| From: | "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@*******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | A-09-a: atmosphere, toxin-exposure |
| Date: | Thu, 21 Oct 1993 12:13:39 -0500 |
Author: Hal Mangold
E-mail: hmangold@*******.ac.runet.edu
*Rules for Toxic Substance Exposure*
These rules were originally design to simulate the pollution of
the cities of 2053, but work equally well for toxic waste, and radiation
exposure as well. I think that for as much emphasis as the SR game putrs
on how screwed the environment is there need to be a few more concrete
consequences of this. To wit, this article.
EXPOSURE
Toxic environments are a fairly common feature to the SII world,
whether they be the East Anglian Stinkfens, or just the average
suffocating pollution of Seattle. The consequences for those exposed to
these substance con be severe, especially if a allergy is present.
To simulate these effects in areas of variable exposure, first rate the
level of toxic exposure from 1-4. A rating 1 area would be a city on an
average day, while rating 4 would be a huge chemical dumping ground, just
oozing toxins.
This rating is not treated as a normal rating for damage purposes.
Instead the rating equals the number of dice rolled to determine the power
number of a toxic attack.
example: The Austin Biotech Waste Processing and Disposal Facility
(read "big hole in the ground") has a Toxic rating of 3. This means that
the Power of a toxic attack can very anywhere from 3 to 18.
This variable Powered attack represents the shifting winds, etc., all the
factors that are variable around a toxic site.
The Wound Level of a toxic attack is also determined by the
Rating, as follows:
*RATING* *WOUND LEVEL*
1 L(stun)
2 M(stun)
3 S(stun)
4 D(stun)
"Aha!" I hear you cry."Its only stun damage, and I have a trauma
damper."
Yeah, well then your safe until you hit the physical overflow point. After
stun damage gets to Deadly, it starts overflowing onto the physical chart.
Additionally this damage *does not heal* until the person is no longer
exposed to the toxic environment. Magical Healing is an exception, of
course. Keep in mind, though, that a piece of land so blighted as to be
toxic will probably have a background count, so all you mages, don't get
cocky.
As a rule of thumb, I recommend making checks every two hours or
so, although particularly deadly environments may require checks every
hour, or even 1/2 hour. Another tactic for *really* toxic environments is
to make the damage physical to begin with (ie. corrosives in the air etc),
instead of stun.
Now this is for areas that have a fluctuating toxic level. In an
are of constant exposure things are easier. Just set the Power and Wound
Level at fixed numbers and require a check every so often (see above).
Keep in mind that any PC with a pollutant allergy should have to
deal with that on top of these effects.
PROTECTION
Protection against toxic exposure can be worn, but the protection
must be appropriate for the type. Exposure can be divide up into inhaled,
insinuative and radioactive types.
Proper protection for inhaled toxins is a filter mask or similiar
cyberware/bioware. The masks are very common on the streets of polluted cities
like LA, New York, And Seattle.
Insinuative protection comes in the form of sealed suits (like
todays EPA workers wear).
Radioactivity can only be screened by a radiation suit.
All of these protective forms can be bought in varying ratings.
The rating of the protective device is subtracted from the Power of the
toxic attack, like armor in fire combat. Unlike fire combat, if the Power
of the toxic attack is reduced to 0, no check is needed.
HOW IT ALL COMES TOGETHER
Brutus the Samurai is on the run, and stumbles upon a toxic dump
area. The dump gives off airborne toxic vapors with a rating of 2, and
Brutus is wearing a rating 5 filter mask. The GM rolls 2 dice and gets a
result of 11. Since the rating for the site is 2, the initial Wound Level
will be M(stun). The toxic attack will be at 11M(stun), and Brutus will get
to treat his rating 5 mask as 5 points of "armor", making the final attack
6M(stun). Keep in mind that if the toxins had been insinuative instead of
inhaled, Brutus' mask would have been useless. Furthermore, the longer
Brutus stays in this environment, the more checks he will have to make.
{[> Robert A. Hayden ____ <[} Question Authority
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