AppleSeed D6 RPG
AppleSeed D6 RPG
AppleSeed D6 RPG
Welcome to Olympus
Construction plans for Olympus began in the early 1990s, and now, almost 150 years
later, Olympus is debatably the center of all culture and law in the world. It is a man-
made island, a floating city in every sense of the word. It is located between the Azores
and Canary Islands. Consisting of several arcology complex "mini-cities" over the sub-
tropical island, it is a wonderous place, eons ahead the rest of the world. Using
technology, it is the most advanced, recognized sovereign governing body. It's city
structure is emulated by nearly every other reconstructing nation.
Olympus was designed by some of the greatest minds of the late 20th century, and it
shows. It is almost literally the 'perfect city'. Built on the concept of 'Functional
Simplicity; Structural Complexity', the city is practically a living, breathing organism.
Technology, organic and inorganic, makes the city beautiful. The Arcologies are built to
minimize shadows in the winter, and use fiber optics to provide perfect natural lighting
indoors. The space between the arcologies are damp, bright, and fertile, forming beautiful
parks and gardens. One would think this city to be a perfect utopia...
Olympus has its share of problems. Internal and external conflict threaten the topple the
city at any moment. Racial tension - not the black vs. white, Asian vs. Anglo, native vs.
conqueror conflicts of decades past - is constently on the rise, as the city is populated
primarily by bioroids, with a smaller "immigrant" human minority. Employment,
healthcare, and political rights are at the center of the issue. What's more, many nations
would give anything to see Olympus fail. The most right of Imperial Americana view
Olympus as a communism, and the most left Europe view it as a corrupt police nation,
worse than the old United States ever was. Olympus has even fewer friends in the Middle
East. Terrorism is also a problem. Foreign sponsered black-ops and radicals are
constantly attacking Olympus. There's a large, public "situation" nearly every other
month. If it weren't for the effeciency of Olympus' law enforcement and military, they
might actually be in serious danger.
Facts at a Glance
Population: 1,637,190
Racial Demographocs: 78% Bioroid, 22% Human, <1% Full
Cyborg
Population Below Poverty Level: 0% (!)
Hospitals: 31 (12 catering exclusively to bioroids, 1 to cyborgs)
INDEX
Arrival in Olympus
The Central Management Bureau
Finding Employment
Law Enforcement
ESWAT
Getting Around
Places of Interest
Arrival in Olympus
Despite being an island nation/state, Olympus is perhaps
the easiest to get to city in the world. Airfare to Olympus
is relatively cheap, and customs is a breeze. For that
matter, it is very easy to apply for "asylum" in Olympus,
almost regardless of where in the world you come from
(so long as you have some talent, skill, or money).
The final (verified) plan of the UPG, Aegis was created to be the perfect peace keeping
mechanism, a machine composed of organic parts, and wasn't truly meant to be a nation.
Its government does not exist to fulfill the will of its citizens, but rather to enforce global
law, maintain the world economy, and protect the human race. But, in a world where
there is no certainties, Olympus is one of the safest, cleanest, and generally nicest places
to live in the world. The CMB has done nothing to discourage the masses that have
flocked to its banner; rather, it encourages it. Still, many on the outside are reluctant to do
so.
The Central Management Bureau is composed of three governing branches, eaching
serving different functions. The Executive Branch, has the executive right (obviously)
and governs external affairs. The Administrative Branch is Olympus' judicial branch and
heads up internal affairs and law, even at the local level. Finally, the Legislative Branch
is Olympus' law making body, and is run by the super-computer GAIA. These branches
exist in a constant balance of power: checks and balances keep any one from becoming
too powerful. The various commitees and organizations within have their own agendas,
and they are in constant conflict with each other. This was the intention of the UPG. The
infighting slows progress and makes government rather 'sterile', but it keeps Olympus
from becoming a distopian city out of the collective consciousnesses of Orwell, Huxley,
and Rand.
The Executive Branch is the most powerful branch of Aegis, the Central Management
Bureau. Run by Bureau Chief Officer Athena, it determines Olympus' foreign policy and
keeps the other branches in line. It consists of two primary groups. The Ministry of
External Affairs is "the brain" of all Olympic policy. While the Administrative branch
technically controls ESWAT, they cannot be deployed out of Olympus without
authorization from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Ministry of External affairs
gives out justice with an iron fist. They are the strong-arm of the CMB, and this has
alienated them from the Legislative branch. While the Legislative branch is "pro-
bioroid", and the Administration is "pro-human", the Executive branch is pro-Olympus.
At the end of the day, they're there to make sure everything doesn't collapse inward on
itself.
The FBI is the second division of the Executive Branch, and conspiracy theorists would
whisper that they truly run Olympus. While "FBI" does stand for the Federal Bureau of
Investigations, they can not be equated to the old USA FBI. Instead, they are a sort of
secret police that works from the inside, pruning the tree of corruption through out the
government. There's a fierce rivalry between them and ESWAT (the latter despising the
"gestapo-shit" the FBI pulls). If ESWAT is the greatest unknown para-military force in
the world, FBI agents are their lesser known peers and betters. Despite their gruff nature
and reputation as being bloodthirsty, they have the lowest arrest and operative fatality
rate out of all of the law enforcing organizations. They are extremely independant; they
don't even answer to the Ministry of External Affairs. It should be noted that they are the
only non-law enforcement orientated position in government that does not consist
entirely of bioroid: over 50% of the FBI's operatives are human.
The second most powerful branch of the government is the judicial and internal affairs
department, The Administrative Branch. Unlike similar government models, the power of
the judicial branch outweighs the legislative branch...barely. There power is derived from
the fact that they act as the "local government" of Olympus. They control local
development and the enforcement of CMB policy. They also have control of Olympus'
law enforcement and the elite para-military organization ESWAT. The Branch is headed
up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which keeps the city itself running on a day to day
basis. They also are responsible for the enforcement of law. The Ministry is headed up by
Chief of State Nike. Nike is on excedingly good terms with Athena, though the exact
nature of their alliance remains to be seen.
ESWAT is the highest of all law enforcing bodies within Olympus, and they also serve as
Olympus' "big stick" in enforcing global policy. ESWAT (Extra Special Weapons And
Tactics). Officially, it is not associated with standard police units, though sometimes their
jurisdictions cross. ESWAT headhunts new agents from other law enforcement bodies
and Badside, putting the rookies through intense training. About 1 in 15 candidates for
ESWAT will make the cut. They are trained in the use of many weapons, as well as land
mate and vehicle operation. They serve as a special forces, and perform the occaisional
black-op. There role isn't restricted to brute first: some of the greatest investigators and
forensics experts work in ESWATS Cyborg Crime Investigation team. ESWAT answers
to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but resents how the Executive Branch has been using
them in strong-arm diplomacy.
The Legislative Branch is the law making body of Olympus, though of all the powers of
the CMB, it lacks the ability to enforce their initiatives. The Senators that make up the
Parliament are exclusively bioroid; they are made to represent the demographics and
interests of the world proportionately. As demographics change, old bioroids are retired
and new ones are instituted. There are no elections.
The actions of the Parliament are overseen by GAIA, a massive supercomputer that takes
up a good 25000 cubic meters of space in a massive underground complex in the Central
Olympic Arcology. It has the power to call for the "impeachment" of senators, and the
power to veto. Gaia is programmed to absolutely represent the interests of Humanity; it
has vehemently fought against Parliament for this reason on many occasions. A veto by
Gaia can be overuled by the Council of Seven.
The Council of Seven, nicknamed the CPU, is a group of seven first-generation bioroids
that have been around nearly as long as Olympus (that's a really long time). They act as
the "organic balance" on Gaia's scale of justice. They have been made to be extremely
intelligent and moral, and act as advisors to (and components of) Gaia. More importantly,
however, they act as Gaia's contact to the politics of Olympus. They are her eyes and
ears. Their positions haven't made them any friends in the Parliament or in the other
Branches; they have been "put under surveillance for their protection" several times to
keep them from interfacing with Gaia.
Finding Employment
If you want to live in Olympus, you will need to
find a job, and fast. If you're a bioroid, or
headhunted, this won't be a problem. Employment
will be provided for you. Ultimately, you will want
to find your dream job. Your job will provide you
with capital, favors, contacts, and authority. And
hopefully, the effort you have to put into it will be
worth the returns.
Government Work
Federal Bureau of Investigation: The FBI is the highest of the high law enforcement
and investigative bodies and Olympus, and is also a symbol of the Executive
Branch's power. Agents do not apply: they are recruited, and not just anyone makes
the cut. FBI agents are masters of deception, combat, and the shakedown. It's said
that in a gunfight, the FBI Agent is the second one to draw, but always the first to
fire.
Rules: The GM may wish to disallow PCs access to the FBI. Both Bioroids and
Humans can become Agents, but obvious full Cyborgs will not generally be
recruited: they're too conspicuous.
Annual Salary Examples
$25,000 Prospective Agent
$30,000 Rookie
$35,000 Detective
$45,000 Chief Officer
$75,000 Team Leader
Law Enforcement
The city of Olympus is virtually crime free: bioroids aren't
programmed to be felons and in general it is a peaceful city. However,
there is the criminal element, and the police are often needed to
protect Olympus from extremists, hostage takers, and itself. Olympus
has several law enforcing bodies, each with various jurisdictions. All
of these organizations are controlled by the Ministry of Internal
Affairs.
The Olympus Police Department
The rank and file cops of the Olympus Police Department are the backbone of order in
Olympus. They respond to crimes in progress, patrol the streets, and investigate crimes.
They lack the training and resources of the higher organizations, but they don't need
them. The average cop never has to draw his gun in the line of duty anyway.
Police, Patrolmen, Officers and Detectives function in the same way and serve the same
functions as in the real world. Police have the power to make arrests and enforce the law.
It typically will take 1-5 minutes for the police to respond to any call at any given time at
any place in the city. Police get around by car, bike, motorcycle, and on foot.
Air Police
The Olympian Air Police consists of several squadrons of helicopter, plane, and
hovercraft pilots who act as back up to other law enforcing bodies. They are a subdivision
of the standard law enforcing body, and fall under the same jurisdiction. Air Police
generally are not used except in the most extreme hostage situations, and in hostage and
augmented criminal cases.
SWAT
SWAT functions as the police strong-arm against hostage takers and violent situations
that need to be diffused quickly. They have a good reputation compared to similar
organizations in other countries, but cannot compare with the likes of GSG-9, GIGN, and
ESWAT. In fact, ESWAT looks down on them as incompetent children. However, the
fact that most ESWAT agents are headhunted from SWAT cannot be overlooked. They
are generally used to suppress the "day-to-day" acts of terrorism that ESWAT does not
have the time for.
Recruitment
Training
"AGAAIN! FROM THE TAAAHP!" The life of the ESWAT agent becomes his
training. Prospective and veteran operatives alike are put through brutal, strenuous
training at ESWAT's huge arcology in the Central Olympic Block. They train 8 to 10
hours a day, with little let up. Every possible scenario is simulated, and after they are all
simulated, they do it all over again. No one overspecializes; this breeds weakness. If a
character joins ESWAT, he can expect to be spending most of his time in training, when
not on an operation. While this limits the character's free time, they'll make a lot of
buddies (or enemies) on their team. It's always good to have drinking buddies who are
armed (or is it? *hick*).
Training should most definitely be roleplayed from time to time. This is an excellent tool
by which to teach the rules system to the players without having to worry about death (as
much). It'll make those deadly black ops that much easier. It will also cement the
characters together in a coherent group, and it can be used to create conflict between PCs
and NPCs.
ESWAT will often operate in other countries, often loaned to these nations by Olympus
to put down terrorists, criminals, and insurrections. However, often they will operate in
other countries to protect their own interests. ESWAT will only do so if authorized to do
so by the sovereign government (authorization is often aquired just moments ahead of
time) or under the cover of plausible deniability. In such circumstances, operatives have a
lot more freedom in their actions (though reckless behavior will lead to pay cuts or
suspensions). Still, agents have to be careful what they do. The Ministry of External
Affairs has ESWAT investigated routinely. At any given time there will by half a dozen
FBI moles in ESWAT.
Getting Around
It's a big island, and in the course of a campaign set in Olympus, the characters will be
scrambling all over it. There are many ways to get around inside the arcologies and
between the blocks. Most means are relatively inexpensive and easy to acquire.
Public Transit
Olympus has a large, accurately timed, and cheap metro transit system that runs to all of
the beaches and several arcologies in each of the Blocks. Travel by electro-magnetic
super-conductive monorail is also available. You can get from one side of the island to
the other in 30 minutes by this method.
Helicopter
Every arcology block possesses at least four helipads. These are government operated,
and therefore air transportation is generally limited to dignitaries, military personal,
corporate attaches, and other VIPs.
Places of Interest
Ahh, the places to go and people to see. What
follows is a brief listing of various locales in
Olympus worth a second look.
Central Olympic Arcology Block: Olympus' largest arcology block, it consists both of
residential complexes and comercial districts. Most immigrant humans live in this
arcology block; the ratio of human to bioroid is approxamitely 2:3. This, of course,
makes this place a boiling point. Most of the Biocontrol Service Centers are based here.
Suiten Arcology Block: A second Residential and Commercial block, it also houses the
Olympic Port Authority.
ESWAT Headquarters: This building is a massive police structure situated between the
primary arcologies of the Central Olympic and Bezekric Blocks. It houses all aspects of
ESWAT operations. It also contains the massive training facility (partially outdoors) that
ESWAT uses to prepare for it's operations.
The 'Burbs: Between the large arcology blocks are miles and miles of country side, and
expensize housing. The suburbs of olympus are something alot of people aspire for, but
generally only high administrative positions and stuffed shirts can afford them (ESWAT
agents are always in debt...). Still, they are beautiful, and they offer a chage of pace from
the somewhat hectic life of the big arcology cities.
