Psychics and Cybernetics for Sci-Fi Into The Odd

There are no classes in Into The Odd. With some newer versions of the rules, there aren't any levels either. Characters get more interesting through experiences, becoming weirder or getting their hands on magic items and wealth they use to fund crazy ideas.

The most obvious way to upgrade a classless and levelless character is to give them better gear. Another is to tie character upgrades to actions they make. That way, a character who's new is in theory the same as one someone's played for dozens of sessions, but the older character will have more and more powerful ways of dealing with things. As it happens, sci-fi has two tropes that fit each of these approaches neatly: psychics and cybernetics.

CYBERNETICS
Robot parts people install to replace or enhance parts of their bodies. As it happens, we already have working ones. In a sci-fi future, however, they're cheaper and more versatile - enough that it's both cost effective and possible at all to upgrade and not just replace.

The main barrier to entry to cybernetics is price. I'm okay with this for two reasons: one, I like the idea of a Warhammer 40K-style setting where the rich and powerful are loaded to the brim with custom cybernetics, and two, wealthy characters are going to be more powerful than poor ones by definition. If the players ever get lost in what they want to do, having them be rewarded for making money ensures they always have that as a goal they can fall back on.

Most cybernetics should cost 5G. This puts them at about the same price range as ship upgrades, so the party has to choose between one upgrade for their ship or two for two members of the crew. Since part of the cost is paying for installation I would let cybernetically-inclined characters make a friend out of a cyberdoctor or install a cybernetic installation room on their ship for a discount of 1G per cybernetic, making them cost 4G. I'd say that's how much it costs for just the cybernetic, if that becomes relevant.

The main drawback for cybernetics is that they cause a character to become more and more distant from reality. This isn't entirely realistic, but more machine = less human is a fairly common sci-fi trope. For each cybernetic a character installs, they lower their CHA by 1, permanently. Uninstalling a cybernetic is costly and leaves the character worse off than before they installed it (I'd say 10G and some injury or stat loss from the removal), but does increase their CHA by 1 to heal the previous loss of humanity.

CYBERNETICS LIST

Airtank: Provides internal air for an hour. You can survive 5 minutes with air in vacuum.

Atmosfilter: Filters toxic air, including inhaled poisons, smoke, and tainted air.

Autodoc: Instantly stabilizes Critical Damage, once. Requires a Medical Kit to recharge.

Cyberears: Greatly enhances hearing sensitivity, clarity, and range.

Cybereyes: Magnifies and clarifies vision and provides fuzzy nightvision.

Cyberlimb: No stronger than an organic limb, but far more durable and free of pain.

Cyberarm - Vladislav Ociacia

Cybervoice: Perfect voice control, near-perfect mimicry, and higher decibel limit.

Headjack: Direct neural interface with computers, required to use most heavy vehicles.

Holdout Cavity: Hides a pistol-size object from almost all inspections and scanners.

Hyperadrenal Gland: Make an instant, free action when you take STR damage while at full STR.

Immunofilter: Filters almost all poisons and diseases, regardless of their source.

Internal Comms: In-brain radio that allows silent transmission/reception of information.

Melee Implant: Retractable melee weapon, from claws to knives to whips. (D6).

Plating: Subdermal armour placed over crucial organs, granting +1 Armour.

Psi-Boost: Enhances psionic ability, granting an extra use per day.

Psi-Crown: Subdermal shield blocks all but the strongest direct psionic effects.

Ranged Implant: Retractable ranged weapon, typically a pistol. (D6).

Synthnerves: Improve reflexes, granting first action whenever order is in question.

Mechadendrite: A single metal limb, of impressive strength and reach and flexibility.

Tech-Priest - by Mike Smith

PSYCHICS
While psychic powers are distinct from magic, psychics do largely serve the role of a "caster" in sci-fi settings. The plus side about Into The Odd is that any psychic rules are going to be placed on top of the core rules, and not made an inherent part of the game - so it's very, very easy to just say "there are no psychics in my game" and leave it at that.

Balancing magic has always been hard in classless RPGs. You don't want everyone to be a caster (not always, at least), but the balancing act nearly every class-based game does is to simply give the magic-user nothing extra except for their magic, or even penalize them. (I.E. B/X D&D giving them the smallest hit die size.)

But that gives me an idea - why not make learning new powers penalize the character? They don't get strictly better, just weirder, and not every player and character will find the costs worth the rewards.

There are ways to learn psychic powers on your own but they are long, arduous, risky, and unlikely to work. Once someone has learned a power on their own, almost all who come after them will be taught it by them or someone they taught. Learning a power requires a teacher who knows it and a few months of education. Not everyone can learn powers and not everyone who can learns them at the same rate, but for simplicity's sake all PCs can. (They are protagonists, after all.) Getting such an education is easier said than done, requiring either costly tuition fees or convincing a master you're worth teaching.

If the time spent is relevant, have the training PC make a CHA save at the end of each month. Once they pass two saves, they've learned the power they were being taught. Otherwise, assume it takes about three months.

Each time you learn a power you must roll a D6 on the Psychic Drawback Table. If you roll a drawback you already have, gain the next one down the list instead, wrapping back to number 1 if you already have number 6. PCs can never learn more than 6 psychic powers - any NPCs who do are either savants or masters with decades of training. If you roll number 6 as your first drawback, take number 1 instead.

Psychic Drawback Table

1 You can no longer gain Armour points from any source.

2 Your ranged attacks are all Impaired.

3 You no longer enjoy luxuries and only recover CHA damage after a Long Rest.

4 Your STR score is cut in half, permanently.

5 You require an open hand and subtle motions with it to use any of your powers.

6 You gain an extra use of your powers/day, but can never use the power you were taught.

You can use your powers as many times per day as you have powers. "Per day" means between restful sleeps. You can use any combination of them. If you know four powers you could use one of them four times, or each of them one time.

Psychic powers should always work unless the player is really pushing the limit with how they're using them. Some characters are immune to direct psychic effects, such as those wearing Psi-Crowns - if a psychic wears a Psi-Crown, they can't use any of their powers.

PSYCHIC POWERS
The powers below don't have to be the only psychic powers out there, but they're more than enough for a full campaign. Most psychics willing to teach powers will know three or four.

1 Telekinesis

You can move things with your mind, usually up to the weight of a human. You can move many lighter things, or weakly move a heavier thing. You don't have complex control.

2 Telepathy

You can read the emotions of others and probe their thoughts with extended contact. You can also sense the presence of creatures near you.

Reading emotions is subtle. Probing minds is anything but.

3 Empathy

You can alter the emotions of others and even force them to obey brief commands. You cannot use this to make a creature do or feel something they would never do or feel.

