Skill Based and General Character Knowledge 7 page

If you put in one point, this trait grants you all of the above bonuses, making you functionally part machine. The damage threshold of your cyborg is increased by +6, but only in the location of their prosthetic. The machine components don’t have to be extensive at this level, nor must they be visible – perhaps your waster had an eye enhanced, or has an artificial leg below the knee on one side. Maybe they have an artificial organ.

For three character creation points, characters are more machine than flesh, likely having 3-4 cyber limbs and many more internal components and implants, such as cyber eyes or a built-in pipbuck interface. The damage threshold bonus for this level of cybernetic enhancement is a +3 bonus to the entire cyborg – all locations (even otherwise unmodified locations need artificial strengthening in order to support the surrounding cybernetics). They do not need to eat or sleep as normal ponies (though an hour or three of sleep every few days is still recommended, lest they go insane), and must consume gems and scrap metal as normal ponies would consume food. Depending on how advanced the cybernetic systems are they may be unable to move silently or have other downsides. All 3-point cyber ponies have internal repair talismans (often more than one) that are very nearly indestructible; that doesn’t mean they’re indestructible, mind you - eating a balefire egg omelet is still a bad idea.

Cybernetic components must be regularly fed crushed or whole gems and bits of scrap metal or electronic components to keep them functional. All cyber prostheses have compartments into which these materials can be placed, some of them considerably less obvious than others (some ponies even ‘eat’ their gems and scrap metal alongside normal food). For the purposes of bookkeeping, cyber prostheses should be ‘fed” crystals or alternative power sources as a normal pony would consume food and water; a limb that is approximately ¼ the size of a pony should require crystals about ¼ as often, excepting under heavy use when it may consume more.

Crystals allow the limbs to function at full power, while scrap metal initiates repairs and maintains components via the repair talisman installed within the device. Less complex prostheses may lack repair talismans (and thus the ability to accept scrap metal as a means of self-repair), but still require power. If the repair talisman is damaged, the cybernetic component can be repaired using the repair skill, though it will take considerably longer to do so. Fully functional repair talismans initiate repairs whenever damage is present and scrap metal is available to them, and recover wounds at a rate of one wound per 15 minutes in most cases. Differing models of repair talisman and varying conditions may alter this.

Characters with this trait at the 3-point level may purchase the Implanted trait at a reduced cost – they need only spend one character creation point for their first additional implant instead of two.

D. A. R. E. ing Do (Cannot be taken with Addiction or Addictive Personality) – Due to a quirk of genetics, or perhaps due to some anti-drug program that they were indoctrinated into within their stable as a child, your pony is extremely resistant to the addictive effects of drugs, chems and medicines. While this background edge doesn’t negate any of the side effects of such substances, it does provide a +20 bonus to resist addiction to a substance. This bonus immediately counter-balances the addiction chance penalty on either INT or END rolls made to prevent addiction; for most substances, it more than compensates for the substance’s addiction chance. Characters choosing to take this trait must select whether their bonus applies to END or INT, and they cannot pick both. This trait cannot be taken more than once. For more information on addiction, see the Medicine and Drugs header under Equipment of the Wastelands.

Disease Resistant – For whatever reasons, your pony has an extremely strong immune system. They are resistant to the diseases of the wasteland. If they’ve been exposed to a disease of any sort, even if the disease generally does not grant a roll to prevent its onset or effects, they may make an endurance roll. The base TN of the roll depends on the disease, but unless the disease wouldn’t normally allow a roll, wastelanders with this trait get a +20 bonus to resist it. For more information on disease, see “Dangers of the Wasteland”, later on in this document.

Faith (Cannot be taken with Faithless) – While it may be unusual for many non-pony races, having faith in the goddesses Celestia and Luna is as natural to most ponies as eating grass or trying to avoid radioactive fallout. Regardless of race, characters with this trait have an abnormally strong faith in the princesses. They use this faith as a basis for their endeavors – their beacon of light in the darkness of the wasteland. This is not the same as the Optimistic Hindrance; players with faith simply radiate a degree of hope and serenity that is rare in the wasteland. Barring a crisis of faith that might be caused by seeing a particularly horrible abomination, or perhaps seeing the corpse of one of the goddesses, characters with faith tend to be a little bit healthier in the head.