I.5 The State of the World: 2127
In this Chapter
War and Peace
Life in Badside
The Rise of New Superpowers
The lessons of the last war were short lived. Within three years, a fourth World War
would errupt. This time, the war is triggered by conflicts between european and asian
powers. The war is a throwback to the imperialistic wars back in the late 1800s. Depleted
nuclear stock and hesitance by the superpowers to use them leads to a drawn out, bloody
landwar in Asia. The war would drag on into a stalemate. The war does fuel the
economy, however, and enormous leaps and bounds are made in technology, science, and
medicine. The war would finally end in 2026, 27 years later, with Japan the victor. A
baby boom would follow, and the true silicon age would begin.
Years of peace, progress, and prosperity would follow, and would last for more than 75
years. It would be an era comparable to the later part of the 20th century. Outright war
would always be occurring, but rarely would super powers become involved in anything
beyond minor skirmishes. Spycraft and black ops ran amuck, however. Conflict in the
middle east was worse than ever, with a new power (Munma) being thrown into the mix.
The last great "war" occurred in 2125, the year the Appleseed Plan was formally
proposed. War was touched off when ethnic differences in Africa sparked mass scale
uprisings, fueling further insurections in newly taken colonial societies after WW3.
Hardliners in The Four Superpowers (Japan, USSR, USA, EC) ended up at war. The war
was "mild" in comparison to previous wars, and only badside was severely affected. It
was quelled by The Central Management Bureau, and they arrose to power as the
international police power.
Life in Badside
Despite reconstruction efforts back in the late 21st century, the majority of the world is
still in ruins, due to the third World War. This land has grown to become collectively
known as Badside. The sky has since cleared, and
radiation is only a problem in the most remote of
regions. The abandoned and shattered urban sprawls
have, in someplaces, begun to loose their foothold over
Mother Nature. Vines, trees, and thick foilage cover
gigantic buildings. Badside is gritty, hard, and shell-
blasted in some areas, and feral in others.
The most significant change is that many countries have been whiped clean off the map,
and those that were not have lost a chunk in them. With the exception of the middle
eastern countries, third world nations have universally sunk into Badside. The old
superpowers have been devistated. Cities and miles of suburbs and developed country
side simply don't exist anymore.
Gameplay Note: Unless a country is mentioned in the provided source material, or you
really need it for your game, assume it doesn't exist anymore. Odds are there will still be
a city or two left in the country, and there may or may not be a provisional government.
The year 2125 split one former Big 4 Superpower, merged another, and put 2 new powers
on the scene. The world is 'ruled' by Aegis, or Central Management Bureau, based on the
artificial island of Olympus. Aegis is a powerful, international law enforcing body and
peace keeping organization backed by the United Nations, but not universally by it's
members. It fulfills the roll the old imperialist era United States did, though it is infinitely
more powerful and less corruptable.
The good ol' USA is no more. With much of their original size lost to the USSR and
Badside, it was finally split by racial tension and the old Conservative vs. Liberal/Left vs.
Right differences, the country was divided in two. The southern states formed Imperial
Americana, a rightwing republic with a conservative desire to return to the days when the
USA spoke loudly and carried a big stick (this has put them on uneasy terms at best with
Olympus). Racial and sexual equality have gone down the toilet in Imperial Americana;
it's a white man's world. The former northern states, nervous of the annexed Canadian
lands of the USSR to the north and the good ol' boys to the south allied themselves with
the USSR, forming the left wing US-Soviet Alliance (USSA).
The middle east is a mess, as always. Israel has remained a strong surviving force, but
has lost much land to the Arabs, including the entirety of Jerusalem. They have an
excellent espianogue network handed down from Mossad, and the backing of France and
the USSA. Syria and Iraq have been wiped off the map. The Arab world has been united
under one banner: The Islamic Republic of Iran. Occupying former Iran, Iraq, Syria, and
Palestine, they are constantly having to put down violent uprisings from nationalists.
Israel is a particularly strong thorn in it's side, as are Iraqi dissadents operating out of
France.
The most astonishing development in the middle east has been the rise of Munma: a new
religion and nation with roots in Islam, traditional Arab customs, Christianity, and
Daoism. Attracting mainly disenfranchised Muslims, Cristians, Jews, and Chinese, it has
grown from cult like origins back in the early 21st century to a major religion and oil
power in the middle east. It has control of the south-eastern land between its enemies of
the Iranian Republic and India. Backed by Imperial Americana, it has become a world
power. They're not as fanatical as most Islamics (though there are radicals), and the
quality of life is generally good in the Munma Holy Republic. However, they are
rumored to have nuclear capabilities, and like Imperial Americana, are on poor terms
with Olympus.
Next to Africa and China, Europe was hit the hardest by the last two wars. With the
exceptions of England, Germany, France, and Russia, the other countries have fallen to
badside, turned into a network of city-states seperated by miles and miles of wasteland.
England has recovered well from WW5 (after fierce rioting), and though it has not been a
world power since the end of WW2, it's technology and pharmeceutical industries have
flourished in the past two years, and the SAS is still top notch. France has prospered more
than any other european country, and is a popular vacation spot for those fortunate
enough to be able to take vacations. A democracy with leftward leanings, it's executive
branch is extremely corrupt and rash, and is opposed by the legislative minority. The
GIGN is a world class hostage-rescue group, and can even compete with ESWAT.
Germany is a strong manufacturing power, though suffers from crippling inflation and
famine.
Asia (not counting Japan) has had it rough. Most of the old countries have either been
annexed by the USSA or China or collapsed entirely. India has the same problems that
have plagued them for centuries: backwards caste system, famine, over population,
plague. China is going through a second Tai Pin Rebellion: fundamentalist Christian off-
shoots have lead several violent uprisings against the totalitarian government.
Japan, dominated for decades by the corporate machine, is now the holding the huge
gonglomerate Poseidon. Poseidon, while technically a corporation, controls Japan and is
recognized as a sovereign power by the United Nations and Aegis. Like Olympus,
Poseidon is based on an artificial island south of the Japanese mainland, bearing the same
name as the corporation. Poseidon is a megacorp in every sense of the word: they make
everything from cars to toasters to razors to small arms. They have bought out most of
the other Japanese based corporations, though many left beforehand and set up
headquarters elsewhere (Honda and Seburo, for example). They are on good terms with
Olympus and obey international law, but have a bad habit of selling to anyone who has
cash. Poseidon has several top-secret special ops groups.
GAME MECHANICS
The Dice
The system requires players to roll six-sided dice (D6), which represent a
character's attributes and skills. When appropriate, the Game Master will tell a
player to roll a number of dice equal to either the attribute or skill being used.
The player rolls the appropriate number of dice, counts the number of Successes
and tells the GM the result.
Regular Die
Die Roll Result
1,2 Failure
3,4,5,6 Success
Wild Die
Die Roll Result
1 Critical Failure
2 Failure
3,4,5 Success
6 Critical Success
If the Success Total is higher than the difficulty number (See below), the character
succeeds. If it is lower, the character fails.
Critical Successes: Whenever the the Wild Die comes up with a 2,3,4, or 5, treat
the result as if it were a normal die. But, if the Wild Die comes up with a 6, the
player receives 1 Success and rolls again. On a 1 or 2, the player does nothing
more (1's do not count as Critical Failures after the first roll of the Wild Die). On
a 3-5, the player adds yet another Success to his total. On a 6, the player adds
another Success and rerolls! This continues as long as the character rolls 6's on the
Wild Die.
Critical Failures: If the Wild Die comes up with a 1 when a character is first rolling
a Skill or Attribute Check, roll the Wild Die again. If the value is 1 through 5,
remove the Wild Die and deduct one of the Successes from the other dice (if any
Successes were rolled). If the result of the second rolls is a 6, the character has
Complicated. He or she has screwed up in a particularly bad way....perhaps
dropping his gun down into a sewer grating or twisting an ankle while trying to
dodge. Complications should make a character's life more difficult, but never kill
them outright.
The GM could have just as well said that Kreiger got a muscle-cramp and is -1D to
all Dexterity actions for the next 5 rounds, or that he is stunned for the next
round. Anything that makes Kreiger's life a little more scary.
Boosting the Wild Die: Sometimes a characer will have some slight advantage over
others. It may because of natural abilities, cybernetics, a piece of technology or just
dumb luck. Whatever the reason, in the long run, the character has an edge over others.
In this game, that edge is represented by Boosts. Boosts give the character an increased
chance to reroll the Wild Die. A character with one Boost may reroll the Wild Die when
it comes up a 5 or a 6 on his initial roll only. Subsequent rolls of the Wild Die are treated
normally.
A character with multiple Boosts in the same area may reroll subsequent Wild Die rolls,
once for each Boost. Thus, a character with 2 Boosts in Dexterity can reroll the Wild Die
on a 5 or 6 on his initial roll and the second roll of the Wild Die, but not the third (when
he may only reroll on a 6, as normal).
Note: Boosts are beasts of my own creation, added because I felt there were so many bits of technology
that might give characters advantages. I didn't want to allow characters to just keep adding dice on top of
their attributes, because it would quickly imbalance the game and characters would regularly be
accomplishing impossible tasks. See by Design Notes for more commentary.
Difficulty Numbers
When a character makes an Attribute or Skill check, they are usually rolling against
a difficulty number (Note: I think these difficulty numbers are two easy! I may recommend
increasing them all by one after some playtesting. Let me know what you think).
Difficulty
Difficulty Description
Numbers
Anyone with slight skill should be able to do this most
Very Easy 1
of the time. Example: Driving a car in moderate traffic.
Most characters should be able to do this most of the
time, though there is still a change for failure.
Easy 2
Example: Driving a car in moderate traffic during a
rainstorm.
Requires a fair amount of skill and/or effort. Most
unskilled characters will fail such an attempt.
Moderate 3
Example: Avoiding jaywalkers who suddenly step in
front of your car during a high-speed chase.
Only highly skilled characters succeed at these with any
Difficult 4 regularity. Example: Driving through an intersection
full of speeding cross traffic.
Even pros have a hard time pulling these attempts off.
Very
5 Example: Steering your car into oncoming traffic and
Difficult
avoiding collisions while at high speeds.
Only the luckiest and most skilled are successful.
Extremely
6 Example: Sharpshooting through a tiny hole in an
Diffiult
enemy's body armor at 30 meters.
You'd better be skilled and lucky, and even then it's no
guarantee. Example: Successfully landing an
Heroic 7
Olympus Troop Transport (those bee-like things) when
all power has been cut.
Unearthly 8 Only the most highly skilled and/or cybernetically
enhanced characters will succeed. Example: Jumping
from one building to another (as Briareos does in B1:V1
against the hit squad in the badlands).
A character must have advanced cybernetics and godly
Legendary 9 skill levels to even think about accomplishing such a
feat. Example:
If the character succeeds, it's not unlikely that
Impossible 10
supernatural forces are at work. Example:
Opposed Rolls
When a character is testing his or her Attributes or Skills against those of another
(PC or NPC), the parties involved make Opposed Rolls. The one with the highest
roll wins.
Character Points
A character may spend his or her Character Points to gain additional dice during
an action. They receive an additional die for each point spent. A character may
spend up to 3 CP's per action or attack, and up to 5 CP's for any defensive action
(Dodging, Strenth rolls versus damage, etc.). If the die purchased with a CP
comes up a 6, the player may re-roll it and add the new value to the total (as for
the Wild Die, though there is no penalty for rolling a 1, other than it is a Failure).
Character Points may be used at anytime, even for the same action as a Chi Point
(though the extra die is added after the base dice are doubled. See below).
Chi Points
The world of Appleseed is firmly based in reality (Shirow goes to great pains to
make his machines, politics, and characters realistic), but it is still a heroic fantasy
in which both protagonists and villains alike perform nearly superhuman feats.
In this game, Chi represents a character's inner strength and the extent to which
they can tap into personal energies to produce heroic results. When a character
spends a Chi point, all dice on his next action are doubled. Anything which is not
part of a character (a weapon or vehicle), is not affected.
See Characters: Chi for rules about using and regaining Chi.
Effect Value
The difference between the number of Successes a player rolls and the Difficulty
Number is called the Effect Value (EV). EV's are a measure of how successful a
character's attempt has been (or, in some cases, how dismal the failure turns out).
In combat, the character rolls one additional damage die for EV point. In non-
combat actions, EV's can indicate the speed, grace or ingenuity with which a
character succeeds. See Actions and Combat for more information.
III. CHARACTERS
In this chapter:
Templates
Types
Attributes
Advantages and Disadvantages
Details
Choosing Skills
Chi
Character Advancement
TEMPLATES
In order to play Appleseed, you'll need a character. The list below is really only
illustrative. There are folks from every walk of life, profession, and background
in the Appleseed world. Even those in the same profession specialize in different
areas. You can select one from the list below or create your own.
Badside Scout
Bureaucrat
Cop
Crook
Cyborg Mercenary
Government Agent
Medtech
Mutant Weirdo
Robot
Smuggler
Soldier
Technician
Terrorist
Zealot
Copy the structure from one of the Character Templates above onto a piece of
paper to create your very own character sheet. I will try to make and post one
when I get time, but don't hold your breath!
TYPE
In Appleseed, a character may either be a normal Human, a Bioroid, a Mutant, Light
Cyborg, or a Full-Body Cyborg. Each Type has particular advantages and
disadvantages. Note that the starting Attribute Dice for characters is higher than it would
be for "non-heroic" non-player characters in the world of Appleseed. Most standard
NPC's would start with fewer attribute dice.
1. Allot the Atribute dice, following the limits outlined above.
2. Starting Armor Value: 25
3. Starting Jump Bonus: 2D
4. Starting base HP: 25
5. Add 2 Standard Optical Implants, with up to 4 options (free, GM's
discretion).
4. Add 2 Standard Audal Implants, with up to 2 otions (free, GM's
discretion).