4 Clairvoyance

You can sense the presence and locations of things and creatures known to you. This allows you to track nearly anything, nearly anywhere, as it has no known range limit.

5 Biokinesis

You can perform a single feat of superhuman skill, like jumping great distances, lifting heavy objects, or deflecting incoming ranged attacks.

6 Healing

You can transfer your health to another creature, giving them your HP or STR one for one to heal them. You can also cure someone of an illness, injury, or poison by suffering it yourself.

7 Teleportation

You can transport yourself or a willing companion to a location you can see. This travel is instantaneous and without range limit.

8 Pyrokinesis

You can start a fire on an object or creature you can see. You can also control existing fires, putting them out or moving them around.

9 Precognition

You can see glimpses of the future before you make a choice. If opening a door would lead to combat, you would see glimpses of combat, but not of what with.

10 Psychometry

You can touch an object to see glimpses of its past. The most important events in its history – such as murders committed with it – are shown to you in murky visions.

11 Synaesthesia

You can create false images that creatures perceive as real, but don't fool machines. Such illusions can also be used to hide things so long as they remain still and silent.

12 Harming

You can deal D8 AP damage to a creature you can see, ignoring armour and without a range limit. This damage causes heads to explode if it kills.

IN SUMMATION

Cybernetics

• Cost 5G, 4 if you get them installed for free.
• Reduce your CHA by 1 each time they're installed.
• Easy to install, hard to remove.

Psychics

• Learn up to six psychic powers from teachers.
• Suffer a drawback for each power learned.
• Can use them as many times per day as you have powers.

BONUS: SCI-FI BACKGROUNDS

I'm working on a sci-fi supplement for Into The Odd. I've never been great at getting work done, but as slow as it's going I've been working on it far longer than most other projects I try to commit to. Aside from the stuff above, I'm currently writing a table of perks/drawbacks to randomly generate alien PCs, and a big table of Bastionland-style backgrounds.

Here are three, two based on the Cybernetics and Psychic rules from above and another based on the marines from Aliens. You roll a D6 for your starting HP and credits, and depending on what you roll you get different items/quirks.

CYBERNETICS ENTHUSIAST

Enthusiast is an understatement.

You won't be satisfied until you're more metal than flesh.

SPECIAL: You gain D6 HP the first two times you install cybernetics, not from taking damage.

You Get: Smartgun (D4, D8 if linked to your brain with a Headjack), -1 CHA

Names: Chip, Ronaldo, Tsumi, Chromeboy

HP  WHAT IS YOUR FIRST (AND SO FAR ONLY) CYBERNETIC?

1hp Hyperadrenal Gland: When you take STR damage while at full STR, you immediately take         an action for free.

2hp Internal Psi-Crown: You cannot be directly targeted by psychic powers.

3hp Cybereyes: You can see much further and clearer, and with fuzzy vision in the dark.

4hp Holdout Cavity: You have a hollow box in your stomach that can hide an object no larger             than a pistol. Only the most invasive scans and investigations find it.

5hp Headjack: Lets you link with computers. Necessary to pilot many forms of heavy machinery         and strictly necessary for piloting mechs.

6hp Cyberarm: No stronger than a "real" arm, but very durable and tireless.

CR WHY ARE YOU SO OBSESSED WITH CYBERNETICS?

1c  You want full control over what your body is like.

2c  You think of it as the best way to improve yourself and in turn your life.

3c  You always wanted to be a cyborg instead of an organic creature.

4c  You belong to a religion that commands its followers to "upgrade" themselves.

5c  You have minor but constant pain all across your body. Only cybernetics stop it.

6c  You have a single goal you religiously pursue, and cybernetics are part of the plan.

PSYCHIC MONK

You were taught the ancient and mystic arts of psionicism.

With your master(s) dead, you walk your own path.

SPECIAL: You start with one psychic power and one psychic drawback.

You Get: Staff (D6, Bulky), Psychedelic Drugs

Name: Wei, Durran, Angie, Teth

HP  WHAT POWER HAVE YOU LEARNED?

1hp Precognition: Start with a Deck of Cards.

2hp Telepathy: Start with Rope.

3hp Teleportation: Start with a Gravchute.

4hp Pyrokinesis: Start with a Fire Extinguisher.

5hp Telekinesis: Start with Juggling Clubs.

6hp Healing: Start with a Medical Kit.

CR WHAT DRAWBACK DO YOU SUFFER?

1c  You can no longer gain Armour points from any source.

2c  You ranged attacks are all Impaired.

3c  You no longer enjoy luxuries and only recover CHA after a Long Rest.

4c  Your STR score is cut in half, permanently.

5c  You require an open hand and subtle motions with it to use any of your powers.

6c  You can no longer gain Armour points from any source.

COLONIAL MARINE

You were sent to distant colonies to put down alien infestations and plucky rebels alike.

Now that you're discharged, you have trouble staying frosty.

You Get: Assault Rifle (D8, Bulky), Military Armour (1 Armour)

Sample Names: Anderson, Banerjee, Wong, Silva

HP  WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN YOUR SQUAD?

1hp Flamer: Start with a Flamethrower (D6, Bulky, Blast).

2hp Gunner: Start with an LMG (D10, Bulky, must be set up before use).

3hp Sniper: Start with Binoculars and a Sniper Rifle (D6, Bulky, very long range).

4hp Grunt: Start with a Grenade (D8, Blast).

5hp Medic: Start with a Medical Kit.

6hp Officer: Start with a Cool Hat and a Sabre (D6).

CR WHAT BATTLE HAUNTS YOUR DREAMS?

1c  Bertram's Rest: Uneventful and relatively bloodless. You're not sure why it haunts you.

2c  Thalidae Drop: Your pod got hit on the way down. It's a miracle you survived.

3c  Covan-2a: The enemy was violent, unrelenting, and looked exactly like children.

4c  Alesia-4: It wasn't until after you landed that the civilian presence became known.

5c  Solo Nobre: The Company owns your homeworld now. They paid you well for your aid.

6c  Tannhauser Gate: You were in your lifepod for weeks. You thought they forgot you.

Into The Void: Starships for Into The Odd

Starships are characters. Anyone who enjoys a lot of sci-fi can tell you every good starship has its own feel. Unfortunately, most RPG rulesets make ship-building, well, ship building. This is fine when you're playing a game like Traveller where there is a certain degree of realism as a design goal, but for most OSR games, the idea of building a character is anathema. And if ships are characters, ship building should be anathema too.

Now, the reason games tend to let PCs build their ships is because a ship is, after all, an object and not a person. With the exception of transhuman settings, a PC born with 3D6 in every stat very plausibly has no ability to change them except through leveling up, and maybe not even then. A ship, on the other hand, is built to exacting specifications. It's realistic that PCs have random stats – but it's also realistic that ships have chosen stats.