Characters with this trait may, once per session on a single die roll, change the range of a critical success for themselves. This roll cannot be an act that the goddesses would frown upon, such as killing an innocent, and the player must declare that they’re calling on divine assistance before they roll. Critical failures still occur on rolls of 1-5, but the critical success range for this roll is now any 5 number spread (or 10 number spread, if they’ve taken the finesse perk) that the player chooses. This range must be declared before rolling, and cannot include the range for which they would roll a critical failure.

In addition, characters with this trait, or characters who are friends with a character who has this trait, have an easier time getting over, and a harder time getting, mental hindrances through gameplay. If a character in the group has this trait and another character in the group would normally gain a mental hindrance from something they’ve just experienced, the character with the trait must roll Charisma, MFD ½ with any applicable bonuses and penalties. If they succeed, the character does not get the hindrance. If they fail, the hindrance is acquired as normal. If the faithful character critically fails this roll, then they cannot attempt to make another roll to prevent a hindrance this session. If they critically fail three sessions in a row then the character has a crisis of faith, making this ability (and the +5 bonus on a roll) temporarily unavailable until they are able to restore their faith in the goddesses by some in-game means.

Foal at Heart (Cannot be taken with Young) –This trait opens up dialog options with younger NPCs of all races that may not have previously been available to adult or elderly characters. Your GM may give you suggestions on what to say and should change how younger characters will react towards you. Characters with this trait receive a temporary attribute bonus of +2 to their Charisma Attribute when dealing with younger NPCs, up to a maximum effective attribute score of 12. Alicorns, zebra and pony races may opt to take Foal at Heart at character creation in order to join the Crusaders.

Formal Education (Cannot be taken with Abandoned or Illiterate)– Not the same as the Egghead or Bookworm level-up perks, this trait focuses instead on the breadth and depth of your knowledge rather than how well trained you are in extracting that knowledge from your experiences. Characters with a formal education can be treated as knowing basic background information about Equestria, such as what the war was fought over, how the ministries were founded, what the Sun is, who was in charge of Stable-Tec, etc.

In situations where it is unknown if a pony would know something, rather than roll a normal intelligence roll as described in the “Skill Based and General Character Knowledge” section, they may make an intelligence roll with a +10 bonus to determine whether or not they know something about whatever the topic at hoof may be. Slightly less well known facts, such as the order in which cities were hit by megaspells, the name of the location where Princess Luna’s school of magic once stood, or the fact that the Enclave can only grow certain types of crops (if you’re not a pegasus) are good examples of knowledge that could be obtained in this manner. Knowledge that a character has is always ultimately subject to GM approval.

Good Luck Charm (Cannot be taken with Bad Luck Charm or Jinxed) –You’re lucky to have around! Whether or not you’re lucky yourself, when you’re around all of your companions seem to fare better. Once per session, you may allow one other character (not including yourself) to reroll a failure or critical failure. If your group is playing with the Live by Luck rules, you may activate this ability additional times per session at the cost of two luck cards per time - still more reliable than having them spend luck cards themselves for the same effect. At the beginning of each session all other group members (including any NPC companions, not including you) draw one additional luck card.

Heavenly Vision (Cannot be taken by Ghouls, Canterlot Ghouls, or Hellhounds) –Darling, you look simply GORGEOUS! Everypony knows it – you’re the most beautiful mare (or most handsome stallion) ever to grace the wasteland with their presence. You receive a +10 roll bonus to all charisma-based rolls (including skills), and if you take any of the Pony Romance perks or traits you deal an extra 1d10 of damage whenever they apply.

You may also find that others of the same gender hate you for being so beautiful – they’re just jealous, darling--and as a result, those enemies who see you as competition will go out of their way to cause trouble for you. Enemies who might see you as “reproductive competition” (those who have the same –ahem-- appetite as you do, regardless of actual reproductive ability) will deal an extra 1d10 damage towards you. Enemies that find you attractive, on the other hoof, will never shoot to kill such a heavenly vision as yourself – at least not until you shoot to try and kill them (or their friends) first.

Implanted (Cannot be taken by Alicorns, or with Canterlot Ghoul or Zebra Augmented; costs 2 or more Character Creation Points) –Your character has had at least one cybernetic implant that is completely internal. For mares in many stables, sterility implants were commonplace – that’s not the kind of implant this trait is talking about (such an implant would be an associated benefit of the Stable Dweller trait). For your character this is a relatively major implant, such as one that would increase your attribute score by one, boost your natural healing rate, help you better regulate your body temperature to survive in extreme climates, or grant you increased resistance to certain poisons, among other possibilities. A list of example implants (ignoring attribute-score increasing implants due to their obvious effects) is provided below. This list is certainly not exhaustive – implants can come in many different shapes and sizes and have any number of different effects besides those shown in the examples provided.