7. Standard brain box.
8. Standard Filtration systems (all).
9. Customizing your Borg: at the GM's discretion, you can choose to
raise and lower some values to personalize your creation. Generally, the
GM should not permit players to raise or lower levels more than 1 level
from the standard at character creation. (For example, the Cyborg
Mercenary in the Templates section lowered his Armor Value by 1 and
increased his Jump Bonus by 1D). No value should exceed 7D at
character creation.
10. Approximately 50,000 dollars in debt (from implants or
maintenance costs).
ATTRIBUTES
Select the Type you wish to play and find the starting Attribute Dice for your
character. At least 1D must be placed in each attribute and no more than 4D
can be assigned to any one attribute for normal humans. (Note: Dice may not
be broken up into 3 "pips", or "+1's", like they can in the SW RPG). The average
for "normal" humans in any one attribute is 2D. The Attributes are:
Strength: 3D
Dexterity: 4D
Constitution: 3D
Knowledge: 3D
Instincts: 3D
Presence: 2D
Design note: Life nearly everything in this game, Advantages and Disadvantages are completely
optional. My main reason for coming up with them was to give humans some bonuses relative to other
Types. They should never be allowed to imbalance a game and GM's should alter them accordingly.
Advantages:
Acute Senses (1): Boost to any Search or Tracking attempt that relies on one of
the five senses.
Ambidextrous (1): Character may use either hand with equal skill. Furthermore,
the character may weild and shoot two guns at the same time and only incur a -
1D penalty rather than the normal -2D penalty.
Appeal (1): Boosts to all Presence-based skills.
Cat-footed (1): Character is exceptionally light on her feet. This grants a Boost
to the following skills: Stealth and Acrobatics.
Contacts (1-2): Taken at level 1 means the character has some relatively high
contacts that may get information for him from time and time (sometimes in
exchange for favors or cash). At level 2, this character knows influential people
at the highest levels of society who will occasionally do him a favor.
Egghead (2): This character is an especially able student and can learn Advanced
skills under Knowledge as if they were normal skills. They must still learn
prerequisites.
Flexible (1): Character is exceptionally limber and graceful. Boosts to Dodge,
Martial Arts, Brawl, and Running.
Gearhead (2): This technophile loves all things mechanical. +1D to Value,
Scrounge and Bargain rolls that involve acquiring or appraising technological
items. Furthermore, this Boosts any Mechanics, Electronics or Computer Ops
rolls.
Hawkeye (1): Boosts to rolls that involve firing a weapon or throwing something
(Firearms, Heavy Weapons, Throw).
Intuitive (1): This character knows how to read other people and use it to her
advantage. Boosts to Profile, Con, Persuasion, Bargain and Perform.
Iron Will (1): +1D to all Willpower rolls. Furthermore, the strength of the
character's convictions make them more charismatic and gives Boosts to
Persuasion, Perform (Orate only), Bargain and Command.
Lucky (1): Character receives an extra die once per game, to roll as an additional
Wild Die for one action only.
Resources (1-2): At level 1, this character has a sizeable savings accounts and/or
investment portfolio that can be liquidated to equal several thousands of dollars
(10,000 + 1D6 x 10,000). At level 2, this character has a trust fund and will likely
never need to worry about finding a job--unless the cash dries up, of course (GM's
discretion...heh heh)
Stout (1): Boosts to Lifting, Endurance and Resistance tests.
Tree-hugger (1): This character prefers the outdoors and is especially able in the
wilds. Boosts to Survival, Tracking, Climbing, and Life Sciences rolls.
Wily (1): This character is particularly crafty and her plans often go off without a
hitch. +1D to Tactics rolls when character makes a plan. Also, +1D to Persuasion
and Con rolls when those skills are used to get information out of someone.
Disadvantages:
Addiction (1-2): At level 1, you're easily driven to distraction by the object of
your addiction (cigarettes, comic books, etc) and will go out of your way and
sometimes abuse your duties to fulfill it. Can make a Easy Willpower test to
avoid giving in. At level 2, the characters has a serious problem with a dangerous
addiction: drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. Once per day the character must
make an Very Easy Willpower test or give in to the addiction. For each day that
has pased since the character last gave in, the difficulty increases by 1 level (Easy
on Day 2, Moderate on Day 3, etc.). If the character reaches the Heroic difficulty
and passes, then he has "gone on the wagon" and must only has an Easy test every
day (forever) to avoid sliding back into addiction. Character points and Chi may
be spent to avoid the addiction.
Clumsy (2): You basically has two left feet. You trip, you stumble, you fall on
your face. You're a regular Jerry Lewis. When you roll a 1 on the Wild Die for
any Dexterity-based action, you Complicate if you roll a 3, 4, 5 or 6 (rather than
just a 6).
Criminal Past (1-2): At level 1, you were a known theif and perhaps did some jail
time. There may still be a few authorities who have some questions for you...At
level 2, you were involved with serious crimes, perhaps murder, kidnapping or
drug smuggling. You've never paid your debt to society and some Inspector
Javert is out there, looking for you...On the bright side, at level 1 you get a Boost
to any Streetwise roll and at level 2 you get +1D to Streetwise.
Debt (1): You owe a debt of thousands of dollars to someone who is beginning
to run out of patience. You must make payments of approximately 1000 dollars
per month. The debt itself is 1D6x 10,000 dollars.
Dependent (1): Someone depends on you to take care of them. You must
provide housing, food, clothes and other support. This might be a child, sick
relative or someone else to whom you owe a debt.
Disorganized (1): This character is simply unable to get his act together. -1D to
Business and Tactics rolls. Furthermore, you've incurred 1D6 x 1000 dollars worth
of debt because you never keep your finances straight.
Dumb (1): You're just not all that bright. -1D to rolls that involve problem
solving, including repair and medical skills.
Grouch (1): You've got a bad attitude, buster. -1D to actions based on
Persuasion or Bargain.
Injury (1-2): At level 1, this character suffers from a chronic, but not debilitating
injury. Examples include a bad back, arthritis, a trick knee, etc. The injury will
flare up when the character Complicates any Dexterity roll and will result in a -1D
to all Dexterity-based tests for 2D6 hours or until treatment is given. At level 2,
the injury is more disabling. It may include having to rely upon crutches or a
wheelchair, a seeing-eye dog, or something similar. The injury cannot be treated
with modern technology for some reason (aside from a full-body replacement).
Naive (1): You often believe the first thing that anyone tells you. -2D to Profile
and -1D to Bargain attempts
Phobia (1-2): At level 1, the character is either slightly afraid of common things
(Easy Willpower test when coming across rats, snakes, blood, etc) or very afraid of
very rare things (Difficult Willpower test when encountering a dead body, a solar
eclipse, etc.).
Technophobe (2): This character doesn't care for technology and is particularly
clumsy with it. -1D to actions making use of advanced technology, such as
operating a computer, science skills relying on complex equipment, piloting a
landmate or other modern vehicle, etc.
DETAILS
This is your opportunity to round out the character and provide a description,
background, personality quirks, goals, etc.
Speed
Normal characters can move 10 meters per round while walking. With successful
Running rolls, they can increase this value.
Strength/Lifting Bonus
This represents the additional amount of damage a character can do because of his
strength. Take the Strength attribute OR the Lifting skill and divide by 2,
rounding down. This value is added to any damage rolls resulting from successful
Brawling, Martial Arts or Melee Weapons rolls. Certain armored suits and
cybernetic implants may alter this value.
Body Points
These represent the physical toughness of your character. To get starting Body
Points, roll a number of dice equal to the character's Strength + Constitution score
and consult the table below. Take that sum and add 10. If a character increases
his Strength or Constitution attribute in the future, he may roll another die.
Furthermore, certain cybernetic enhancements may increase this number.
Standard
Die
Number
Result
of BP's
1,2 4
3,4,5 5
6 6
Wild Die
Number
Result
of BP's
1 3
2 4
3,4,5 5
6 (and
6
reroll)
Description
Describe your character: How tall is he? What kind of clothes does he
wear? Does he have any noticeable marks such as tattoos or scars? Does he
have cybernetic implants? Blue hair? Cat-like ears? Just what kind of freak are
you creating, man?
Background
It seems that all of Shirow's characters, even the supporting cast, have a rich
background. They come to Olympus from all over the world, with vastly
different beliefs, experiences and motivations. Give your character a history.
Why has he come to Olympus? Does he have family? Was he grown in some
vat in a dilapidated Shanghai laboratory? Is there some intrigue in his past he
hopes no one will discover?
Personality
Is your character a grouch? Is she impulsive, always itching for a fight, or is
she more thoughtful and cautious?
Objectives
Everyone appears to be in Olympus for a reason, if for none other than to
escape the strife elsewhere in the world. But many have secret agendas that only
come out with time. Does your character have a personal or professional goal?
Is he a spy? A terrorist plant? An anarchist Luddite?
CHOOSING SKILLS
Starting skills
Find the starting skill dice for your Type. Furthermore, each character can list 3
additional skills that they take a "0D" under each Attribute. The character may
still perform any other skills under that attribute, but at a -1D difficulty. There'are
two exceptions to this rule:
Specializations:
Many skills have specializations which allow the character to focus on a
certain aspect of the skill. If a specialization is taken, a character may advance in
that specialized aspect of the skill at half the normal cost of advancement.
However, uses of the skill not covered in the Specialization remain at the base skill
level.
Specializations are independent of the skill from which they are derived. If
the player later increases the skill, the Specialization does not increase. If the
Specialization increases, there is no change in the base skill.
Advanced skills:
Some particularly complicated skills require two times the normal amount of
Character Points to allow for Advancement. They also typically require some
other prerequisite skill.
CHI
Chi symbolizes the inner strength and resources of a character. It is usually a
manifestation of their heroic qualities. However, ethics and morals in the world
of Appleseed are often murky and highly subjective. Usually, characters may only
gain additional Chi points by spending the ones they have. This is a bit of a
gamble, since they will not always regain spent points. At the end of each game
session, the GM decides whether the characters regain spent points and if they are
granted additional Chi.
In other D6 games, characters gain Chi/Force/Hero points when they use existing
points to preform heroic actions. In Appleseed, heroism is often in the eye of the
beholder. So, in deciding whether the character regains the spent Chi point, or is
granted an additional one, the GM should first decide whether the character acted
"heroically" within the character's own personality or code of ethics. At it's most
basic level, good guys should act like good guys and villains should perform
villainy. Note that there is no equivalent to Skeptic or Dark Force points in this
game. Bad guys just act like bad guys, and the players want to play a jerk, you
should let them (though you can certainly make life more difficult for them in
other ways!)
If the character spends the Chi point to perform a heroic act, usually to
save someone's life, stop a bad guy, or attempt an action that risk his own
life, then he should receive the point back and gain another.
If the character uses the Chi point to perform a difficult task, but that is
either not very dramatic or heroic, then he should get the point back but
not gain another.
If the character spends the Chi point to accomplish a relatively normal feat
or to just save his own sorry hide, he does not get the point back.
A character may spend up to 2 Chi per round, each doubling the dice pools of 1
action(See Using Chi).
Finally, if a character has no Chi points, the GM may decide to grant one after a
particularly heroic or risky act (or an act that furthers the character's strong
motivation).
ADVANCEMENT
At the end of each adventure, players will usually be rewarded Character Points at
the end of an adventure by the Game Master. They may keep these CP's for later
use or spend them on learning skills.
So I recommend that GM's consider a "scholarship" program for players who want to start out as physicians
or some other expensive specialist. Perhaps give them some extra dice at character creation to put into
these specialized skills. If it seems that you are imbalancing the game, you can saddle them with deep
debts or other problems as a result of their "higher" education.
Improving attributes
To improve an attribute, a character must spend 15x their current skill value.
Attributes:
Strength
Dexterity
Constitution
Knowledge
Instincts
Presence
Terms:
Skill name: Aside from just the skill name, the skill may be designated as (A)dvanced
or (S)pecial. Advanced skills usually require prerequisites and are more difficult in
which to gain levels. Special skills are particular for some other reason, usually because
there are certain rules that apply only to those skills.
Prerequisites: Any skills and their levels that must be attained before the skill in
question may be taken.
Time of Use: Amount of time that passes while the character attempts the skill
(regardless of whether or not it is successful). This can be highly variable and depends
on the GM's discretion. An action that takes 1 round means that it is the only skill the
character can attempt in that round. An action that takes "1 action" can be attempted in
conjunction with as many other actions as the character can perform in one round. Other
attempts may take anywhere from a minute to days (Scrounge, for example). Difficulty
numbers may vary depending on time spent as well.
Difficulty: This gives an approximate Difficulty level to successfully use the skill.
GM's should vary this depening on the situation: including stress, available tools,
amount of time dedicated to the task, familiarity with the situation and other factors.
Description: A (hopefully) brief description of what the skill does includes and other
notes.
If a skill is listed by not given any other information, assume that it is available in one of
West End Games' products (probably the Star Wars books, 3rd Edition).
STRENGTH
Brawling
Time Taken: One action.
Specializations: none.
Difficulty: Easy (2)
Brawling covers basic hand-to-hand combat. It is less graceful than Martial Arts, but
can be equally effective. A character will do an amount of damage equal to his Strength
+ 1D per Effect Value.
Note: Brawling and Martial Arts is handled differently in this D6 Legend game than it is in the DC
Universe. As always, GM's and players should go with whichever system they think is best.
Climbing
Time Take: One action (but GM's may decide to have characters just roll once for an
entire "pitch")
Specializations: Different things climbed: buildings, trees, rock faces.
Difficulty: Moderate (3)
While Climbing covers the actual act of scampering up something, it may also be used
when a character tries to do things like hold on to the hood of a speeding car (the "TJ
Hooker maneuver") or grab on to the struts of a helicopter as it takes off, etc. The
difficulty may be increased if the character is burdened or wearing armor.
Jumping
Time of Use: 1 action. Note that "big" jumps may require a certain amount of "hang
time." GM's should consider this in modifing difficulties for other actions that are
attempted while the character is in the air.