But is buying a ship really so common in sci-fi? And are bought ships really bought to specific taste? The first time the Millenium Falcon shows up in Star Wars, it's meant to be underwhelming. The Rocinante from The Expanse is a top-of-the-line Martian stealth ship, but not only is it stolen, it's stolen thanks to a combination of luck and desperation. Its crew didn't choose it.

Does this really look like anyone's first choice of starship?

When ships aren't beat-up, they tend to be the military cruisers of Star Trek or (again) Star Wars, or the realistic science ships of Interstellar or 2001. These are not the kind of ships that plucky adventurers acquire. Furthermore, bought ships are often bought on the cheap, from second-hand or unscrupulous dealers.

So. When the PCs get their hands on a ship, there is a good chance they will not get to decide what is and isn't on it. They're not in much of a position to argue. But a ship is still easily upgraded once you've got one – after all, it is a machine. I think this is why most games will let the players design their ships. But why not randomize their creation, and let them upgrade it as they see fit afterwards?

Into The Void

This assumes you've read Into The Odd by Chris McDowell before. It's a quick read with good ideas. If you haven't/won't/don't have the time here's the rundown: three stats, roll equal or under to pass tests, attacks automatically deal damage (but don't automatically "hit" per se – this goes into more detail), there are no classes or races, and magic is handled through magic items rather than learned spells. Personally, I think this fits sci-fi a lot more than it fits fantasy.

Bastionland, the in-development setting book for Into The Odd, starts every game off by having the PCs in monumental debt, and they start adventuring to pay it off. This fits sci-fi games well. A ship costs 100G to purchase, but the PCs start with one anyway, but they owe 1G per month to their debtholders until the debt is paid off. Running away to the rimworlds or beyond is a totally valid strategy, but bountyhunting is a common profession, and debtholders will double the price of the debt owed if you willingly dodge paying.

STATS

Starships have four stats, rolled 3D6 in order. When you roll for Shields, write down the results of the individual D6s - they'll be used later to generate ship quirks.

Hull (HUL) is their structural integrity, resiliency, redundancy, and general stability. You test Hull to crash safely, smash through things, and resist Critical Damage.

Engines (ENG) is their speed, mobility, agility, acceleration, and general movement. You test Engines to outrun enemies, dodge obstacles, and perform tricky maneuvers.

Systems (SYS) is their hardware and software systems, sensors, and general intelligence. You test Systems to scan things, resist hacking attempts, and run computer programs.

Shields serve as a ship's HP. They're never tested but they're used to resist damage, and recharge if the ship is given time to do so.

FUEL AND TRAVEL

Default ships have 4 Max Fuel capacity and start with a full tank. Fuel costs 1G and can only be purchased from well-equipped starbases and fuel refineries.

Things like moving between planets, dogfighting, maneuvering past obstacles, etc, don't cost any Fuel. The same "gravdrive" which provides a ship's artificial gravity is also used to move the ship through space, applying gravitational force to it and dragging it from location to location. Making course corrections requires a pilot.

Interstellar travel costs 1 Fuel per week of travel, and it takes a week to go from one hex to another (which in most games will be the equivalent of 1 light year). The ship's "hyperdrive" pushes the ship out of our dimension - Realspace - and into a higher dimension - Hyperspace - where the distances between locations are smaller and ships can travel faster. A ship can only enter Hyperspace safely if it is outside the gravity well of a planet.

Taking off from a planet takes an amount of Fuel based on the planet's gravity. Standard gravity worlds require 1 Fuel, while high gravity ones require 2 and low gravity ones don't require any. It doesn't cost any Fuel to land on a planet safely.

LIFE SUPPORT
A ship can support a number of people equal to its SYS + 2 indefinitely. Food, air, and water are all recycled although eventually the crew will be eating nutrient paste. This can last a ship for months, years if carefully rationed, and a ship's stores can be replenished easily on any habitable world. Standard life support systems have backup generators that allow them to run even if the ship's reactor is disabled or destroyed.

If Life Support is damaged or the crew reroutes the backup power to other systems, they have supplies left for one week per person the ship would normally be able to support. Ships with crews smaller than their capacity can go longer without life support being online.

Hydroponics by Eddie Mendoza

COMBAT AND DAMAGE

Ships start with standard weaponry (D6 Damage) and no armour (0 Armour).

In combat, attacks land automatically, but the damage is reduced by a ship's Armour. A ship's Shields absorb damage until they run out and damage starts being dealt to the ship's HUL instead. Shields recharge to full if the ship goes for ten minutes with its power running but without doing anything of note – remember that objects maintain their momentum in space, so you can keep it moving while doing so. Firing a ship's weapons requires a gunner.

Each time a ship takes HUL damage, they have to make a HUL test with their new HUL. If they fail this roll, the ship isn't taken out of combat, but instead the party must roll a D12 on the table below. The system listed is disabled and the consequences are listed beside it.

1 Jumpdrive: The ship cannot travel through Hyperspace and therefore between stars.

2 Gravdrive: The ship loses gravity and the ability to move at more than a snail's pace.

3 Targeting: All weapon attacks are Impaired and require manual aiming.

4 Fuel Pods: The ship loses half its Max Fuel, and any Fuel over the new maximum.

5 Sensors: Aside from what you can see out of the windows, you're flying blind.

6 Life Support: The ship has one week of supplies left for each point of SYS, plus two.

7 Shields: The ship's shields are reduced to 0 and will no longer recharge.

8 Bridge: Everyone in the bridge must test STR or suffer Critical Damage.

9 Cargo: Everything in the cargo bay is shunted out into space.

10 Quarters: Everyone in their quarters must test STR or suffer Critical Damage.

11 Computer: Everything in the ship must be done manually. The PA system is offline.

12 Reactor: Everything except for life support is deactivated.

If a ship hits 0 HUL, it is only a matter of time before it is destroyed. Roll a D6. In that many rounds, the ship's core will go nova, exploding the ship, killing everyone still on board, and rendering it little more than scrap metal. As long as the ship's computers aren't disabled, the time left will be loudly declared at the start of each round. Moving from one section to the ship to another, getting into and launching a lifepod, putting on a vaccsuit, and exiting the ship via an airlock all take one round each.

Repairing a ship's HUL requires a week of repairs in a starbase and 1G per HUL repaired. Repairing a subsystem also requires 1G. You can perform repairs outside of a starbase, but this will also take a week and will require cannibalizing parts from other systems, ships, or even the ship's maximum HUL score.