Table IX: Example Implants

Implants cost two creation points for the first implant and one additional point for each additional implant, to prevent players from taking implants frivolously in place of traits that would grant similar effects. GMs have the final say on what implants a player can have (i.e. what was available to them), as well as the function of said implants. Most implants require power beyond what the character’s body can supply and have a power source of some kind as a result – this may change a character’s dietary habits (i.e. they need to consume metal or gemstones occasionally), or they may power them via externally accessed battery compartments.

In the case of implants that increase your attribute scores, please note that you cannot increase any attribute score by more than one point by way of implants. Theoretically, you can obtain attribute scores of greater than 10 with implants in this fashion, especially if used in conjunction with Wasteland Weirdo or one of the many other traits that affect your attribute scores.

Note that implants can sometimes be obtained through normal play, generally through paying a skilled doctor to do the surgery or bartering for the use and services of an Auto-Doc.

Internal/Concealed Storage – Your character is capable of concealing something no bigger than the size of a small mouth-gun or tool on their person, even when stripped to the nude. For Cyberponies and Implanted characters, this may be a compartment within their prostheses. For most characters, however—Eww, they’re keeping that where? What if it goes off?!

You get the general idea. Those characters with the Slave hindrance may choose to receive this trait at no point cost, due to the conditions of slavery generally preventing them from keeping their prized possessions safe in any other way. Hellhounds, it should be noted, have a difficult time with this one – the sharp claws can make accidents in storage or retrieval fairly lethal (AGI MFD ½ or you cut yourself with your own claws for 3d12 damage).

Iron Stomach (Cannot be taken by Ghouls)– Not to be confused with Omnivore or “Tastes Fine to Me!” ponies with this trait can stomach just about anything (though they might not care much for the taste). This does not include meat if they’re an herbivore, but it does include exceptionally tainted or radioactive food, food that has begun to rot, or food that may be poisoned, negating any rolls that would be required by normal ponies with lesser gastrointestinal fortitude. They won’t suffer penalties to keep food down, and will never suffer from food poisoning unless there was actual poison in their food. Nasty side effects of what they’re eating, such as poison, taint, or radiations are slightly reduced, and this trait does not expand a character’s dietary requirements. If they’re an herbivore, their system will still not be able to get the nutrition it needs from meat (even bacon, sadly), and carnivores with this trait won’t find plants looking any tastier.

In technical terms, characters with an iron stomach recover the same amount of health from rotten or spoiled food as normal food, and they only get half the amount of taint or radiation from it that any other character would. They also get hefty bonus resisting ingested poisons, equivalent to raising the MFD one step (from Very Difficult to Hard, from Hard to Normal, etc.)

Large (cannot be taken with Pipsqueak or Young) - Some ponies are just way bigger than others. This trait represents this. Large characters receive a -5 penalty to rolls made to dodge, a -5 penalty to all sneak rolls (roll penalty; this stacks with itself for multiple instances of this trait), and may not always be able to fit into tight spaces. In combat, however, they only receive a wound for every 12 points of damage dealt to them at first level, which increases at the standard rate (one point every three levels). Out of combat, this trait also grants characters an additional 20 units of carrying capacity. Large characters are 2d8” taller and (2d8*10) units of weight heavier than normal-sized members of their race or species.

Lucky (Cannot be taken with Jinxed or Bad Luck) – Some ponies are just luckier than others. If you’re using the Live by Luck rules, such ponies should get an extra luck card every session to reflect this. Whether or not you’re using those rules, ponies with this trait may choose to reroll a single die roll once per session per time they’ve taken this trait. They may choose between the two rolls to pick the one they like best (which needn’t necessarily be the best one), and they can still spend an additional luck card to re-roll if using the LbL rules. This ability can be used on critical failures without first having to reduce them to normal failures using the method described in the LbL rules.

This trait can be taken up to three times, and grants an additional (luck card and) die roll per session for each time it is taken.

