar before being overwhelmed by their sheer
numbers. The plans for this weapon were stored by the Promethean Overminds
and put into mass production in the autofacs after the great man’s death.
A power gauntlet is a massive mechanical glove that sheathes its user’s entire fist. It contains an array of servo motors and bionic enhancers and is capable of crushing stone in its grasp. Most power gauntlets have retractable blades in their fingers, which can be used to inflict terrible ripping damage on a foe. Damage: 2M+2.
This category includes swords, axes and all other non powered, one-handed weapons. Damage: 1M.
This category includes greatswords, halberds and two handed axes. In fact it includes all non powered weapons that require both hands to use. Damage: 1M+1.
This is the damage you can do with your bare hands and feet unless you are trained in the martial arts. Martial artists do a base one damage multiplier damage. Damage: half your number of successes round down.
Assault Rifle This is the standard assault rifle used throughout history.
It fires standard issue 6.66 caliber slugs at a high rate. It is capable
of fully sustained automatic fire. This is a common weapon among Skavengers
who like it for its ease of use, ease of repair and the ready availability
of ammunition. The most famous manufacturers of assault rifles are the Janusians.
Some estimates claim that over 100 million rifles a year are manufactured
there. CR R D T 30 500 1M F
Autopistol This is the standard semi automatic pistol, most commonly
manufactured in Janus and sold almost everywhere. It uses the ultra common
6.66 caliber slug. Cheap, reliable and portable, this is the sidearm of choice
for most people. CR R D T 15 100 1M X
Blaster The blaster is a heavy, long barreled energy rifle manufactured mostly in Prometheus and the Shogunate. It fires bolts of super heated plasma, capable of disrupting the energy structure of a Psidemon. It combines excellent range with spectacular hitting power. In theory it is restricted for sale only to samurai and Promethean citizens, but, of course, huge numbers find their way out onto the black market. That does nothing to bring down the already high prices. CR R D T 30 1,000 1M+2 F
Blaster Pistol This is the short barreled pistol version of the blaster plasma weapon. It has all the vices and virtues of its rifle cousin. It is the standard issue sidearm for all Promethean legionaries, and most citizens have at least one in their homes for protection against intruders. CR R D T 20 200 1M+2 X
Laser Pistol Somewhat less powerful than the laser rifle is the pistol variant. This is small and easily portable, but it lacks the hitting power and sheer range of its larger counterparts. It does have a niche market with assassins and hit men, who like the fact that it is silent. CR R D T 30 1,000 1M S
Laser Rifle This is the most common available laser weapon, the long barreled rifle favored by hunters and assassins everywhere. CR R D T 50 5,000 1M F
Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) This is the heavy machine gun favored for infantry support throughout history, and even now found bolted to the roll bars of Skavenger dune buggies and carried by Skavenger warrior’s . It is most commonly and reliably manufactured in Janus, but Skavengers still find caches in the ruins of the destroyed megacities. It uses belts of the ubiquitous 6.66 caliber bullets. CR R D T 100 1,500 1M+2 O
Shotgun The shotgun is a commonly available weapon and fires charges containing many pellets. Although its armor penetration power is low, it is very effective against lightly armored targets, since its shots can scatter. All armor with an AR rating of five or more counts double against a shotgun. CR R D T 30 60 1M+2 x
Grenades Grenades are thrown weapons that you lob at the enemy.
Flash This powerful device blasts out a dazzling flash of light, temporarily blinding all targets within its range. Certain creatures are particularly sensitive to this light and may actually take damage from it. That will blind a target for d6 combat rounds if they fail to make a DX roll to shield their eyes.
Hex These powerful shaped-charges explode, sending shrapnel everywhere and inflicting damage on all within three meters. Hex Grenades are random damage weapons. Instead of checking how many successes you get, you roll dice for their damage. Damage: 2d6+2.
Plasma These grenades contain an overloaded plasma generator, which explodes on a time detonation fuse, bathing everything within three meters in superheated plasma. Plasma grenades are random damage weapons. Instead of checking how many successes you get, you roll dice for their damage. Damage: 2d6.
Web These grenades release thousands of filaments of sticky fluid, that swiftly harden to form a cocoon around their victim, preventing movement. In their hardened state, these filaments are tough enough to resist the efforts of all but the strongest of creatures to free themselves. Although tough, these filaments are permeable by air and thus will not suffocate a target. This makes them a favorite restraining device for law enforcement agencies. Web grenades will immobilize anyone with ST three or less. Alert victims get a DX roll to avoid being splashed. If they make this DX roll the grenade has no affect. Otherwise they are immobilised until they are cut free by their friends or for one hour when the web evaporates.