Specializations: None.
Difficulty: A die result of 3 or higher is a Success. The distance covered depends on the
number of successed gained. See below
Jumping is not really an "academic" skill, but it is a talent that may be cultured
nonetheless. You may notice a somewhat strange progression in the distance covered and
the number of successes. This is because almost anyone can jump at least a little, but
only a few people can really jump far. 9 Successes are about the maximum that an
Olympic jumper could get (assuming they didn't use Wild Dice, Chi or Character Points--
all of which, I think, are illegal at the Olympics)--this assumes a Strength of 4 + Jumping
skill of 6 (World Class) and a getting successes on nearly all the dice. After 9 successes,
the distance increases dramatically. This is because the jumper will only get this far if
aided by technology (cybernetics) or some other "superhuman" means (Chi or Character
Points).
I would recommend to GM's that 9 successes be the "maximum" allowed any non-
augmented jumper (this includes the use of Chi and CP's) because the laws of physics and
gravity have to apply somewhere. There is simply no way for a "normal" human to jump
50 feet horizontally!
# Approximate Distance
Success Covered
Horizontal: about 1
1 foot.
Vertical: about 1 foot.
Horitzontal: about 2.5
2 feet.
Vertical: about 3 feet.
Horizontal: about 4
3 feet.
Vertical: about 4 feet.
Horizontal: about 6
4 feet.
Vetical: about 5.5 feet.
Horizontal: about 10
5 feet
Vertical: about 6 feet
Horizontal: about 15
6 feet.
Vertical: about 7 feet
Horizontal: about 20
7 feet.
Vertical: about 8 feet
Horizontal: about 25
8 feet.
Vertical: about 10 feet.
Horizontal: about 30
feet (this is about the
9
current world record).
Vertical: about 12 feet.
Horizontal: about 40
10 feet.
Vertical: about 15 feet.
Beyond 10 Succeses, a jumper
may only achieve these distances
if aided by technology. Even Chi
and CP's should not be permitted
to carry a jumper this far.
Horizontal: about 75
11 feet
Vertical: about 35 feet.
Horizontal: about 100
12 feet.
Vertical: about 50 feet.
Horizontal: about 125
13 feet.
Vertical: about 75 feet.
For each additional success, add
about 25 feet to the result.
Lifting
Time Taken: 1 action
Specializations: none
Difficulty: Depends upon the weight and bulkiness of the item.
Lifting represents more an innate ability than a learned skill (though you can certainly
learn the "correct" way to lift heavy objects). Difficulty depends on the weight of the
object. The table below indicates the difficulty of lifting a common object of about the
provided weight. Characters will be able to life much more than this amount if they
bench press (approximately 3 x the amount) or do a dead lift (approximately 4x this
amount)
Weight of
Difficulty
Object
20 pounds Very Easy (1)
50 pounds Easy (2)
75 pounds Moderate (3)
100 pounds Difficult (4)
Very Difficult
150 pounds
(5)
200 pounds Heroic (6)
Increase Difficulty by 1 for each
additional 50 pounds
RETURN TO MAIN PAGE.
DEXTERITY
Acrobatics
Time Taken: One round
Specializations:Tumbling,
Balancing, Swinging
Acrobatics is used whenever a
character attempts to make an
unusual or difficult maneuver with
her body. A character may attempt
an Acrobatics check if they fall or
are thrown to the ground to roll to
her feet or avoid damage (roll
Acrobatics versus the damage. If the
Acrobatics roll is higher, subtract the
difference from the damage taken).
Acrobatics may also be used in
combat. If a character uses
Acrobatics during combat they can
potentially reap one of the following
benefits:
o A successful check
versus a Moderate difficulty adds a +1D to either the character's attack or
Dodge (but not Parry) attempts. The Acrobatics roll does not count as an
action if successful. If it fails, it counts as an action..
o With a Very Difficult check, the character may get a +1D to both her
Attack and Dodge attempts this round and the Acrobatics attempt does not
count as an action. If she fails, it counts as an action.
o Whenever Acrobatics is used for one of the above purposes in combat, the
character is considered to act last in the round (her attacks will land in the
"second segment").
Brawling
Time Taken: One action.
Specializations: none.
Difficulty: Easy (2)
Brawling covers basic hand-to-hand combat. It is less graceful than Martial Arts, but
can be equally effective. A character will do an amount of damage equal to his Strength
+ 1D per Effect Value.
Note: Brawling and Martial Arts is handled differently in this D6 Legend game than it is in the DC
Universe. As always, GM's and players should go with whichever system they think is best.
Dodge
Time Taken: One round.
Specializations: None.
Dodge is the art of getting out of the way. A character need only make one Dodge roll
per round. The result becomes the base difficulty for anyone shooting or throwing
anything at the character. Thus, if a character makes a Dodge roll and has 4 successes,
enemies will need at least 4 successes to hit the character. The Dodge result replaces the
base difficulty, thus a bad Dodge result can put the character in a worse position than if
he had just stood still. Dodge may also be used to get out of the way of other objects that
are not purposely aimed at the character, such as falling boulders, careening busses or
out-of-control skateboarders.
Drive
Time Taken: One round.
Specializations: Particular types of vehicles, such as Motorcyles, Sports cars,
Limosines, etc.
Drive applies to the conduction of commonplace passenger vehicles. It won't do you a
lick of good in a tank...
Martial Arts
Time Taken: One round.
Specializations: none.
Martial Arts covers the study of unarmed hand-to-hand combat. Many of the
Resuscitated use programs to train in an amalgam of styles. At character creation, the
character receives one special maneuver for each die they place in the skill. When the
character advances with experience, each special move costs an additional 8 CP's (a
character can buy as many as he would like).
A character who strikes with Martial Arts, but without a Special Move, does damage
equal to her Strength +1D per EV. The base to hit with Martial Arts is Moderate (3
Successes).
Note: Brawling and Martial Arts is handled differently in this D6 Legend game than it is in the DC
Universe. As always, GM's and players should go with whichever system they think is best.
SPECIAL MOVES
The standard Difficulty for each move is given in parenthesis.
Disarm (D): if the character's attack is successful and not parried or dodged, the
target is disarmed.
Elbow Smash (D)): if successful, attacker may add +1D to the damage roll.
Flip (M): If successful, the attacker throws the target to the ground and does 3D
damage. The target must take an action and an Easy Dex roll to get to his feet.
Flying Kick (VD): If successful, attacker does STR +2D + 2 points of damage. If
she fails, the attacker is off balance and at -1D to all actions in the next round.
Foot Sweep (E): Will trip the target who must take an action and make an Easy
Dex the next round to stand.
Headbutt (E): Can only be used if the attacker is close to the target (grappling,
etc.). Does +1D damage.
Hold/Grapple (M + opposing STR): Once the target has been successfully held,
the attacker must make an opposing Martial Arts versus the target's Martial Arts,
Brawling, of Strength each round to continue to hold them. If the target is held, he
or she cannot attack.
Instant Knockdown (D): If landed successfully, this attack knocks the target to
the ground. The target must spend the next round getting up or suffer multiple
action penalties.
Instant Stand (M): Allows the martial artist to automatically stand up without
taking an additional action.
Instant Stun (D): If successfully landed, this attack stuns the target for one
round.
Multiple Strikes (D): A character can make an additional attack this round doing
STR damage without a penalty for an additional action.
Nerve Punch (VD): If successful, the attack punches a bundle of nerves on the
target and renders a limb unusable for 3D rounds. If the attacker beats the
difficulty number by 15, the target is rendered unconscious for 3D rounds. Note,
this will generally not work against cyborgs!
Power Block (M): A successful Power Block stops an unarmed attack and inflicts
STR damage to the attacker.
Reversal (Opposed STR or Brawl or Martial Arts): Only works while being held
or grappled. If successful, the martial artist breaks free and renders person holding
him or her immobile (see Hold/Grapple above).
Silent Strike (D): If the character sneaks up on a target and also rolls a successful
Silent Strike, the attacker does BDV +1D damage without making a sound.
Spinning/Power Kick (M) STR + 2D damage. If the attack fails, the attacker is
off balance and suffers a -1D to all actions next round.
Shoulder Throw (M): A successful attempt will allow the martial artist to hurl a
target to the ground doing 3D damage. The target must take an action and make
an Easy Dex roll.
Weapon Block (Opposed Martial Arts versus Melee Combat roll): Allows an
unarmed martial artist to parry a weapon used in a melee attack.
Ride horse
Time of Use: One round.
Difficulty: Easy for simple manuevers on well-trained steeds. Difficulty increases for
the orneriness of the beast, complexity of actions attempted, and conditions (weather,
speed traveled, burdens, etc.).
Specialzations: Particular riding styles (Wester, English, Bareback, etc.).
Ride horse includes all the knowledge one needs to train or ride a horse, perform
simple animal husbandry, and prepare and maintain the appropriate tackle.
Running
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: none
Difficulty: Easy. May be increased if there are obstacles or the character is burdened.
Running includes not only the ability to move your feet rapidly, but also of avoiding
objects and stumbling while you are doing so. This skill is essential for all those
characters who hope to be cops and spend their days chasing down perpetrators though
dim alleys and over chain link fences.
Throwing
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: Particular objects: grenades, spears, shoes.
This covers the hand-eye coordination required to pick something up and hit a target.
Difficulty depends on whether the object was designed to be thrown and range (see
Equipment).
CONSTITUTION
Endurance:
Time of Use: 1 round. Generally not considered an action.
Specializations: Particular forms of exercise: Climbing, Running, Swimming, etc.
Characters must make Endurance checks when they exert themselves physically and
begin to push the limits of their energy. The GM may decide when rolls are appropriate.
For example, if a character is chasing a crook through the streets of Olympys, he will
make a Running roll. If the chase continues for a long time, the GM will ask the
character to make an Endurance roll. If he fails, he will have to stop running to catch his
breath. The difficulty of the rolls should increase with the time of the physical exertion.
Resistance:
Time of Use: 1 round.
Specializations: Particular forms of duress: Drugs, Pain, Gravitational forces (good for
pilots), etc.
Resistance indicates the character's physical resiliency against outside duress, such as
pain or drugs. Furthermore, for when a character rolls to establish his Hit Points, he may
roll Resistance if it is higher than his Constitution. Also, as he may roll an additional die
each time he increases his Resistance skill level (only to the general skill, not
Specializations).
Swimming:
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: None.
When you know how to swim, you generally won't drown. This is a good thing.
Willpower:
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: None.
Willpower represents the strength of the character's mind and ability to resist outside
influences. Characters must make Willpower checks to avoid temptations, fight the
powers of suggestive drugs, and remain conscious when physically weak or in extreme
pain.
KNOWLEDGE
Bureaucracy
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours.
Difficulty: Easy. May be increased for particularly obscure or secret bureaucratic
information.
This character has an unfortunately advanced knowledge of how bureaucracies work.
They will know who is in charge of what duties, where paperwork is kept, and what
processes must be followed to get something done in a bureaucratic chain of command.
Every species has its own kind on bureaucracy, and a smart individual can learn how to
use it to his advantage. The nature of the Machines lend them to an almost supremely
bureaucratic structure and division of labor. In the Realworld, characters may use this
skill to discren the various functions, access, security and, perhaps, weaknesses, of the
various robotic castes.
Business
Time of Use: usually ongoing.
Difficulty: Moderate for most matters.
This character knows how economic principles can be best applied to a given
situation. They can organize profit-making ventures, find appropriate contacts, and
recognize needed resources.
Education
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours.
Specializations: Particular areas of study.
Education indicates the depth of the character's academic background. Characters may
make Education checks in areas that require general knowledge, such as Geography,
History, Greek mythology, basic mathematics, etc. This differs from Social Sciences,
Life Sciences and Physical Sciences in that the knowledge is not generally applicable to
real problems in front of the character--it only indicates that the character has a very
general knowledge ("Switzerland is next to Germany, I think. Or is that Sweden...?").
The table below gives a rough idea of what each level in Education represents. Note
that it is not necessary to go to college to have a level 3 or 4 Education, it just means that
the character has invested time in learning on his own (in fact, lots of people who
graduate from college never paid much attention and might only have a level 2
Education).
Education
Schooling Equivalent
Level
1 Elementary School
2 High School
3 College
4 Post-graduate studies
5 Advanced studies
6 World reknowned scholar
7 Revolutionary scholar
Electronics
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours.
Specializations: Particular electronic items: Computers, Landmate electrical systems,
domestic wiring, Cybernetic wiring, etc.
With Electronics, a character can attempt to understand and repair electrical systems of
all sorts. This includes computers, cybernetics, communications equipment and most
optical equipment. Difficulties may be modified if the character is very familiar with the
particular device of depending on the size (generally, smaller things are more difficult to
fix).
Attempt Difficulty
Fixing an alarm clock Very Easy
Installing RAM in a computer Easy
Fixing burned-out wiring in a pair of thermal
Moderate
goggles.
Re-wiring a standard security system Difficult
Physical interfacing a computer with a secured Very
computer system (physical hacking) Difficult
Engineering (A)
Prerequisites: Mechanics 4D, Electronics 4D, Education 4D, Physical Sciences 4D
Demolitions
Time of Use: 1 round to several minutes.
Specializations: Particular explosives.
Difficulty: Moderate or higher (generally).
A character skilled in Demolitions is able to recognize, build and disarm bombs of all
sorts. It's a very dangerous skill to employ, since failure often results in detonation.
Regardless, it's usually better to attempt to disarm a bomb than just let it sit and go off by
itself!
First Aid
Time of Use: 1 round for each Wound Level suffered by patient (it is more difficulty to
help people who are more hurt).
Difficulty: Varies greatly. See Actions & Combat: Healing (First Aid).
Specializations: Tending to various kinds of injuries: bullet wounds; broken bones;
poisoning, etc.