Magical Savant (Requires 2 Character Creation Points. Requires INT 8 or higher, Magic as a racial ability; cannot be taken with Imprecise Magic, Stubby Little Horn or One Trick Pony) -Your character is a magical prodigy!

This trait allows a unicorn, alicorn, zebra or half-breed to reduce the level requirement for learning a spell by two levels. It also doubles the number of spells a character can learn at each spell level. These effects do not stack for those equines who also take Arcane Devotion.

This trait represents a natural magical affinity. Magical Savant characters are capable of learning spells or recipes more easily than most, and receive a +10 roll bonus to learn new, different and/or more powerful versions of recipes or spells when they push a recipe or spell beyond its normal limits or attempt to combine different types of magics. Savant unicorns find that they are better able to sustain spells, allowing them to reduce the physical strain cost of a spell by 1 (minimum one), and reducing the time it takes them to recover from magical burnout by half. For more information on the physical strain cost of spells and on magical burnout, see the Magic section.

Savant zebra have an innate understanding of natural magical flow that aids them in combining ingredients to achieve desired results, and may replace rare ingredients with much greater ease. They require only 3 of a lower level of ingredient to replace an ingredient of the level above it (as opposed to the normal 4), and may now replace “high” rarity level ingredients with 9 “low” rarity ingredients. Note that “very high” rarity ingredients are still not able to be replaced by medium rarity ingredients. For more information on Zebra spell casting, see the Magic section.

Ministry Descendant (No creation point cost, Pony or Pony Half-breed races only) – Ponies with this hindrance are a direct descendant of one of the six ministry mares – one of the mane six – or one of their close friends and/or personal advisors. Don’t get the wrong idea, players – yes, this trait has a character creation point cost of zero, but that’s because it requires GM approval, and comes with a few very important caveats. So listen close, kiddies, this one’s important:

This trait is completely subject to GM approval. The ministry mares weren’t known to have produced any offspring before the war reached its abrupt conclusion. Therefore, a character with ministry blood can only mean one of two things: either they are a descendant of a relative of one of the ministry mares, or they are a descendant of a lovechild produced by a secret affair. Both of these require GM approval because of their effects on the story, and the accommodations that must be made to reveal this background to the character and the player.

No, that wasn’t a typo – both the player and the character with this trait don’t necessarily know which ministry mare they’re a descendant of! In some cases, like Lil Pip, the answer is obvious and can be revealed through casual scrutiny of their family history and genealogy. In other cases, however… well, it can be said truthfully that the ministry mares wove a very twisted tapestry within their government. The source of ministry blood for Project Horizon’s Blackjack is such an example. The decision of which ministry mare or high ranking official the character descended from is ultimately up to the GM, and they should pick it to best suit the story that they are creating, not base it off which pony their players think is best.

So what exactly does this trait do? Well, it mostly grants characters access to restricted areas. Players with this trait can access any area that their ancestors would have wanted no one but themselves and their close relatives having access to. Classified ministry safe rooms, data storage, personal studies, you name it – many such areas were sealed off to anyone but the highest ranking members of the ministries and the princesses, the only other means of access granted by specialized talismans that decayed and had to be renewed by the ministry mares themselves at regular intervals. Some areas are even keyed to specific members of the mane six, such as many areas in the Ministry of Awesome hubs and large areas within the Ministry of Arcane Sciences hub in Tenpony Tower. This trait also grants access to locked containers and restricted data encrypted for access only by ministry mares. If there are robotic systems, security or otherwise, that scan for and accommodate high ranking members of government, there is a good chance that they will identify characters with this trait as their respective ministry descendant (though they probably won’t be able to say who it is they’ve identified the character as!).

Ministry Employee (No creation point cost, Alicorns, Cyberponies, Ghouls and Canterlot Ghouls only. Cannot be taken with Illiterate) - Similar to the Ministry Descendant trait above, this trait represents the ability your character has to access restricted areas, items, and information. The difference between the two is that this perk does not represent the fact that your character is related to a ministry mare or someone with security clearance – it represents that they have the security clearance themselves. This perk can only be taken by characters that are old enough to have worked for one of the six ministries.

As a result of their experiences working for the ministries, they know how things ran, at least in the small area of the ministry that they worked for. The odds are good that they lack any still-usable identification or passcodes from their time spent working there, but the information they may have on specific facilities, security procedures, and projects can prove invaluable and potentially even life-saving in many situations. What exactly they did and what they know as a result should be discussed with your GM; this perk can accommodate everypony from the lowliest janitor to the right-hoof mare of Rainbow Dash. It goes without saying that this perkis completely subject to GM approval.