GENERATING SHIP QUIRKS

Remember when I told you to write down the individual D6 rolls for Shields? This is why. The result from each D6 gives the ship a quirk, with higher numbers having worse results. The higher your Shields are, the more negative quirks the ship will have, but the lower they are, the more positive ones they'll have. This fits in nicely with Into The Odd's system of giving PCs with low stats better starting gear.

6 Absent Weapons: This ship starts with no weaponry installed.

5 Flickering Shields: If an attack against this ship deals max damage, it bypasses Shields and directly damages HUL.

4 Cracked Hull: -1 Max HUL. There's a huge gash in the side of the ship.

3 Thick Hull: +1 Max HUL, -1 Max ENG. The ship has a much thicker hull than normal.

2 Armour Plating: The ship's Armour is increased to 1.

1 Reinforced Bulkheads: +2 Max HUL. The ship's internal walls are made of a strong alloy and the doors are difficult to force open. Boarding it is a tactical nightmare.

6 Faulty Jumpdrive: After exiting hyperspace, the ship's reactor is disabled for D6 times ten minutes. This leaves only life support and door controls online.

5 Missing Fuel Pods: -2 Max Fuel.

4 Laggy Gravdrive: -1 Max ENG. The ship moves a few moments after it's told to.

3 Huge Drives: +1 Max ENG, -1 Max SYS. The jump- and gravdrives are oversized.

2 Antigravity Plating: It costs 1 less Fuel to take off from a planet's gravity well.

1 Cloaking Device: The ship has a cloaking device onboard, which can be activated to turn all systems offline, but make the ship undetectable to all but the strongest scans.

6 Adware Beacon: The ship constantly and loudly broadcasts advertisements.

5 Eccentric Systems: The cost of all upgrades on this ship are increased by 10%.

4 Computer Glitches: -1 Max SYS. Computers are always messing up slightly.

3 Redundant Systems: +1 Max SYS, -1 Max HUL. There's two of every subsystem.

2 Intelligent Ship: The ship has an agreeable AI controlling it. They have 9 + D6 CHA, no STR or DEX, and can perform one task a PC would normally have to do per round.

1 Payment Error: The ship's total debt or cost is reduced by 25G, once. If stealing or salvaging a ship this quirk is meaningless.

It costs 10G and a week of work to remove a negative quirk. For the ones with positive and negatives, only the negative part is removed.

UPGRADING SHIPS
The rules above should do a good job at generating patchwork ships to start off the party. Buying better ships once the PCs hit it rich is beyond the scope of these rules. However, by the time a party can afford it, cost shouldn't be a problem unless they want a ship to have 18 in every stat and tons of upgrades. Either their wealth can buy it easily or their demands are so high it's beyond their reach and should be acquired through an adventure, if at all.

But what about upgrading a ship? Fixing the problems of a ship are, in a way, just another kind of upgrade. It's not too hard to extrapolate fixing the fuel pods into adding more.

Ship Repairs by Mark Zhang

There are two kinds of upgrades: stat upgrades and subsystem upgrades. Stat upgrades simply raise one of the ship's four stats by one to a maximum of 18. The first time a stat is upgraded it costs 10G, the second time 20G, the third 30G, and so on until it reaches a cost of 100G at which point it doesn't increase any more.

Subsystem upgrades instead add a new subsystem to the ship, giving it more potential or increasing the efficiency of existing systems. A ship can have as many upgrades installed as it has points of SYS. A list of example upgrades is given below. Upgrades with asterisks next to them can be taken more than once, up to a number of extra times equal to the asterisks there (so two asterisks mean an upgrade can be taken three times).

These should all cost 10G, but they are by no means the only upgrades out there, nor is 10G the set cost in every system. There may be better subsystems available for steeper prices, or which can only be acquired through salvaging alien/ancient/ancient alien technology. And of course, not every starbase will be able to sell you every upgrade.

BASIC SUBSYSTEMS

Advanced Weapons**: Increase the ship's damage die one step. D6 > D8 > D10 > D12.

Armour*: Increases the ship's armour by 1. 0 > 1 > 2.

Fuel Pods*: Increases the ship's Max Fuel by 2. 4 > 6 > 8.

Hydroponics: A large room sized garden. Doubles the ship's life support capacity.

Smuggler's Hold: The ship has a small, hidden cargo hold that can hide a few crates or few people from most inspections. You can use this space to found an Enterprise aboard your ship, but it only gains both income and losses while in systems that buy contraband.

Cargo Bay: The ship's cargo bay is expanded and can hold lots of material including a few vehicles. You can use this space to found an Enterprise aboard your ship, but it only gains both income and losses while in systems that buy bulk supplies.

Rec Room: A comfortable room with a nice TV, gaming systems, VR equipment, bar, kitchen, and other assorted luxuries. Lets you restore CHA after a day of relaxing.

Medical Bay: A sterile room with comfortable beds, an autodoc chamber, and all the gear you need to perform surgeries, diagnostics, autopsies, and more. Lets you safely treat Critical Damage and restore STR and DEX after a day of treatment.

Fuel Scoop: If you spend a week in a gas giant's atmosphere, you can harvest 1 Fuel at the cost of D6 HUL. This HUL damage does not cause Critical Damage or reduce a ship below 1 HUL, but if the damage would have reduced it to below 0 HUL, the ship doesn't gain any Fuel. (If it kept scooping Fuel up, it would be reduced to 0 HUL and destroyed.)

Shuttle Bay: Stores a small shuttle that can carry a small cargo or six passengers or mixture of the two, as well as a pilot and copilot either way. The shuttle is slower than any ship but can easily leave a planet's surface for its orbit in half an hour and for no Fuel cost.

Advanced Jumpdrive*: Upgrade the ship's Jumpdrive so that interstellar travel is either cheaper or faster. When setting out into Hyperspace, decide between using half as much Fuel, rounded up, or taking half as many days, rounded up. Taking this upgrade twice lets you do both.

Lifepods*: One person pods that can be deployed to escape a ship in one round. Comes with as many lifepods as the ship has SYS + 2. When taken twice it both doubles the effective amount and lets you have them be located at two locations on the ship.

Laboratory: Used to perform research, analysis, and other similar studies.

Sensor Suite: Greatly upgrades both the range and information granted by your sensors.

Cloak: Allows the ship to "go dark", unable to do anything but undetectable while doing so.

Tractor Beam: Allows the ship to move shuttle-sized and smaller objects that are within weapon range. Ships may make a test with the lower of STR and ENG to break free.

Workshop: Used to perform modifications, repairs, and upgrades on vehicles and robots.