First Aid training gives a character the knowledge to tend to injuries and minor
illnesses (such as nausea and headaches). The character will be familar with using basic
medical supplies, such as bandages and antiseptic, but will not be able to perform surgery
or other complex procedures.
Jury Rig
Time of Use: 1 round to several minutes.
Specializations: Jury-rigging particular objects such as cars, weapons, or computers.
Someone with Jury Rig can fix almost anything, at least for a few minutes. This is the
quick-fix, the hack, that gets something working when it needs to be working. But
without more time and better parts, it won't last long. A Jury-rigged item will continue to
function for 1 hour per Effect Value point. The GM may alter this time table as he sees
fit. Some very broad examples of Jury-rigging and the associated difficulties are given
below:
Law
Time of Use: 1 round.
Difficulty: Easy for knowing basic information. Difficulty increases for understanding
more complex legal regimes or employing legal knowledge ni a professional manner
(trying a case, etc.).
Specializations: Particular areas of the law: Enforcement; Torts, Criminal Law,
Constitutional Law, etc.
With Law, a character understands how legal regimes work and what must be done in
order to comply with those laws. Skilled characters may attempt to use the law to defend
themselves (or others), gain access to information, or have the weight of authority
brought done upon another person (i.e., charging them with a crime). Different countries
and subcultures have different laws. Thus, a character may be very familiar with the laws
of one country and completely ignorant regarding others.
Mechanics
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours.
Specializations: Particular machines: Automobiles, Landmates, Aircraft, etc.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate for simple, common machines and basic problems.
Increases if the character has never worked on a machine of this type or the machine is
very complex. Difficulty may also increase if the mechanic lacks the proper tools,
manuals, etc.
Mechanics is a catch-all skill that represents a character's ability to understand and
repair mechanical engines and moving parts.
Medicine (A)
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours or days.
Prerequisites: Life Sciences 4D, First Aid 5D, Education 4D
Specializations: Particular areas: Cybernetic medicine, cardiology, optomology, etc.
Difficulty: Depends on action attempted. 1 to render basic aid. 2 to peform advanced
aid (patient has fewer than 1/2 hp's). 3 to perform light surgery. 4 for basic surgery. 5
for invasive surgery (cybernetic implants, etc.) or to diagnosis a rare disorder. 6 for
experimental or novel work.
Special: Though Medicine is under Knowledge, when the skill is taken, it is at 1D (not
the character's Knowledge skill). At 1D will be considered a medic or med student. At
2D, a registered Nurse or an intern. At 3D, a doctor. At 4D, a specialist or experienced
doctor. At 5D and above, the doctor will have a good reputation in the field, perhaps
even be world reknowned.
Medicine represents the whole of medical sciences, from advanced medic procedures,
to surgery, to experimentation and development. When a character uses the Medicine
skill to perform first aid and basic field/emergency procedures (including light surgery),
it is added to the character's First Aid skill. Furthermore, it may be added to Physical
Sciences rolls when performing biological experiments. Finally, it may be added to
Investigation skills when doing a medical research in libraries or with a computer.
When working on cybernetics implanted in a patient, the doctor must have the
Cybernetics skill and make a successful Moderate test for the surgery to be successful.
Navigation
Time of Use: One to several rounds, depending on the length and complexity of the
course charted.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending on the information available to the navigator
(charts, compass, current location, etc.).
Specializations: Particular environments: Terrestrial, Acquatic, Subterranean, Outer
Space, etc.
A character skilled in Navigation may use any available information to discren her
current whereabouts and plot the best course to arrive at another location. She can read
maps, instruments, perform necessary calculations, correct for errors, and generally avoid
getting lost. Even without charts and gear, this character may use local cues (such as the
sun or stars) to figure out their location and plot a course of travel.
News
Time of Use: 1 round.
Difficulty: Easy. Difficulty may be increased if the news items is particularly obscure.
News represents the character's knowledge of current events. Though it may not seem
apparent at first, News is an important skill in the world of Appleseed. Political alliances
and conflicts are regularly springing up, shifting and posing threats to Olympus (and
probably the characters). GM's should ask for News rolls if the character's are trying to
find out information about what's going on in politics or the world for the past 5 or so
years. GM's should be encouraged to mix in changing social and political situations with
the game campaign. It's one of the things that makes Shirow's work stand out so much
from other manga.
At level 1, the character is pretty oblivious or gets most of her news from tabloids. At
2, she has an average grasp of newsworthy events (taxes up, war in the Middle East, it's
raining, etc.). At 3, the person at least listens to the nightly news and files the
information away in their head. At 4, they read the paper every day and talk about
current events. At higher levels, the character makes an effor to be on top of any and all
current events in the world.
Robotics (A)
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours or days.
Difficulty: Moderate (generally), but highly variable depending on the action attempted
(fine tuning of motor skills is much more difficult than simply changing a battery).
Prerequisites: Physical Sciences 4D, Electronics 4D, Mechanics 3D
Robotics covers all the skills required to design, build, and program robots. In
Olympus, there are numerous kinds of robots of varying sophistication. Very simple
robots may perform household chores, provide basic security, or serve to perform simple,
hard labor. More complex robots may have fully functional programs for self-sufficiency
and determination, developing personalities and a sense of self.
Sciences
Time of Use: 1 action (to several hours, depending on the action).
Specializations: Particular fields of study: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, etc.
Difficulty: Easy, but increased for more complex or obscure scientific theories.
Sciences represents knowledge in fields such as physics, mathematics, chemistry and
biology.
Streetwise
Time of Use: 1 round.
Difficulty: Easy. Difficulty may be increased if used in a city unfamiliar to the
character.
Streetwise represents a character's ability to tap into the resources of the darker side of
society. This skill may be used to procure stolen items, contact assassins, or score some
drugs. It may also be used to find more unsavory and supernatural creatures and items.
Tactics
Time of Use: 1 round.
Specializations: Particular types of forces: Police squads, Commando teams, Freedom
Fighters (Terrorists), etc.
Difficulty: Dependent upon the situation, often as an opposed roll against the leader of
the enemy force.
Tactics is used whenever a commander attempts to guide his troops into battle. It may
also be used to second-guess an opponent and predict means of attack.
Weapons Technology:
Time of Use: 1 round to several hours depending on the action taken.
Specializations:
Weapons Tech refers to one's knowledge of various forms of weaponry and how to
build and/or repair them.
Value
Time of Use: 1 round to several if the character must research the item.
Specializations: particular types of items (jewelry, weapons, technology, texts, etc.)
Difficulty: Easy. GM's should freely modify this difficulty, depnding on the obscurity
of the item.
Value represents the a familiarity with the economic value of things--books, real estate,
collectibles, etc.
Gambling
Time of Use: 1 round. Can roll for whole "games" or gambling events.
Specializations: Particular games: Poker, Blackjack, etc.
Difficulty: Depends on the game. Generally, Easy for simple games up to Very
Difficult for very complex ones. Can be used as an Opposing Action against other
gamblers.
Gambling is quite common in Olympus and the rest of the world. A skill gambler may
make his living just about anywhere with a deck of cards or the roll of the dice.
Profile
Time of Use: Depends on difficulty (See below).
Specializations: Detecting certain behavioral patterns such as lying, worry, anger,
apprehension, guilt etc.
With Profile, a character can attempt to size up a target, making educated estimates of
the target's emotional and mental state. The longer the skill user studies her subject, the
greater chance she will draw the appropriate conclusions. The base difficulty is the
target's opposing Willpower check. Additional difficulty modifiers are as follows:
Stealth
Time of Use: 1 round.
Specializations: Type of habitat in which
character seeks to be stealth: Forest, Urban,
Aquatic, etc.
With Stealth, a character attempts to move
unnoticed. This skill includes walking silently as
well as hiding in shadows and blending in with a
crowd. A character using stealth moves at half-speed (walking). To move quickly while
being stealthy, the character must endure increased difficulty levels (GM's discretion).
Survival
Time of Use: One roll should represent 1 "event."
Specializations: Particular habitats: Forest, Jungle, Urban, Aquatic, Desert, Arctic, etc.
A character with Survival may attempt to endure the rigors of the natural world in a
number of environments and situations. The skill is used when the character must find
food and shelter or take other actions to survive in the wild. Note that Survival only
covers what is needed for substinence. If you want to build a nice house like they have on
Gilligan's Island, you'd better learn Craftsmanship: Carpentry or something
similar...Difficulty levels increase when the character is using Survival not only for
himself but to aid others as well.
Tracking
Time of Use: 1 round.
Specializations: Tracking in particular habitats: Forest, Jungle, Urban, Desert, Arctic,
etc.
Tracking represents the skill of following and catching "prey." This does not include
the ability to kill or trap it (those are different skills). However, the character can pick up
on small traces, estimate how long it has been since the prey was in the area, and make
educated guesses as to the condition of the animal.
PRESENCE
Bargain
Time of Use: 1 round.
Specializations: Bargaining over certain items: weapons, food, ships, etc.
Difficulty: Typically an opposed roll against the other bargaining party.
Bargain represents the character's ability to haggle over just about anything. In the
the markets of Zion, nearly everything is up for sale, and merchants tend to be shrewd.
Without this skill, characters may find themselves much more than they should for goods
and services. The table below gives general outcomes of Bargain "battles": If the winner
is the buyer, reduce the "real price" (GM's discretion) by the Price Multiplier. If the
winner is the seller, inflate the price accordingly.
Winner's
Total
Price
Successes >
Multiplier
Loser's
Success
1 x 1.5
2 x 1.75
3 x 2
4 x 3
5 x 4
6 x 5
Command
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: Commanding certain types of troops: Infantry, Battleships, Landmate
troops, etc.
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate depending on the situation. Can be easier or hardier
depending on the skill and morale of the troops.
With this skill, a character can manage, direct and mobilize others in a wide variety of
endeavors. She knows how to give clear instructions and inspire obediance and prompt
response. In the heat of battle, an able commander is essential.
Con
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: Certain types of cons: disguise, fast-talking, forgery, etc.
Difficulty: Opponants may make a Willpower or Knowledge opposing roll to rat out a
Conning player.
Con represents a character's ability to bend the truth and slide by on fast-talking. It
also includes other ways of being less than honest--disguise, forgery, etc.
Perform
Time of Use: 1 round. Can roll for one whole performace.
Specializations: Particular performance arts: music, acting, visual art, etc.
Difficulty: Moderate. Vary difficulty depending on the quality and intricacy of the art
attempted.
With Perform, a character can attempt just about any art form. From song-and-dance
to sculpture, the character can express herself and perhaps make a buck or two for the
effort.
Persuasion
Time of Use: 1 action.
Specializations: Particular forms of persuasive speech: Seduction, Oration, Debate,
Difficulty: Easy. Targets may make Opposed Willpower rolls to set a Difficulty.
Persuasion measures a character's ability to convice others of just about anything. It
does not include the ability to bark orders (see Command), but rather to debate with
logic, appeal to sympathy, and otherwise verbally convince others to see things the
character's way.
Taking Actions
Scale
Melee Combat
Ranged Combat
Combat Modifiers
Damage
Armor
Healing
TAKING ACTIONS
Rounds
GM's can generally decide how much time has passed during the character's
activities. However, in certain situation, such as combat, a more precise measure
of time may be needed. Each segment of combat is broken into rounds.
Rounds are about 5 seconds long. In general, a character can take one action per
round without accruing penalties.
Initiative
Characters may act in the order of their Perception scores (from highest to
lowest). A character with a higher Perception may choose to Hold his Action,
letting someone with a lower Perception act first before he decides what to do.
Unskilled Actions
A character may attempt an action without having dice in the appropriate skill. If
so, she suffers a +1 Difficulty Modifier to the attempt.
Any additional actions are considered to be taken in the second segment of the
round. Thus, all first actions (by everyone acting in the round) are resolved in
the first part of a round and any extra actions are resolved afterwards. Who acts
first in a round depends upon Initiative (see above).
Reacting
Occasionally, a character will need to react to something that has occurred during
a round. If the character has already acted in the round, the reaction skill is at -
1D for being a reaction and -1D for each action already taken in the round.
Dodge, Melee Parry and Brawling/Martial Arts are commonly used as Reaction
Skills to avoid damage.
If a Reaction Skill is used while defending from an attack, the dice roll becomes
the difficulty the attacker must overcome to be successful, even if the reaction skill
roll is lower than the original difficulty of the attack!
Example: Kreiger is in combat and has already acted once this
round. Suddenly, someone shoots at him and he attempts to
Dodge. His Dodge skill is normally 5D, but since he has already
acted, it is now 3D (-1D for having already acted and -1D for being a
Reaction Skill). The shooter's base difficulty was 2. Kreiger rolls 3
dice and gets only 1 Success. The shooter only needs a 1 or better
to hit Kreiger.
Full Reactions
If the character decides that the only action she will take in a round is to react,
then her Reaction skill roll is attempted with full dice and the result is added to
the attacker's difficulty.
Parry rolls must be made for every attack! Thus, in close combat, if a character is
punched four times, he must either attempt four parries using his Brawling or
Martial Arts skill or be take the damage!
SCALE
Scale represents the differences between small targets (such as Characters) and
large, fortified structures (such as aircraft carriers and buildings). When targets
of the same size are shooting at each other, ignore scale modifiers. When targets
are of different scales, add the Dice modifier (presented below) to the rolls as
follows:
Lower scale attacking larger scale
o Attacker adds the scale modifier to its attack roll
o The target, if hit, adds the scale modifier to its Strength (or
Body/Hull) roll.
Higher scale attacking lower scale
o Higher scale rolls as normal, but the lower scale target adds the dice
modifier to any Dodge/Evasion roll.
o If successful, the higher scale adds the dice modifier to damage roll.