Carapace Carapace armor is grown in tanks and attaches itself to the body of its wearer as a symbiote. It is almost as tough as ceramic armor, with the added advantage that it can have all sorts of bio systems added to it.
Few, save Hydrans, mutants and Xenogens, will wear it since there is a common prejudice that such symbiotes can steal a man’s soul. Carapace armor is favored by Hydrans and mutants, as it is genetically tailored and adapts itself to its user’s special abilities, allowing wings to grow through, for example.
Spiked carapace armor lets you attack anyone who attacks you in close combat with an immediate 1M attack. They basically impale themselves on the spikes as they attack. You make your attack simultaneously with their’s.
Symbsuits are a much more sophisticated biotechnological variant of carapace armor manufactured exclusively in the city of Hydra. The symbiote fuses with its wearer and lives by photosynthesis and recycling the wearer’s wastes, which it converts back into nutrients.
Symbsuits extrude tendrils through every orifice of their wearer’s body and effectively become part of him. They contain many filtration systems that make their wearers immune to toxins and disease. The wearer of a symbsuit can exist for a month in the desert on a piece of fruit and a thimbleful of water. They grant immunity to poisons.
Light Carapace is armor is AR:2.
Medium Carapace armor is AR:4.
Heavy Carapace armor is AR:6.
Ceramic This layered and polished armor is padded and capable of resisting most forms of impact damage. It can be molded into many strange and exotic shapes and is the most common military armor of Waste World.
Light Ceramic Armor is AR:3.
Medium Ceramic Armor is AR:6.
Heavy Ceramic Armor is AR:9.
Hide This is the most primitive of armor, used by Wastelanders and urban street gangs. It provides very little protection against bullets and energy weapons, although it will slow a blade. Hide armor is AR:1.
Biosensor This device is capable of detecting life energy at a range of up to 100 meters. It will tell the user the rough size and strength of the detected entity and also the numbers. It projects blips on a simple radial screen that shows all entities detected within the radius of the device’s power.
Camocloak Camocloaks are manufactured from photosensitive material that reacts to ambient light and color, creating a quick changing disruptive pattern. They make their wearer very hard to spot at a distance. There is a -2 to the sight perception roll of anyone trying to spot their wearer.
Emegency Beacon This small panic button device comes in the form of a broach or belt buckle. When activated it sends out a sub-ether communication pulse that can be detected up to 10 kilometers away. This can be picked up by any normal comm-system or by the Skorpio Locators. They will indicate direction and distance to the person in distress.
Grapnel Gun This hand-portable device uses a suspensor-field generator and a gravitic charger to shoot a grapnel up to 300 meters. The grapnel contains self-expanding hooks that it extrudes when it reaches a preprogrammed distance or when it encounters enough resistance to brace itself. The microfine wire is capable of supporting up to 1,000 kilograms of weight.
Guncam These are often attached to military issue weaponry. They perform several functions. First, they contain digital image magnifiers that act as powerful sights for the weapon’s user. Second, they send out coded, pulsed frequencies allowing an officer to monitor what his men are seeing, through their sights. The images can be shown on a master control panel, or within the heads up display in an officer’s field visor. They add +2 to hit on any attack over close range.
Rebreather Rebreathers protect you from the effects of all gases and airborn poisons.
Stink Bomb These grenades emit a foul regurgitant gas that induces vomiting and nausea in any unprotected person who breathes it. Some people are allergic to the gas and it causes them to suffer severe respiratory difficulties or even choke to death. These side effects have not prevented the gas from being used as a crowd control weapon in many megacities. The cloud extends for 5 meters. Anyone caught within it must make a ST roll at the start of each action phase or be incapable of action due to vomiting and nausea.
Skorpio Locator Each player character has one of these strapped to their lists. It gives them a readout on distance and direction to the black stasis box which they seek. Because of atmospheric conditions and disturbances caused by Entropic Flux, they only work when within 10 kilometers of the black stasis box.
WASTE WORLD is a trademark of Manticore Productions Limited.
All Contents Copyright © Manticore Productions Limited, 1997.
All other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
No challenge to these trademarks is intended.
Contact: info@manticor.com