Probe Bay: Stores up to four probes which can operate autonomously or by manual controls and transmit and receive information on the other side of a system. Replacing a drone costs 1G. Each drone is twice the size of a man and has a panoply of sensors, manipulating limbs, and moves via artificial gravity. They can reach orbit in a few hours.

These probes are the ones from Star Wars, more or less. Art by Slayerlane

Shrine: By virtue of divine blessing or being in the right place to get in the way of damage (crews can never agree on which), this system allows the ship to reroll a disabled system roll and take the new result even if it is less desirable or the same result.

Cryopods*: Allows you to store SYS + 2 people in cryostasis. They don't age, die from injuries, or suffer harm from poisons or diseases, but they still count against the ship's life support. Most starship passengers prefer to be in cryosleep on the trip.

Vault: A secure location deep inside the ship but designed to easily detach. Contains a small, self-contained life support system with an airlock. A vault can survive most attacks and even a ship going nova, keeping up to twenty people or a moderate amount of cargo safe temporarily, or five people alive for months.

Intelligent Ship: An artificial intelligence installed on the ship's databanks and capable of running one system as well as a trained human would at a time. The AI always starts loyal and has 9 + D6 CHA, but no STR or DEX. You can download them into a robot body to turn them into a PC, but if you do so, they will not be able to be turned back into a ship.

Shipskin Projector: A translucent pink wall of a rubber-like organic substance, one side inside the ship, the other exposed to the void of space. Passing out of the ship through the projector coats organic creatures in the "shipskin", which serves as a comfortable and self-healing vaccsuit with a few hours of oxygen.

Platonic Race-As-Class

Race-as-class is an idea that, in theory, works. It allows a setting to have truly alien races by making the way they play fundamentally different from human classes. It also allows races to have impressive powers while keeping them balanced, since their strength is offset by the fact they lack the cool class powers humans get.

In practice, I've had bad experiences with it. Players avoid it, and when they don't, they make every Dwarf Gimli and every Elf Legolas. And almost inevitably, someone will ask if they can play a Halfling Fighter or Dwarven Magician and I'll have to tell them no.

There is a ethos found in many OSR games that pushes away from the highly customizable characters of modern D&D and D&D derivatives, preferring instead to focus on making the characters different through how they're played and what happens to them during the course of their adventures. I'm all for this (in certain games - I enjoy the customization inherent to the playbooks of Apocalypse World variants, but get why that doesn't work in an OSR game), but I feel like race-as-class hinders, not helps, this idea. When every fighter is the same, you start to try to set them apart from each other. But when every dwarf or elf is the same... you start to play them like a stereotype, since everyone has an image of what a dwarf or elf "should" be.

Secondly, there is also a push towards verisimilitude in OSR games. Again, I agree with this (and again, see where it's better to focus on an interesting story over what feels "real"), but then a part of me starts wondering why only humans and elves can learn spells. Why can't a dwarf start studying magic? Or why can't an elf or dwarf of halfling be a specialist and learn any number of skills which, in theory, you don't even need to be an adventurer to learn?

Part of my reason for feeling this way is spending a long time playing Dwarf Fortress over the years. The eponymous dwarves in your eponymous fortress all have different jobs and personalities, and yet when you run into elves or humans or goblins, it's clear that a dwarven engraver is different from an elven engraver. Art by RaysinMocona.

So here's my idea: each "human" class has a certain part of it that is not strictly necessary for the class to function and can be removed. Furthermore, each race-as-class has a certain part of it that is inherent to the race, but is also not so strong that it warrants being part of its own class.

If you want to play a race as a class you can do that. An elf is an Elf, a dwarf is a Dwarf, a halfling is a Halfling. But if you want, you can play a Fighter who's also an elf, or a Specialist who's also a dwarf, or a Magician who's also a halfling. (Note the use and disuse of capitalization - the difference between a race, and a race-as-class.)

To do so, you remove the unnecessary part of the human class, and replace it with the inherent part of the nonhuman class. So your magician doesn't have cantrips anymore but now they can see in the dark. Your specialist no longer deals sneak attack damage but now they're impossible to surprise.

This also makes it easy to make new races and classes who work. Each time you make one all you need to do is find one part of them that fits the mould and you have guaranteed compatibility with any other class and race you make.

Give me something I can use you nerd!
Okay, okay, fine. Some of these may seem complicated but once you figure out what a class in your system should have removed you're set for life.

I want to play a...
Fighter...
Remove any bonus HP (e.g. move their Hit Die down to the average).

Specialist...
Halve the number of skill points gained at level one. If not using skill points, remove any sneak attack damage bonuses and/or the ability to gain them.

Magician...
Remove any cantrips. If you don't have cantrips, -1 cast per day unless you only have one cast per day at level one or don't have casts per day, in which case reduce the number of known starting spells to one. If you're outside that you're probably using a homebrew in which case you know more about the class than I do. Make up your own removal.

Cleric...
Remove any bonus HP, if they don't have bonus HP remove the ability to dispel magic, if not that their ability to turn enemies, if not that reduce their spells like a Magician.

...who's also a(n)...
...Elf!
Automatically pass test of initiative/any other reaction-based bonuses.

...Dwarf!
Can see in the dark or just better in dim light (either way the better-sight-in-darkness stuff).

...Halfling!
You can heal from eating any number of times per day or you're good at hiding behind stuff.

...Orc!
+1 HP per level or step your Hit Die up one step (whichever you prefer).

...Fishman!
You can breathe underwater.

I've never seen an Orc or Fishman class before.
I got you good, didn't I!

The beauty of this is you don't have to make a race an entire class. I've never had an Orc or Fishman class in any of my games (yet) and I'm willing to bet most people haven't either. But with a single line of writing - one stolen from the Fighter class, the other the most obvious racial bonus in existence - I just made one.

Furthermore, that Orc bonus implies an Orc class is just a Fighter with green skin. Which I think is awesome! You could spin a Cleric into being an Angel or a Specialist into being a Ratman. Then just take a key part (probably not the same one that was removed - a Cleric's extra HP doesn't really say "Cleric" to me) and you can turn them into an Angelic Magician or Ratman Fighter.

But wait, there's more! What makes an elf an Elf? Fighting + magic? And what makes a dwarf a Dwarf? Spelunking focused stuff? Why not make a Human Dwarf or Halfling Elf! Replace the Dwarf's darksight with +1 HP/level or +1 HD size (humans are durable), and the Elf's initiative with a Halfling's eating or sneakiness.

Geralt (like all witchers) casts spells and stabs people. He even has sensory abilities. Sounds like an Elf to me! Art by Zary.