Tin Smal Charact Ca Tan Aircraf Capit Superstructu
Scales y l er r k t al re
Tiny 0D 2D 4D 6D 8D 10D 16D 28D
Small 0D 2D 4D 6D 8D 14D 26D
Character 0D 2D 4D 6D 12D 24D
Car 0D 2D 4D 10D 22D
Tank 0D 2D 8D 20D
Aircraft 0D 6D 18D
Capital 0D 12D
Superstructu
0D
re
MELEE COMBAT
Hand-to-Hand Combat
Striking:
Brawling: The standard difficulty to hit with Brawling roll is Easy (2). Damage
is equal to the character's Strength + 1D for every 2 successes above the target
value (or every 2 points of Effect Value on the To Hit roll).
Martial Arts: The standard difficulty to hit with Martial Arts is Moderate (3),
resulting in damage equal to the character's Strength + the Effect Value (just like
Brawling, but with a higher difficulty to hit). A fighter skilled in Martial Arts may
attempt more complicated maneuvers to render more damage, but must roll
against a higher difficulty number to hit.
3
Blocking:
Character's may attempt to block an attack using their Brawling or Martial Arts
skills. Players must declare they will be attempting to block before the attack
occurs. If they do not, they suffer an additional -1D when attempting to block.
Melee Combat
Melee Combat is handled much the same way Unarmed Combat is, except that
the characters involved use Melee Combat and are armed with handheld weapons
(which have a standard Base Damage Value).
RANGED COMBAT
Ranged combat difficulty targets:
Range Difficulty
Point
Easy (2)
Blank
Short Moderate (3)
Medium Difficult (4)
Very Difficult
Long
(5)
Very Difficult
Extreme
to Heroic (6-7)
Spraying Bullets
Some weapons, such as fully automatic machine guns, allow the bearer to spray
bullets at an enemy. This has a variety of advantages and disadvantages:
Advantage Disadvantage
Shooter gets +1D The shooter may potentially hit anyone in
to hit and does not the direction in which he is pointing the gun
suffer any penalties (including allies and innocents). If the
for aiming at shooter is trying to avoid hitting a friendly
multiple targets in target, add 15 to the difficulty number to
a round. hit. If the shooter rolls less than 15 over the
standard difficulty (dependent on range) , he
hits the friendly target as well. Roll damage
normally.
Uses ammunition more quickly.
If the attack is successful, roll one less die for
damage.
Advantage Disadvantage
Shooter does not suffer any Shooting a second weapon
penalties for shooting at more counts as an action (resulting in
than one target in a round an additional -1D to each action
without declaring a "Spraying" in the round).
action (see Spraying Bullets
below).
Both first shots are fired in the Shooter suffers an additional -1D
first segment of the round (if to any shot taken with his or her
one gun is shot twice, the "off" hand.
second shot is considered to go
off in the last part of the round,
after all other first attacks have
been resolved.
Permits the character to fire the If someone using two guns stops
maximum number of bullets to reload, they must take an
from both guns in a round additional action to stow one
(thus, is a shooter is using two gun while the other is
pistols which may fire 3 times in reloaded. There is no
a round, she can shoot 6 times additional action if the "extra"
total in the round). gun is thrown away.
COMBAT MODIFIERS
A number of factors can affect a character's chances to succeed in combat. Smoke
may obstruct a target, oil on the floor may make dodging more difficult, etc.
Following are a number of modifiers Game Masters may choose to apply in the
game. There are two types of modifiers: Die Reductions and Difficulty
Modifiers. The first results in a loss from the character's dice pool when he rolls
any Attribute or Skill tests. The second increases the number of successes required
in order for an action to succeed.
Die Reductions:
Difficulty Modifiers:
Called Shots: Attackers can make a "called shot" against a specific target,
such as a particular part of a target's body (a hand, head, etc) or a small
item. Add +1 to the difficulty for a target 10-50 cm (approximately 3-18
inches) long. Add +4 to the difficulty for a target 1-10 cm long. Add +8D
to the difficulty for a target less than a centimeter long.
Cover: Provides a target with some protection from detection and
attack. Add the following modifiers to attempts to detect or hit a target,
when appropriate
Cover Modifier
Light Smoke +1
Thick Smoke +2
Very Thick
+4
Smoke
Poor Light +1
Moonlight +2
Complete +4
Darkness
Other Modifiers:
Characters can also hide behind objects, such as walls and vehicles, which provide
protection against attack. Add the following modifiers depending on how much
of the target is covered.
Target
Modifier
is
1/4
covere +1D
d
1/2
covere +2D
d
3/4
covere +4D
d
If the damage roll is lower than the Armor Value, the protection is
not damaged at all and the target character suffers no damage. If
the damage roll is equal to or greather than the protection's Armor
Value roll, find the difference on the chart below to see how badly
the protection is damage. Furthermore, its Armor Value is reduced
by 1.
Reaming Body
Protection is:
Points
Not seriously
3/4 to all
damaged
1/2-3/4 Lightly damaged
1/4-1/2 Heavily damaged
1 point to 1/4 Severely damaged
0 Destroyed
Reduce
Protection
weapon's
is:
damage by:
Not Character is
seriously completely
damaged protected
Lightly
-4D
damaged
Heavily
-2D
damaged
Severely -1D
damaged
Character
Destroyed suffers full
damage.
Armor: Armor protects the wearer from damage. See the Equipment
section for different armor types.
Damage
When an attacker successfully hits his target, he rolls the appropriate number of
dice to designate damage (see the weapons list in the Equipment section).
Ranged weapons do a set amount (e.g. a Heavy Pistol does 5D damage). Melee
weapons do a the bearer's STR + additional dice for the weapon type + 1D for
every 2 EV points.
The targeted character then rolls his Strength dice and adds any armor value, if
armor is worn. If the target's strength roll is greater than the attacker's roll, the
she had resisted the damage. If not, consult the table below for results:
Body Points
Effect Description
Remaining
Character suffers a -1D to all skill and
attribute dice for the rest of the round and
3/4-all Stunned the next. If a character suffers a number
of stuns equal to her strength, she falls
unconscious for 1d6 minutes.
Characters fall prone and can take no
actions for the rest of the round. The
1/2-3/4 Wounded
character suffers a -1D to all skills and
attributes until healed.
Seriously Falls prone and is in pain. -2D to all
1/4-1/2
Wounded actions.
Falls prone, and heavily dazed and will
Mortally
1 point to 1/4 remain that way until healed. -3D to all
Wounded
Attribute and Skill checks.
Falls Unconcious and must make Con or
0 unconscious Endurance checks to remain alive (See
or dies. below).
HEALING
Characters can heal in a variety of ways, but the three most common methods are
natural healing, first aid kits, and medical bays (or medlabs).
Natural Healing:
A character can heal naturally, but this process is both slower and riskier than
getting medical care. The character must rest a specified amount of time and then
can make a healing roll: the character's full Strength to see if the character heals.
Healing characters can do virtually nothing but rest. A character who tried to
work, exercise or adventure must subtract -1D from his Strength when he makes
his healing roll. Any character who opts to "take it easy" and do virtually nothing
for twice the necessary time may add +1D to his Strength to heal.
Strength Roll
Result
(Successes)
Complicates Character loses 10 points.
No Successes Character remains Wounded.
1 Character heals 5 Points.
2 Characterheals 10 points.
3 Character heals 15 points.
4 Character heals 20 points.
5 Character heals 25 points.
A First Aid roll is required to use a First Aid kit (or medpac). The difficulty
depends on the severity of the patient's injury:
If the First Aid roll is successful, the patient heals one level. Stunned and
Wounded characters are fully healed. Wounded Twice are Wounded.
Incapacitated are Wounded Twice. Mortally Wounded are Incapacitated.
If the First Aid roll is unsuccessful, the character's condition remains the same. If
the First Aid roll misses the difficulty by more than 10 points, the patient remains
the same and another First Aid roll cannot be made for another 24 hours.
Multiple First Aid attempts can be made on a patient within a single day, but the
First Aid difficulty increases one level for each additional use.
To use these facilities, a character must have the Medicine (A) skill.
VI. CYBERNETICS
Cybernetics are a very important part of Appleseed. Shirow's worlds are full of human-
machine interfaces. It appears that in the world of Appleseed, humanity and technology
have meshed almost seemlessly--in fact, it is a constant theme in his works. Therefore, it
is very easy to find cybernetic implants in the developed world, particularly Olympus and
Poseidon. Below are some examples of available implants and full-body replacements.
While Shirow's work is full of cybernetics, he actually spends very little time explaining
them. For example, Briareos has a regular Bat-belt of gear packed into him, but we often
don't know it exists until it pops up at an opportune time. So, the cybernetics listed below
are a combination of my best guess from Shirow's work and imports from other gaming
systems. It is a very basic list. I recommend that you find other sources, such as the
game Cyberpunk and it's myriad of sourcebooks, to fill in the gaps. As always, which
cybernetics are available are up to the GM.
Design notes: I've been working on the idea of a D6 Appleseed game for a number of years. One of the
things that always stopped me in my tracks was developing a decent system for using cybernetcs and armor
in a D6 game. Honestly, they never worked very will in the old Star Wars game. Likewise, in other
gaming systems, cybernetics add layer upon layer of new rules, making character creation a very lengthy
process. Finally, they always have the potential of imbalancing the game (every try to play a purely human
Solo in Cyberpunk while surrounded by borged-out comarades?).
I'm mainly concerned with keeping the system easy to use. So, that means some of the "realism" of the
cybernetics will go right out the window. This may seem at odds with Shirow's worlds, in which he takes
great pains to explain the logic behind his creations and to keep them firmly based in reality (in fact, that's
one of my favorite things about his work). However, one thing is clear in Shirow's Appleseed: cybernetics
do not turn their bearer into a superman. It is abundantly clear that cyborgs can be taken down with relative
ease by "normal" characters with the proper skills and equipment. That is the spirit in which I have
developed cybernetics for this game.
Finally, this is a work in progress. I will change it as I playtest. I invite you guys to do the same, and to let
me know what changes you make. If someone has implemented a better system, let me know.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Cybernetic Limbs
Optical Implants
Audal Implants
Artifical Organs
Interface Equipement
Miscellaneous Implants
Full-body Implants
One-stop Shopping
INTRODUCTION
Cybernetics are most often implanted because the person
has suffered a sufficiently grievous injury that replacement
is necessary. With modern medical advances, it is often
possible to regrow lost body parts. However, cloning cells
requires a great deal of time and expense is often not
available to most people. Cybernetics offer a relatively
affordable option.
CYBERNETIC LIMBS
When a person loses a limb and cannot have it cloned and
regrown, they will often get the limb replaced with a
cybernetic prosthetic. In spite of general misconceptions,
most prosthetic limbs are relatively fragile things that do
not grant the bearer super strength or other powers.
Because they are usually made with a combination of bio-
mechanical, ceramic, and electronic parts, they can be damaged nearly as easily as
someone's real arm. When a person is fitted with a cybernetic limb they must also "built-
up" in other ways. You can't just attach a chunk of metal to someone's shoulder--it would
rip right out. So, a lattice work of supports are also implanted throughout the torso to
provide additional support.
Cybernetic Arms:
Cybernetic arms come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and quality. They may
sometimes have other devices implanted in them (each arm is considered to have 2
"slots" for additions).
Strength Value: serves as the Strength Attribute when this arm is used.
Dexterity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many of
the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones equal
and even surpass human abilities. The Dexterity value applies not only to Dex-based
skills but to all Attribute and Skill checks that require fine motor skills, such as
Mechanics, Electronics, First Aid and Craftsmanship, that are attempted with the
prosthetic.
Armor Value: This is the layer of protection that surrounds the cybernetic unit. This is
treated as normal armor and is cumulative with other armor worn over it.
Durability: Represents the amount of damage the prosthetic can take before it will cease
to function.
Cost: initial cost to buy the arm and have it surgically attached at the rating. All costs
are cumulative (Thus an arm with a Strength of 1D and Sensitivity of -3D will cost 6000
dollars).
Maintenance: cost to keep the arm functioning that must be spent each month. For each
month that passes without maintenance, there is a cumulative 1 in 6 chance that the arm
will malfunction when used. Thus, after 2 months, there is a 2 in 6 chance, etc.
Maintena
Streng Maintena
nce Dexteri
th Cost Cost nce
per ty
Value per month
month
1D 5000 50 1D 1000 50
10,00
2D 100 2D 5000 100
0
20,00 10,00
3D 150 3D 150
0 0
40,00 25,00
4D 200 4D 200
0 0
100,0 50,00
5D 400 5D 400
00 0
300,0 150,0
6D 600 6D 600
00 00
750,0 500,0
7D 1000 7D 1000
0 00
1.5 1
8D millio 5000 8D millio 5000
n n
Armo Maintena Maintena
Durabili
r Cost nce Cost nce
ty
Value per month per month
5 500 none 5 500 10
10 750 15 10 1000 25
15 1200 25 15 2000 50
20 2000 75 20 5000 100
10,00
25 5000 100 25 150
0
10,00 50,00
30 125 30 300
0 0
25,00 100,0
35 150 35 700
0 00
75,00 500,0
40 200 40 1500
0 00
Cybernetic Legs:
Cybernetic legs are almost always installed in pairs. It is difficult to balance a person
with only one articifial leg. If this is the case, the character suffers -1D to all Dexterity
rolls that rely upon movement. The legs may sometimes have other devices implanted in
them (each arm is considered to have 2 "slots" for additions).
Strength Value: serves as the Strength Attribute when this leg is used.
Jumping Bonus: This is added to any jumping rolls that are made.
Dexterity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many of
the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones equal
and even surpass human abilities. The Dexterity value applies not only to Dex-based
skills but to all Attribute and Skill checks that require good balance, such as Stealth and
Perform: Dance.
Armor Value: This is the layer of protection that surrounds the cybernetic unit. This is
treated as normal armor and is cumulative with other armor worn over it.
Durability: Represents the amount of damage the prosthetic can take before it will cease
to function.
Cost: initial cost to buy the arm and have it surgically attached at the rating. All costs
are cumulative (Thus an leg with a Strength of 1D and Dexterity of 3D will cost 15,000
dollars).