Named Weapon/Armor – Your waster has a weapon or armor that’s very special – so special and unique, in fact, that it has a name of its own. For each time they take this trait, your character gains one unique named weapon (or set of weapons, in the case of pistols or knives) or piece of armor (either helmet or bodysuit). For help on constructing a named weapon or piece of armor--you must have bought or otherwise obtained the base item first, for example--see the Named Weapons section under Equipment. Griffins who take the Organization: Mercenary/Bounty Hunter trait receive this trait once for free, and must choose use it on a weapon rather than on a piece of armor. This trait can only be taken once per character at creation unless taken in tandem with Organization: Mercenary/Bounty Hunter; if taken with Organization: Mercenary/Bounty Hunter, this trait can be taken up to three times, which includes the first free instance for Griffin characters.

Omnivore (Cannot be taken by Ghouls or with Picky)– Characters with this hindrance have a more diverse diet than their fellow wastelanders. Herbivorous races find themselves able to eat meat with no gastrointestinal detriment, and carnivorous races find themselves able to survive on a diet of plants without noticeably diminishing their health or cognitive abilities. Ponies with this trait may finally fully appreciate the wonder that is bacon.

Oh yes, and the fact that they can stomach a more diverse diet also gives 3 extra ranks to the omnivore characters’ Survival skill.

Open Minded (Cannot be taken with Prejudiced) - You lack your race’s natural prejudices against other races, and may ignore the penalties to charisma-based skills normally imposed by interacting with them. This is most useful for ponies, who otherwise suffer a -20 CHA penalty versus Alicorns and Zebra, a -15 penalty versus Sand Dogs, and a -30 penalty versus Hellhounds. With a Speechcraft skill roll (which you’re now not taking huge penalties on), you can convince members of these other races that you’re not like those other ponies/zebras/etc., and that you mean no ill intent. The MFD for this roll is situational, and it’s probably just not going to work if the target in question is currently trying to kill you. This trait is recommended for those planning on taking Virtue: Kindness.

Organization (Cannot be taken with Stable Dweller or Abandoned, Costs 0-3 Character Creation Points)– Your pony belongs to an organization, one of the many in the wasteland. This trait can only be taken once at character creation, and only grants membership to a single organization per time it is taken. Most groups don’t get along too well, and would rather you not belong to any others – only so much loyalty to go around these days.

This trait is frequently given out by GMs at a reduced cost or at no cost at all simply as part of a character’s backstory. Characters who are considering taking this perk for purely backstory purposes at no or reduced cost should talk with their GM about the benefits they receive from their group, which may be reduced or eliminated as a result.

Group item benefits are in addition to whatever standard gear you might receive at character creation (300 caps worth).

- Caesar’s Legion (aka Remnants) or Proditor (must pick one of the two) (Zebra or Minotaur only)– Your zebra either comes from one of the tribes that have banded together to form the last remaining zebra forces in Equestria loyal to the Caesar, or comes from one of the tribes that have broken away from the zebra loyalists.

As a member of Caesar’s legion, you have a strong distrust of ponies, and a downright hatred of alicorns. Coupled with your advanced survival training, zebra weapons and talismans, and horrifically effective hunting techniques, this means bad news for any ponies you come across. For you, the war never ended – and any pony or proditor (Zebra for traitor) that’s still breathing is still your enemy, unless they can do a damn good job of convincing you otherwise (or if it would be more convenient to let them live for the moment). Remnant/Legionnaire zebras are exceptionally skilled at sneaking and survival, receiving a +5 rank bonus to both skills on top of their racial bonus skill ranks, in addition to a +5 rank bonus to Zebra Magic gained by the amount of information on zebra culture that the Remnant has been able to recover and preserve. Their attitude towards all non-zebra races reflects poorly on their reputation, giving them a -25 Speechcraft versus all non-zebra races (on top of the penalties already incurred by their race), and starting any legionnaire characters at -10 karma. Remnant zebra begin play with a either a set of leather barding or a zebra stealth cloak, and their GM’s choice of either a sniper rifle, a high powered hunting rifle, a 10mm SMG, a zebra assault rifle, a zebra spear, or a zebra officer’s sword.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 867