Not only does this system make it easy to play a Dwarven Fighter or Elven Specialist, it makes it easy to play more unusual takes on existing classes. All of a sudden, a Dwarf isn't the only type of dwarf you can play - and, when you play a Dwarf, you don't even have to be playing an actual dwarf! What was once a restricting system is now an open encouragement to be creative, while at the same time being simple enough in structure that players aren't bogged down with choice.

Where to go from here:
Joseph Manola's neat B/X D&D classes. He's written a lot of cool classes but you can mine this file for ideas/usable ones without diving into his blog (but you should do that anyway because it's neat). Even has an Orc and Fishman class!

Joe Fatula's take on fantasy races. These are very interesting just in general but also play with idea of races being based on but not strictly bound to a stereotype - adventurous humans, haughty elves, etc etc.

Emmy Allen's Miner and Lantern-Girl classes. It's easy to see how a Miner is just a human Dwarf and a Lantern-Girl/Link-Boy is a human Halfling, and easy to see how you could easy run them as just a Dwarf or Halfling. The Miner is the class that inspired me to write this post in the first place.

36 Post-Apocalyptic Treasures + Simple Rules for Radiation, Chemicals, Magazines, and Headgear

I've always been a big fan of post-apocalyptic settings. The weirder they are, the more I like them. I loved Unlawful Games' D100 post-apocalyptic loot tables I saw a while back, or more accurately, the D10 treasures from the end. Dan's post-apocalyptic nuns post also brought the apocalypse back into my mind. So did an end of the year discussion about the best videogames this year where me and my friends agreed Slay the Spire will probably be Game Of The Year when it releases next year for a lot of people, which reminded me that the excellent dying earth science fantasy acid trip that is Caves of Qud likely will be mine.

I also watched Isle of Dogs recently, which is surprisingly apocalyptic in aesthetic. Good movie.

So I thought I'd put together some treasure tables, and then I had to tack on some rules ideas to explain some of their mechanics, and then I had some ideas for locations, gods, and creatures which I'll put up in another post. This is a D66 table, which means you roll a two D6s - the first one is the tens digit, the second the ones digit. So a roll of 2 and 5 becomes 25, a roll of 6 and 1 becomes 61, etc etc.

Some Assumptions
There are psychics. I have a homebrew system for psychics but it is poorly tested and not to everyone's taste - I've tried to make the psychic-related items be not too tied to my system.

Mutations are common and unrealistic. Think Nuclear Throne, not Mad Max.

The Old World got up to some crazy levels of technology. They may well have had extra-solar colonies by the time it all came tumbling down.

There may be supernatural elements (beyond psychics, of course). Some of the items are certainly a bit more than just mundane, but the setting need not be explicitly or even secretly supernatural.

Without Further Adieu...
All items occupy one inventory slot except for those in italics, which occupy none.

11 Brain Enhancement Box: A metallic box that can be attached to the back of a person's head. It drills inside, attaching itself to the spine and prompting a Constitution test. On a success, all mental stats are raised by 2. On a failure, the BEB is simply wasted. On a critical failure, the BEB kills the recipient. Some Old World machines can determine if someone is a viable recipient (IE they make their test before actually plugging the BEB in).

12 Laserblade: A small metal handle which, when a button on it is pressed, projects a beam of powerful energy the length of the average sword. The sword counts as a Masterwork Sword (D6+1 damage, Melee range, 1 hand), but ignores physical armour and can be used to (slowly) cut through all but the hardest metals. However, energy shielding completely blocks the blade. Casts dim light up to Reach distance.

13 Energy Shield: A small metal belt that can be worn comfortably (albeit taking up an inventory slot). It provides 1 Armour while activated and blocks all energy damage, both incoming and outgoing. While in use, it projects a light blue field an inch above the wearer's body, that smells faintly of ozone.

14 Antigravity Harness: A harness that can be adjusted and worn comfortably over most forms of armour and clothing. By manipulating dials on the harness' front panel, its antigravity effect can be triggered, pulling the wearer up and down up to ten metres above whatever is below them. If set to the maximum, the antigravity effects will soften a fall, allowing the wearer to ignore up to the first fifty metres of what would otherwise be falling damage.

15 Neuromod: A handheld device which can be placed against an eye and activated to shoot inside and connect to the nervous system. It can then "drain" a single skill the target knows, recording it and removing all knowledge of it from their mind. The Neuromod can then be injected into another person's eye to give them that skill, but in doing so, the device is rendered unable to be used again. A target need not be compliant but struggling will lead to their death and loss of the knowledge. As such, unwilling targets should be coerced or rendered unconscious.

From Prey (2017)

16 Translator Bracelet: Worn on the wrist, this heavy computer automatically translates into and from all languages known to the Old World. It is also capable of adapting to new dialects and languages, recording, analyzing, and putting together new discoveries about languages translated by whoever wears it. However, the robotic voice, go-between nature of the device, and tendency to speak as formal as possible incurs Disadvantage on tests related to charisma – but not clarity, as the translation is always sufficient.

21 Psi-Crown: Whoever wears this ring of metal plates around their head is immune to all assaults on their mind. They cannot be directly targeted by psionic powers that affect the mind and their soul is invisible to creatures who can see them. They could be lifted by telekinesis, or set aflame by pyrokinesis, but not have their mind read or senses altered. Psychics who wear Psi-Crowns are unable to use any of their powers. The metal is soft, chosen for its ability to block psionics and not bullets, and does not count as a helmet.

22 Pain Grenade: When activated, this grenade-like object projects a feeling of intense psychic pain after a few moments (so that you can throw it), incapacitating everyone within Reach distance. Each round they may make a Constitution or Body Save to act, but only slowly and shakily. The grenade can be deactivated early by pressing the button, but will deactivate automatically after a minute.

23 Cloak of Confusion: A blue, starry cloak which, when worn, renders it and anything it covers unable to be acknowledged by intelligent creatures. Anything that touches it, however, is able to acknowledge it, and can actually see through the cloak. If not touched by a living creature, its power will not be activated, letting it be seen by people while not in use. The power only affects creatures who see the cloak with their own vision – recordings show it as normal, soulless (but not free-willed) robots can see it, and it triggers things like laser alarms and proximity activated doors.

24 Psi-Monitor: A phone sized handheld computer. When psychic abilities are used within proximity of it – either their effects or their user are within range – it buzzes to alert its bearer and records what type of psychic effect was used. The average range is Near, but exceptionally strong uses of psionics may extend this range to Far and exceptionally weak or well-controlled normal uses may shorten it to Close.

25 Shimmer: A psychic drug, purple and shimmering (hence the name) and inhaled through the nose. If consumed by a psychic, they recover to their maximum Psi, or recover to their maximum uses of psychic powers per day, or recover all committed Effort for the day, or clear all the cooldowns on their powers, etc etc. If used by a non-Psychic, they get to use a single Precognition power with 4 Psi or 1 Effort, etc etc. When Shimmer is used, roll a D6 – on a 1-2, the drug runs out.

