Wasteland Degenerates - Jumper Cable Edition + PDF

This is The End, is it really your friend?

Tomorrow is nothing, today is too late: the Good lived yesterday. - Marcus Aurelius

Welcome to the Jumper Cable Edition, a jumpstart primer for the Wasteland Degenerates setting.

Wasteland Degenerates is a gas-guzzling, high octane post-apocalyptic RPG about miserable, radiated scum struggling to survive in tomorrow's unforgiving corpse.  A gritty, post-apocalyptic future where survival is measured in gallons of gasoline on the cracked and broken highway.  

Wasteland Degenerates features: 

PC Classes:

• Exiled Grease Monkey, an outcast mechanic trained in the Road War.
  AWOL Conscript, a specialized soldier who left the service when the paychecks stopped.
• Jilted Survivalist, a doomsday prepper who lost almost everything anyway.
• Baffled Researcher, a scientist whose tenure means nothing when there are no more universities.
• Shortwave Evangelist, a charismatic preacher who summons disposable allies with a HAM radio.
• Itinerant Scavenger, a versatile wanderer who finally found their calling in the apocalypse.

Each character class has static and random special abilities, random flavor text to represent their background, and differing bonuses to the five Traits from Cy_Borg: Strength, Agility, Presence, Toughness, and Knowledge.

Mutations: 

Meteors filled with radioactive "space dust" impacted the earth during the cataclysms. Those who come into contact with this cosmic substance often find themselves with uncanny powers and drawbacks.  PCs may start with a mutation or receive one through gameplay.

Even those who have not received the alien blessing and curse of mutations and their corresponding complications may have learned Hard-Earned Survival Skills (HESS) to give them an edge on the unforgiving and desolate highways.  Martial arts, hunting and foraging, first aid, or mechanical repair are all options (out of 20).  Classless characters start with one, and they can also be obtained through events in-game.

Gear:

No post-apocalyptic game would be complete without loads of scavenged loot to acquire, and I do not intend to disappoint!  Players start with a few trinkets, maybe a drone or a first-aid kit, but can get so much more:

• Brutal weapons, from the humble board-with-a-nail-in-it to shotgun boom-sticks to the devastating "Zwei" chainsaw, you'll be eviscerating enemies with savagery appropriate to the lawless setting.
• Cobbled-together armor, including iconic leather jackets and full-on radiation-resistant combat suits.
• Nuclear Prosthetics, called RAD Implants, to replace limbs or organs lost to wasteland dangers, or ill-advisedly replace perfectly functional natural limbs. 
• Super-science CosmOS interfaces capable of re-writing reality, and sinister alien Tothtec relics found in the craters of meteorite impacts; both of which have increasing risk of "Boot Errors" that can un-stick you from reality or cause other heinous effects.
• Advanced drugs that can miraculously heal wounds or send you into a euphoric berserker state.
  
  

Vehicles:

The Jumper Cable Edition includes Wasteland Degenerates's signature vehicular combat system, with fully customizable vehicles ranging from agile motorcycles (they're choppers, really) to unstoppable big rigs. Vehicles, like characters, have their own stats, specifically Power, which reflects the muscle and speed of the car, and Edge, which affects maneuverability, electronics, and vehicular weapon fire.  Power and Edge add to or subtract from the PC's abilities, so to fire a vehicle weapon, you might roll Presence+Edge, or to effectively ram a wasteoid, Agility+Power.

Vehicles can mount:

• Light or heavy weapons, ranging from low-tech harpoon rifles to devastating tank guns, either in turrets or stationary mounts
• Light or heavy vehicle mods ranging from turbochargers to tank treads and plow blades for those special instances of road rage.
• Trailers, extra wheels, and chopper sidecars.
• Special cargo modifications for specialized missions.

Rules of the Road:

While you can fire your pickup's gatling gun while parked at a diner to avoid paying the bill if you wish, our rules allow for dramatic chase scenes inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa.  The road chase combat system involves a 3x3 grid (see add-ons!), upon which the PCs' main vehicle remains in the center row while enemy and allied vehicles are arrayed in relative positions around the grid.  Road obstacles move back one space every round and potential new hazards are rolled for the upcoming tiles.

Exact distance is not calculated during a road chase; battles last until one side's vehicles are wrecked or driven off the road, their drivers fail morale checks, or a story event takes place, whether from a special road tile or GM intervention.

Inspirations:
Gamma World
Car Wars
The Mad Max franchise (especially Fury Road and Furiosa)
Fallout
The Postman by David Brin
The Last of Us
The Book of Eli
Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler

The Team:

Written by Scott C. McDonald
Art, layout, and video bt Matthew Myslinski, 

Random generators can be found at wastelanddegenerates.com.

64 page zine, PDF included