Maintenance: cost to keep the arm functioning that must be spent each month. For each
month that passes without maintenance, there is a cumulative 1 in 6 chance that the leg
will malfunction when used. Thus, after 2 months, there is a 2 in 6 chance, etc.
OPTICAL IMPLANTS
Standard Implant
Cost: 5000
A standard implant will replace one of the eyes of the person undergoing
the procedure. It will provide the cyborg with standard human vision and
have 2 "slots" in which other options may be fit.
Broad Spectrum
Cost: 5000
A Broad Spectrum option allows the cyborg to see in visual ranges
beyond what the standard human eye can see. This includes seeing Ultraviolet light,
which provides a kind of vision in dark, outdoor conditions. It also increases the bearer's
ability to distinguish between colors, allowing him to discern between different objects
more easily. The bearer gets a Boost in all Seach and Tracking rolls that depend upon
visual cues.
Light Amp
Cost: 2500
Light Amp permits the user to adjust light levels at will. This allows him to see in
very minimal amounts of available light. The optic will also quickly compensate for
flashes of bright light, giving the bearer +2D to Resistance rolls when attempt to avoid
strobe or flash effects that would otherwise render him blinded.
Magnification
Cost: 5000
With Magnification, the bearer can adjust his lens to either see very small objects (as if
using a microscope) or to magnify objects in the distance (as if using a pair of
binoculars). At standard cost, the optic will magnify small objects by 50x and far away
objects by 10x. The purchaser can seek better optics that will double these values, but at
three times the cost.
Extendable Eye
Cost: 2500
An extendable eye may be stretched out from the bearer's body up to 1.5 meters.
Usually, a cyborg with this option actually has a pair of "bunny ears" (like Briareos).
Otherwise, it's a little disconcerting to see someone's eye come out of the socket and
stretch for over a meter...
Camera
Cost: 5000
The camera option permits the bearer to use his eye as a kind of video and still
camera. The information recorded may be broadcast to another location via a tiny
internal modem (note that such transmission can usually be detected and easily traced).
The quality depends on the cost of the optic. At 5000, it's pretty much equivalent to a
standard hand-held video camer. At 15,000 you have professional news quality. At
100,000 you can shoot Citizen Kane II with it.
Computer Link
Cost: 2500
A linked optic can display information transmitted from a computer via an internal
modem or direct link (which is untraceable). This is useful to get a Heads-Up Display of
data, maps, and other important pieces of information.
Weapons Link
Cost: 7500
With this option, the bearer can link a specially prepared weapon (add 10% to the
weapon's cost) directly to his eye. This grants a Boost to all shots with that weapon.
Furthermore, with a round of aiming, the bearer gets an additional +1D to hit (in addition
to the normal +1, so +2 all together).
AUDAL IMPLANTS
Standard Implant
Cost: 5000
The standard audal implant provides the bearer with normal human
hearing (perhaps a bit better) and the ability to increase or decrease
volumes at will. This gives the bearer a +1D to Search and Tracking rolls
that depend on sound. A standard implant has 2 "slots" for additional
options.
Comm Link
Cost: 2500
The standard communications link acts like a phone or two-way radio receiver (but
not a transmitter). As such, it is easily intercepted and traced. A secure link will cost
about 10,000 dollars (Difficult Communications rolls to hack it) and fills an additional
slot. A small vocal transmitter can be implanted for an additional 5000 credits (this is not
considered to take up on of the "slots" on the character).
Wide Frequency
Cost: 2500
This upgrade gives the bearer hearing that far exceed normal human ranges. It more
closely resembles that of a dog. The bearer can turn this on and off at will (otherwise
he'd be barking whenever a siren was turned on). The bearer gets +2D to Searching and
Tracking rolls that depend upon sound.
Broadband Receiver
Cost: 2500
With this addition, the character can use the implant to scan all unprotected cellular
and radio waves. This includes a kind of "cyborg-emergency" channel that all cyborgs
(apparently) tune into. Note that most cellular transmissions are protected by some level
of encryption and the bearer of this implant cannot hack those without additional
equipment.
Quick Translator
Cost: 10,000
The QT must be linked to a personal computer on the person's body. When it is, it
will quickly translate any known human language. Note that the translater is not
fullproof and in its haste it may mistranslate some words (a fun little twist for the sadistic
GM). But, the listener will get at least the gist of the conversation.
Decrypter
Cost: 10,000
The Decrypter option permits the bearer to upload any signals intercepted or directly
heard into a companion computer and attempt to break the code. For the Base cost, this
will act as Security skill of 3D for breaking codes only. For each additional Die, add
5,000 x the new value. Note that this is cumulative. So a 5D decrypter will cost 10,000
(based) + 20,000 (level 4), + 25,000 (level 5). The Decrypter cannot exceed 6D. The
time required to break the encryption depends upon the complexity of the code (GM's
discretion).
Recorder
Cost: 2500
With an implanted recorder, the bearer can download any information that is
intercepted or overheard to a memory package kept on the body (or to which the
information is transmitted). The bearer can record 4 hours before having to upload the
information. The recorder's memory can also have music (or other audio) uploaded into
it and played back at the wearer's will.
ARTIFICIAL ORGANS
Aside from the peg-legs and hand-hooks of old sea captains, artifical organs are probably
humanity's oldest form of cybernetics. Despite the war, they have come a long way since
the 20th century. For game purposes, assume that any standard human organ may be
replaced with an equivalent artificial counterpart. Those implants will be fairly
expensive, but will not require great amounts of maintenace. Furthermore, they do not
bestow additional abilities on the bearer. The implants below are those rare items with do
increase the bearer's abilities.
Nerve Amp
Cost: 25,000
This is actually a series of implants which serve to increase the response time and
sensitivity of the bearer's nerves. This results in slightly increased reaction time and
hand-eye coordination. This grants a Boost to all Dexterity-based skills and and the
character acts as if his initiative were 1 die higher.
Muscle Lacing
Cost: 20,000 x new Strength level.
Muscle lacing is a technique in which the surgeon's implant a series of biological and
artificial materials that support and enhance the bearer's strength. The technique is still
being developed and is not fullproof, but it can provide some significant increases. The
costs are cumulative (thus a character going from a natural Strength of 2D to 5D must
pay 3Dx20,00 +4Dx20,000+5Dx20,000 = 240,000 dollars! However, the lacing is not
noticeable with most detectors, unless a close medical exam is done. The Lacing has an
upkeep of 100 dollars per month. If the character's muscles are severely damage by other
means (gunshot wounds, for example), the Lacing will have to be repaired or replaced
(GM's discretion). Finally, the biological materials will disintigrate over time, meaning
the entire system must be rebuilt after 5 years. Lacing cannot be used to upgrade
prosthetic limbs.
Brain Box
Cost: 20,000
With a brain box, the bearer's brain is complete protected from physical damage. It is
wrapped up in an extremely strong layer of metals and ceramics that will resist bullets,
heat, cold and even a lack of oxygen (internal tanks will supply up to 1 hour of oxygen
necessary to keep the brain alive). This is a good thing if the rest of the bearer's body is
destroyed.
INTERFACE EQUIPMENT
There are a wide variety of ways for people to interface with computers and other
technology. The most standard are listed below.
Brain Plug
Cost: 10,000
This interface unit permits the user to plug
his nervous system directly into a computer. It
allows for instaneous transfer of information
from the brain to the computer (and visa versa).
The bearer is still limited by the bounds of
human abilities however. It increases the speed
of all Computer Op/Prog rolls by 50% (a
character can do 2 such actions in a round
without penalty). It also provides a +1D and a
Boost to all such rolls. It also permits
completely secure transactions between the person and the computer. Finally, multiple
bearers may connect to one another through some kind of server-CPU to instantly share
thoughts (as the High Council does).
Note that Brain Plugs are not very common, even in Olympus. This is probably
because standard user-interfaces have advanced so far. It is a fairly invasive procedure
and there needs to be a $50/month upkeep.
MISCELLANEOUS IMPLANTS
FULL-BODY REPLACEMENTS
Full-body replacements are pretty rare in developed countries,
even Olympus (which probably has the highest per capita Full
Borg population). They only occur when the victim has suffered
such grievous harm that his body is destroyed and full replacement
is the only way he will survive. Even then, he must have friends
in high places (or a large personal fortune) to pay for the
replacement.
If the Borg is being built at Character Creation, see that section for
appropriate rules. Later in the game, rather than build a full 'borg
from scratch (putting together each componant), consult the table
below and choose the desired value and record the appropriate
cost. Remember to note the monthly maintenance cost!
Next, the standard full borg will have 2 standard optic implants, 2
standard audal implants, a brain plug, a brain box, and all the
various filtration systems. For an additional investment, the Borg can purchase install up
to 8 optical implants and 8 audal implants. GM's may decide to permit fewer or more
slots as appropriate.
If this takes too long, consult the One-Stop Shopping Catelog below.
Strength Value: This replaces the character's former Strength attribute completely. This
value always starts at 1D.
Sensitivity: Approximating the fine motor skills of the human body is not easy. Many
of the cheaper cybernetics out there make no such attempt. But the higher level ones
equal and even surpass human abilities. The Sensitivity modifier applies to all Attribute
and Skill checks that require fine motor skills, such as Mechanics, Electronics,
Craftsmanship and even Martial Arts, that are attempted with the prosthetic.
Constitution Value: This replaces the character's former Constitution attribute
completely. This value always starts at 1D
Jump Bonus: This is added to any jumping rolls that are made.
Armor Value: This is the protective value of the 'Borg's outer shell. It may be layered
with additional armor. This costs 1% of the orginal cost to repair each point which is
damage.
Base HP: This replaces the former hit points that the character had. Roll Strength +
Constitution (or Resistance) as normal to add additional HP's.
Maintena
Streng Dexteri Maintena
nce
th Cost ty Cost nce
per
Value Value per month
month
20,00 25,00
1D 200 1D 400
0 0
40,00 50,00
2D 400 2D 800
0 0
80,00 100,0
3D 700 3D 1500
0 00
150,0 250,0
4D 1200 4D 3000
00 00
500,0 750,0
5D 2000 5D 5,000
00 00
1 1.5
6D millio 5000 6D millio 10,000
n n
5 7
7D millio 10,000 7D millio 20,000
n n
10 15
8D millio 20,000 8D millio 40,000
n n
Maintena Jum Maintena
Constitut nce p nce
Cost Cost
ion per Bon per
month us month
10,00
1D 100 -2D 1000 50
0
20,00
2D 200 -1D 2000 100
0
50,00
3D 500 0D 5000 200
0
100,0 10,00
4D 1000 +1D 500
00 0
200,0 25,00
5D 2000 +2D 1000
00 0
500,0 50,00
6D 5000 +3D 3000
00 0
1
100,0
7D millio 10,000 +4D 7000
00
n
5
500,0
8D millio 20,000 +5D 15,000
00
n
Armo Maintenan Bas Maintenan
r Cost ce e Cost ce
Value per month HP per month
5 5000 none 10 10,000 100
10 10,000 150 15 20,000 250
15 20,000 250 20 50,000 500
100,00
20 50,000 750 25 1000
0
100,00 500,00
25 1000 30 1500
0 0
300,00 1
30 1250 35 3000
0 million
750,00 5
35 1500 40 7000
0 million
1.5 10
40 2000 45 15,000
million million
ONE-STOP SHOPPING
Adding up the value of various companants can be cumbersome, especially for GM's
trying to come up with 'Borgs on the fly. The table below are intended to facilitate your
cyborg-shopping spree.
Implants
The Implant Packages assume that the character has chosen 2 standard implants and fully
outfitted them with options.
Implant
Constituents Cost
Package
Combat Weapons Link, Light Amp, Broad
25,000
Optics Spectrum, Magnification
Crook's Broad Spectrum, Computer Link,
20,000
Optics Light Amp, Magnification
Civilian's Camera, Computer Link, Light Amp,
20,000
Optics Magnification
Combat Secure Commlink, Wide Frequency,
20,000
Audio Broadband Receiver
Civilian's Commlink, Broadband Receiver,
15,000
Audio Recorder, Wide Frequency
Combat
All Filtration systems, Nerve Amp 110,000
Internals
Assasin's 220,000 (assuming character went
IFS, Nerve Amp, Muscle Lacing
Internals from 3D to 5D Strength)
VIP's All Filtration systems, Brain box,
115,000
Internals Brain plug
Prosthetics
Full-body Replacements
Perfect for the man who has everything (or nothing, as the case may be...)
Body Type Constituents Cost
Standard 5D Str, 4D Dex, 5 Con, AV=30, HP=30, Jump +2D
1,130,000
Combat Borg +Combat Optics, + Combat Audal, + Combat Internals
Advanced 7D Str, 6D Dex, 6D Con, AV=40, HP = 40, Jump +4D, +
4,755, 000
Combat Borg Combat packages.
VII. EQUIPMENT
Melee Weapons
Firearms
Armor
Computers
Robots
Vehicles
Landmates
WEAPONS
I should begin by saying that I know absolutely nothing about guns. Or
explosives. Or knives. Or armored powersuits. And Masamune Shirow does.
Technology, particularly weapons technology plays a big part in Appleseed. On
this page, you'll find an introductory-level list of gear for an Appleseed game.
I've included links to some sites with more extensive lists as well as gun lists
contributed by folks to The Matrix D6 RPG. I will gladly post submissions and
corrections if you send them in. In the end, if there's something missing from this
page, or it's just downright wrong, then do what all good GM's do: make it up!
Terms:
Damage: This is the standard damage that the weapon can do. Simply roll the
number of dice indicated and add any other modifiers. Note: the damage
system does not follow WEG's D6L standard system, which is success-based.
Here, roll the dice and sum their value normally to establish the damage done..
Range: The range in meters of a weapon. Difficulties increase with greater
distance (see Actions and Combat).
Difficulty: The difficulty number the user must equal or surpass in order to hit.