26 Curious Icosahedron: A blue crystal with twenty sides. It feels lucky. Whoever bears it can choose to reroll any failed D20 roll they make, taking the new result if it is better, but in doing so the crystal shifts to red and feels unlucky. They must reroll another D20 roll and take the worse result in order to shift it back to blue. The crystal can only be used once per direction per day.

31 Autodoc Helm: Worn on the head, this white and red plastic and metal helm resembling a targeting rig. Instead of assisting in combat, however, it gives advice and information related to medicine. It allows the wearer to reroll Fumbles on rolls related to medicine, surgery, and diagnosis.

32 Blood Rifle: As a normal Assault Rifle (D6+1 damage, Near range, 2 hands), but every time it deals damage to an organic target, the wielder heals 1 HP. The rifle is made of bone with red, fleshy decals between and beneath the bone. While it loads normal ammunition, its shots are bright red and splatter blood where they strike.

33 Shipskin: An organic suit which remains in a dormant state until fed. One ration gives the Shipskin enough energy for a day, during which time it recycles oxygen, reduces radiation by one step (or otherwise provides partial protection against it), and resists pressures from 0 to 100 P. It can be fed extra rations for up to a week of advance feeding. In an emergency, Shipskin can be eaten for one ration per stored ration, and one extra ration if you eat it all (which destroys it). When worn it appears a thin layer of pink transparent goop over the body, but is warm to the touch and feels stretchy but not slimy. It fits over everything except power armour, and fits under power armour and similar clothing easily. It does not hinder movement at all.

Shipskin is designed for use in space, and grows bloated when overfed. Image from Prophet.

34 Diagnostic Scanner: A handheld computer that scans organic creatures within Reach distance of it when activated. It analyzes them over the course of a few seconds, determining what ails them, such as diseases, internal injuries, or mutations. If used on a corpse, it will determine what killed the corpse. The scanner can offer no aid in how to cure ailments, but has 95% accuracy in diagnosis.

35 Super-Salve Injector: A salve injector, but clearly marked as well beyond a normal injector's ability. Heals a single organic to full HP, of all injuries, diseases, and radiation, and raises all physical stats by 1. If used on someone who has died within the past minute and whose body is still relatively intact, it restores them to life but rather than raising their physical stats, it lowers them each by 1.

36 Medical Omnibus: A thicky, heavy textbook that covers the most important details of nearly every Old World medical discipline. It can be read before performing medicine to gain access to the Medicine skill, or to gain Advantage on medical rolls or the ability to perform complex procedures if you already have the Medicine skill. It functions like a magazine in this fashion, but unlike a magazine, the Medical Omnibus can be used indefinitely as the breadth of its knowledge is wide and the quality of its paper enough to prevent damage during reading.

41 Glowing Headband: A green headband which glows like radioactive materials. If worn, the headband functions like a normal headband (+1 unarmed damage), but allows the wearer's arms to stretch. Their melee and unarmed attacks have Reach range, and they can grab things at that distance comfortably.

42 Irradiator Rifle: A rifle (D6+1, Near range, 2 hands) that loads batteries and fires large beams of radiation. They do not cause mutations/saves against radiation, but they do ignore armour and cover. Anti-radiation armour blocks the beams entirely, and irradiated creatures and all robots are immune to the damage.

43 Radsuit: A HAZMAT Suit that protects against radiation like a normal HAZMAT suit, complete with a gas mask. This one, however, is bright green instead of bright yellow, and renders the wearer completely immune to radiation. The kind of radiation that can penetrate it is the kind that'll burn you before it poisons you.

44 Water Purifier: A heavy object which filters water of everything, including radiation and disease, rendering it good to drink. It takes one hour to purify enough irradiated water for a person to drink for a day. The energy it consumes is so low that a handcrank attached to its outside can charge it for an hour if wound for ten minutes by hand.

45 Mutagen Injector: A tonic injector containing a glowing green liquid clearly radioactive in nature. It is warm to the touch, and yet it does not project radiation. When injected, the target gains a random positive mutation. If injected into a character of a mutant class or race, they roll twice and pick which mutation.

46 Rad-Crystal: A glowing hunk of green stone on the end of a pendant. It does not cast its radioactive glow however, instead appearing to draw it in from it surroundings. When worn, it grants the wearer Advantage on Saves vs Radiation.

51 Warhelm: An Old World military helmet. Counts as a helmet and targeting rig at the same time.* Looks operator as fuck, granting +1 to reaction rolls with soldier-types.

52 Rocket Launcher: Loaded with one rocket with D6-1 extra ones beside it. Attacks deal 2D6 damage to all creatures within Reach distance of where it hits, or D6 vehicle damage to a single vehicle. Autohits at Close or Near range, but can fire up to Far range away with a successful Ranged Attack.

53 Carbide Armour: The pinnacle of Old World armour. This armour counts as Light Armour but provides 2 Armour instead of 1. The suit is clearly military in nature.

54 V8 Engine: A engine of unsurpassed power. When installed in a vehicle, it grants Advantage to all tests related to speed and endurance, and raises its top speed by a suitable amount (enough to make it to the next "level" of speed).

55 Meal Replacement Pills: A tin of 28 dense, large pills that can be chewed and swallowed in under a minute. Each pill has a single, light flavour such as ice cream or butter chicken, and provides all the nutrition you need for a day. As a result, a tin of MR Pills provides a month of rations in a single inventory slot.

56 Terrarium: A glass bottle full of dirt and a self-sustaining ecosystem. The glass is heavy duty, very hard to break and able to hold out any degree of radiation. Its mere presence inspires hope, and a party that carries it has Advantage against Fear (if a PC) and +1 Morale (if an NPC). If it breaks, however, the despair causes everyone in the party to lose 2000 experience (but do not lose levels).

The world's oldest terrarium. Imagine this but the size of his head instead.

61 Gashelm: An unholy combination of gas mask and helmet that somehow manages to combine the two without losing functionality. The wearer counts as wearing both of those and grants +1 to reaction rolls with tinkerers.

62 Jack the Ripper: What can only be described as a chainsaw sword, blue metal with the words "Jack the Ripper" written on it in red paint. It counts as a normal sword (D6+1 damage, Melee range, 1 hand). It clatters loudly as it spins, and the blades rip through the toughest metals with ease – but only if they catch right. Barring the most exceptional circumstances (such as being wielded by true swordmasters, or those with incredible hand-eye coordination), it has only a 50/50 chance of dealing damage, but when it does, it deals double damage automatically. Triumphs (critical successes) always deal damage, and four times the result rolled, at that.

63 Rad-Diver's Armour: A HAZMAT suit covered in pieces of leather, chainmail, and thin sheets of metal. It provides all the radiation protection of a normal HAZMAT suit and comes with a gas mask, but also counts as Light Armour.

64 Carpoon: To call it a weapon is inaccurate. It can be wielded in both hands and fired with Disadvantage, but the Carpoon is meant to be mounted on a vehicle. It fires a long metal rod which deploys hooks on contact (but only grapples living creatures if it reduces them to 0 HP, at which point they're dead so it doesn't matter). It deals D6 damage or 1 vehicle damage. After an attack, it pulls back to reload in a round, or to drag whatever it's hit along with the vehicle it is attached to.

65 Uberhulk: Hulk is a drug that strengthens the body at the expense of its health, as the muscles work with strength that rips and tears them apart. Uberhulk has a permanent effect, raising your Strength by 4 but lowering Constitution and Dexterity by 1 each, to the normal maximums and minimums of 18 and 3. An injector only works once, and being injected twice causes severe muscular atrophy.

66 Shaman's Bell: A bell made of scrap metal from at least a dozen sources. When shaken vigorously, the discordant noise it creates confuses all creatures and intelligent robots who can hear it (typically up to Close range away), stunning them for a round. The ringer is stunned as well, however, and cannot act the next round.

Radiation Rules

Radiation provokes a Save vs Radiation after a certain amount of time spent in its presence. Stronger sources prompt quicker tests and radiation-blocking items reduce the effective strength of a source. On a success you take 1 damage per level, on a failure you take D6 damage per level. Being reduced to 0 HP or below by radiation prompts Save vs Death. On a failure you die, on a success you suffer an injury from the table below:

Radiation Injury Table

1    -2 Constitution, hair loss

2    -1 Constitution, -1 Wisdom

3    -1 Constitution, -1 Dexterity

4    Mutation, Save or gain another.

5    Blinded.*

6    Lose 1 maximum HP per level.

*Injuries marked with asterisks prompt a Save vs Death at the end of a week to clear them. On a failure, they persist until the next month, where another Save vs Death clears them. If you fail both Saves the injury is permanent.

Severity	Save once per...	Examples
Minimal	Watch / 4 Hours	Outer space, the rad-desert.
Low	Hour	The toxic jungle, beneath the green comet.
Medium	Turn / 10 Minutes	A long-dead city, in a poorly-filtered vault.
High	Minute	A nuke's blast zone, next to leaking barrels.
Extreme	Round / 10 Seconds	The heart of a reactor, a nuke's ground zero.

In addition, drinking irradiated water, being struck by irradiated weapons, and other such events all provoke an immediate Save vs Radiation.

Certain items reduce radiation severity. A HAZMAT suit, gas mask, and the chem known as Blocker all reduce a character's suffered severity by one step each.

My reasoning behind radiation is to make it really scary. Real world radiation is frightening, so should fantasy radiation. A level one PC is as likely to be killed by radiation as a level ten one, albeit not quite as much thanks to their saves, and it kills faster than normal damage does in my rules for injuries and death. The injuries are worse than average, too.

Resisting radiation isn't too hard if you have the proper gear, but you can only wear one armour, one helmet, and be on one chem at a time. To resist it fully, you have to forgo a lot of these items. In addition, radiation is not always easy to detect. Without a Geiger counter or careful observation, it's possible to stumble into doses much higher than anticipated. Both PCs and their players aren't made aware of hidden radiation until they must make Save.

Some anti-radiation gear. - by shaonizzit

Chemicals

Chemicals provide a benefit and a drawback for a certain amount of time. Excessive use of the same chemical – think several times in a day, or once every day or two for a week or so – can prompt addiction, which causes the PC to suffer the chem's negative effect even when they are not using the chem. Chems without negative effects are non-addicting. A PC can only be on one chem at a time. Taking a new chem does nothing but waste it.

Hulk: A chem named for an Old World god of strength and rage. When injected, the user's muscles have their normal limits lifted, granting them Advantange on all Strength and Melee Attack rolls for two minutes – but dealing D6-1 damage each time such a roll is made.

Salve: An Old World chem found in injectors. Salve calms the nerves, soothes pain, and pumps the body full of chemicals involved with healing and adrenaline. In doing so it heals the recipient for D6+1 HP, and with no negative side effects. Attempts to use it more than once every ten minutes fail due to the fact that one Salve is already doing all it can do.

Blocker: One of the few Old World chems successfully reverse-engineered, and for good reason. It reduces incoming radiation by one step for a day, very useful in the irradiated wasteland, and is hard to scavenge due to the fact it was only rarely used in the Old World, and often in locations which are now flooded with lethal radiation.

Helmets and Headgear

Pieces of headgear (usually, headbands are one exception) take up one inventory slot and you can wear one at a time. They all provide benefits to the PC who wears them, often in the form of letting them reroll Fumbles (critical failures) of a certain kind.

Helmet: Military helmets. Renders you immune to critical damage from enemies - critical hits are treated like normal hits.

Targeting Rig: A military targeting computers attached to the head. Let you reroll Fumbled ranged attack rolls, as the computer helps aim your shots.

Gas Mask: Filters all but the most insidious gases, as well as airborne radiation, poison, and disease. Old World filters last for months of use, long enough to be irrelevant. This raises your radiation protection by one Rad Level, or to Rad Level 1 from 0.

Headlamp: A lamp attached to the head, which projects a strong beam of light up to Close distance in front of the wearer's direction of view. They usually run on Old World batteries as a flashlight, but some are modified to function with oil or candle light. Needs no hands.

Snazzy Hat: An Old World top hat, or New World shaman's regalia, or anything else suitably impressive (and large enough to take up an inventory slot). Grants +1 to reaction rolls with those who would look favourably upon it (an officer's cap might grant +1 with soldier-types, while a bishop's hat might grant +1 with the particularly religious).

Headband: Signifies physical prowess, granting +1 damage with unarmed attacks. Many headbands have storied histories and a large collection is said to bring fate's favour. As a result, owning a headband will often bring bounty hunters upon you.

Yes, headbands are mostly here to reference Afro Samurai.

Magazines

Old World magazines, rotting and falling apart. Opening and reading one requires an hour and will render the magazine ruined once finished, but will give the reader access to the skill the magazine concerns until they next sleep. If they already have the skill, the magazine will instead give them Advantage on such rolls or allow them to perform tasks beyond even their capabilities. If using a system with skill points, treat them as granting a 4-in-6 or 66% rating.

From Fallout 4