MELEE WEAPONS
Typical Knife
Damage: STR +2 (not +2D, just +2)
Range: 3/10/15 (thrown)
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Knife, Thrown Weapons: Knife
Difficulty: Easy
Concealability: Very Easy
Note: A typical knife can be thrown, but increase the difficulty by 5. Knives are
readily available in most of the world, though some states, including Olympus,
have controls on openly carrying combat knives in public.
Combat Knife
Damage: STR +1D+1
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Knife (cannot be thrown)
Difficulty: Easy
Concealability: Moderate (length tends to by 1-2 feet.
Note: Knives are readily available in most of the world, though some states,
including Olympus, have controls on openly carrying combat knives in public.
Sword
BDV: STR+2D
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Sword
Difficulty: Easy (2)
Concealability: Difficult.
Note: Most developed states have laws against carrying around swords in
public. However, swords are often used in the Badlands where ammunition for
more advanced weaponry are scarce.
Club/Baseball Bat
BDV: STR +1D
Scale: Character
Skill: Melee Weapons: Club
Difficulty: Very Easy
Concealability: Moderate
Notes: Clubs are any blunt object made to hit something else hard. GM's
should alter the damage rating depending on the quality of the club. For
example, a broom stick might only do STR + 2 damage while a crowbar might do
STR +2D. Also note that if the object is not very strong, it will likely break when
used as a weapon.
FIREARMS
As I said before, the guns listed here are very basic. See the Ammunition list
below for specialized ammo. For much more detailed lists of firearms, check
out Joe's Gun Catalog or Aaron LaBow's weapons list in PDF or Word 2000
formats. You can use the ranges given below for the weapons that Joe lists (or
the ranges listed by Aaron).
Holdout Pistol
Damage: 3D
Ammo: 3 to 6.
Range: 1-5/15/25
Concealability: Very Easy
Handgun
Damage: 4D
Ammo: 6 (revolver) to 12 (automatic)
Range: 3-10/25/50
ROF: 3 shots per round maximum. No burst.
Concealability: Very Easy
High-powered Handgun
Damage: 5D
Ammo: 6 (revolver) to 12 (automatic).
Range: 3-7/25/50
ROF: 2 shots per round maximum. No burst.
Concealability: Easy (7)
Notes: -1 pip to all "To-Hit" rolls.
Machine Pistol
Damage: 4D (see below)
Ammo: 15
Range: 3-7/15/25
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering 5D
damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic.
Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in
the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 5D+2
damage.
Concealability: Easy
Submachine Gun
Damage: 5D (see below)
Ammo: 30
Range: 6-10/20/50
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering 6D
damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic.
Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in
the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 7D damage.
Concealability: Easy
Automatic Rifle
Damage: 7D (see below)
Ammo: 50
Range: 5-20/60/90
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering
8D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic.
Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in
the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 9D damage.
Concealability: Very Difficult.
Pump Shotgun
Damage: 6D (buckshot) / 7D (solid slug)
Ammo: 5
Range: 2-5/10/20
ROF: 2 shots per round maximum.
Concealability: Difficult for full-barrelled shotguns. Moderate for sawed-off
shotguns.
Notes: Sawed-off shotguns with buckshot do 7D damage at Point Blank range but
suffer a -1D cumulative penalty to damage rolls for every 5 meters beyond the
first.
Cyborg Pistol
Damage: 6D
Strength Required: 5D
Ammo: 15
Range: 5-15/50/80
Concealability: Easy (about the size of a normal submachine gun).
Complexity: 1
ROF: Maximum of three shots per found.
Notes: A cyborg pistol is any gun that is too large for a normal human to lift
without some kind of technological aid.
Cyborg Rifle
Damage: 8D
Strength Required: 6D
Ammo: 40
Range: 5-30/80/110
Concealability: Pretty much impossible.
Modifier: The less expensive models have a problem with remaining stable and
make it harder for the gunner to hit her target. Depending on the quality of the
weapon, the user will suffer anywhere from -2D to 0D to Firearms skills.
Complexity: 1
ROF: Single: 3 shots per round. Semi-automatic: 2 bursts of 3 bullets rendering
8D damage per burst (roll once per burst). -1D on "To-Hit" rolls in semi-automatic.
Full automatic: Can empty the clip in one round, either spraying (See Spraying in
the Combat section) or Concentrating Fire resulting in +1D to hit and 10D
damage.
Notes: This is the standard issue rifle used by most full-body cyborgs and
landmate pilots. The gun can be fit with a variety of options, including being fit
for a weapons link opic, flash dampener, targeting scope, etc. and can use a wide
range of ammunition.
AMMUNITION
Below is a quick list of special ammunition that will alter the effects of various
firearms. It is neither complete nor very realistic. But, I think it'll work.
Standard Rounds: Do the damage listed under each weapon. These are the
cheapest and most commonly used.
Armor Piercing (AP): AP rounds reduce the target's armor by 1/2 for purposes of
breaking through it (though the Armor still retains its original value). This means
that more damage is done to the structure of the target (usually the person's hit
points). However, AP rounds reduce a weapon's Damage rating by 1D.
Kevlar Vest
Type: Personal body armor.
Scale: Character.
Armor Value: 18
Cost: $1000
Availability: Common in developed nations, though some place controls on
civilian purchases of armor.
Concealability: Moderate.
Game Notes: Reduces Dexterity-based rolls by 1 die.
Gasium Armor
Type: Powered personal body armor
Scale: Character.
Armor Value: 25
Cost: $25,000 (blackmarket only)
Availability: Rare. Usually only available to special forces personel.
Power: 8 hours of continual use. Can be powered off (acts as Personal
Body Armor). Recharges in 5 minutes with low-powered battery or
standard power outlet.
Concealability: Difficult.
Game Notes: Gasium armor is a lightly-powered personal armor that
actually slightly increases a wearer's Strength, Dexterity and Constitution.
The advantage from the armor grants the wearer a Boost each time he
attempts a skill controlled by one those attributes.
Civilian Powered Armor
Type: Powered Armor
Scale: Character.
Strength: 4D with a Boost
Jumping Bonus: +1D with a Boost
Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity
Armor Value: 18 / 14 / 10 / 6
(When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction. The wearer will
suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At that point, the penalty increases to -
2D. Finally, at 1/4AV to 1 point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0,
what is left of the armor will freeze up.)
Complexity: 1
Optics: Light Amp, Computer Link
Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver
Vocal: Standard speaker.
Cost: approximately $15,000 for standard suit. Options may be added for an additional
cost.
Notes: These suits are a step below the standard landmate. They are worn more like a
suit of armor than they are piloted. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with
many different options available (see Conversions, below). Most owners use them as
"sport" models. Some can be outfitted for use as scout or recon units (such as Hitomi's
suit in Appleseed Volume 1: Book 1). All such powersuits must also be registered with
the Olympus authorities.
Author's Note: I know that Shirow has a certain name for these kind of
powersuits/landmates--I think I read it in the Databook (which I don't have with me right
now). If someone knows the real name, email me).
ORC
Type: Powered Armor
Scale: Character
Strength: 5D with a Boost.
Jumping Bonus: +2D
Dexterity: Operator's Dexterity
Armor Value: 30 / 23 / 16 / 9
(When the AV is reduced to 3/4, the suit will begin to malfunction.
The wearer will suffer -1D to all actions until it reaches 1/2 AV. At
that point, the penalty increases to -2D. Finally, at 1/4AV to 1
point, the wearer will suffer -3D. When the AV reaches 0, what is
left of the armor will freeze up.)
Complexity: 2
Optics: Light Amp, Broad Spectrum, Magnification, Computer Link, Weapons Link,
Thermal Optics, Camera
Communications: Secure Commlink, Broadband Receiver, Direct cable connection,
Recorder
Vocal: Can be equipped with a loud speaker and translators as necessary.
Cost: Not available to the general public. $75,000-$100,000 on the black market.
Notes: ORCS are used by special forces teams when they need to be more stealthy or
maneuverability than landmates permit. They are powerful units in their own right and
are highly customizable to whatever a particular mission might require.
COMPUTERS
Computer technology in most of the developed world has far exceeded the limits
of early 21st centuary machines. Olympus, by far, boasts the most advanced
computers, almost all of which have some degree of artificial intelligence. It has
also seemless integrated computer processing ability with human/bioroid brains.
The interface systems of most common computers render it so that even the
beginning user can easily access the system.
ROBOTS
Coming soon!
MISCELLANEOUS GEAR
Communications Gear
Portable phone
Secure Communicator
Decrypter
Wide-range Scanner
Scrambler
Translater
Optics
Goggles: Each pair of goggles may have up to 4 options listed under Cybernetic:
Optics.
Survival Gear
Food rations
Tent
Water Filtration Unit
Explosives
Grenades
Plastic Explosives
Mines
Miscellaneous Gear
Grapping line
Handcuffs
Backpack
Sniffer: This device is used to sense if there are biological or chemical agents in a
medium, such as air, water, food or soil. The device is Very Easy to use and will
detect dangerous, known chemicals and biological agents automatically. It is
about the size of a pocket calculator.
VEHICLES
Coming Soon!
LANDMATES
Landmates are operator-piloted armored suits designed
to provide the pilot with superior protection, freedom
of movement and firepower. In Olympus, landmates
are made available to the general public and widely
used by law enforcement and the military. Public
landmates must be registered and cannot be equipped
with heavy armor or weapons. Landmates are still
pretty expensive, but the low end domestic models are
fairly affordable (It's a little like buying a suped up
sport motorcyle, according to Shirow). Repairs on
landmates are still relatively expensive, and those
citizens that keep them for private use usually know
how to fix their own units. Each part in a landmate is
handmade but may be swapped between similar
models.
Combat landmates are engineered for peak effeciency. They are generally not intended
for prolonged use without upkeep. As such, they do not generally carry more than a
couple of extra clips of ammunition. There is a small cargo space in most units, where
the pilot can keep a set of clothes and a small cache of personal equipment (pistol,
communicator, etc.)
Below is a very preliminary list of Landmates. I have not included any built-in weapons,
though many landmates do carry integrated weaponry. It appears that the more
professional landmate designs opt against this, probably to so that the units remain more
easily customizable for each mission.
I will be adding much more soon, but this should be enough to get you started. Please
remember that these need to be playtested. So, tweak as needed!
Terms:
Strength: Represents the wearer's Strength while in the Landmate.
Jumping Bonus: to be added to all Jump attemps while the LM is worn.
Dexterity: This is the Operator's effective Dexterity while in the LM. Some high-
quality LM's will augment the pilot's abilities. If this value is higher than the pilot's
normal skill levels, those skills are increased to equal this value.
Armor Value: Protective points, as normal armor.
Hit Points: Structural integrity of the suit. When a LM is reduced to 1/4 points or less,
each time it takes damage 1 die worth of those points (1D6) pass to the wearer.
Furthermore, the suit will suffer penalties just as a wounded person would. So at 3/4
points, it reduces all the pilot's rolls by 1D. At 1/2 and less, they are reduced 2D, etc.
When the HP's reach 0, the suit will cease to function and the pilot must roll a 1D6. On a
one, the suit will explode in 5d6 seconds causing 5D6x3 points of damage to anyone
within 2 meters of it.
Complexity: This is added to the base difficulty to repair the LM.
Optics: A list of optical options available to the pilot. See Cybernetics for a more
complete description.
Communications: A list of
communications gear loaded into the
unit. See Cybernetics for more
information.
Vocal: An vocal hardware and
software built into the machine.
Notes: Additional information
about the suit.
Domestic Landmate
Strength: 5D
Jumping Bonus: +1D
Dexterity: Operator's Pilot LM skill.
Armor Value: 20
Hit Points: 45 / 34 / 23 / 12
Complexity: 1
Optics: Light Amp, Magnification
Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver, Recorder
Vocal: Standard speaker.
Notes: These suits come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are now widely available to
the public. Most can be easily modified by a knowledgeable mechanic.
GUGES
Type: Civilian advanced landmate.
Strength: 7D
Jumping Bonus: +2D
Dexterity: Operator's Pilot LM skill
Armor Value: 35
Hit Points: 65 / 49 / 33 / 17
Complexity: 2
Optics: Computer Link, Thermal Optics, Light Amp, Magnification, Camera, Optical
Extension (2 meters)
Communications: Comm Link, Broadband Receiver,
Recorder
Vocal: Built-in Loudspeaker (masks the Pilot's voice).
GUGES-D
Type: Advanced combat landmate.
Strength: 8D
Jumping Bonus: +3D
Dexterity: Operator's Pilot LM skill +1D
Armor Value: 40
Hit Points: 75 / 56 / 37 / 18
Complexity: 3
Optics: Computer Link, Broad Spectrum,
Thermal Optics, Light Amp, Weapons Link,
Magnification, Camera, Radar, Optical
Extension (2 meters)
Communications: Secure Comm Link,
Broadband Receiver, Recorder
Vocal: Built-in Loudspeaker (masks the
Pilot's voice)
Options: The GUGES-D may be fit with a
Flight Rig, shown in the color image to the
right. This uses anti-gravity technology to
provide the unit with lift and silent thrusters
for propulsion. It is not intended for long
flights, but can remain airborne for about 2
hours. It may travel at about 200 mph, or
250 top speed (reduce flight sustainability
by one half). The Rig provides enough
power to lift an additional landmate if need
be (but not much more!).
Notes: The GUGES-D appears to be the top-of-the-line landmate in Olympus (and,
therefore, likely the world). It is a highly advanced and complex piece of machinery
engineered for peak performance. As such, it need constance maitenance and is actually
somewhat fragile (the fingers, for example regularly break). The slave-arms are fitted
with operational hands, allowing the pilot to perform fine motor tasks when necessary.
(Personal note: Apologies to any delicate sensibilities that may be offended by Deunan's
little outfit. For some reason, as Appleseed progresses, Deunan's breasts get larger and
her outfits get skimpier...!)