Furry Road - The Driver

Notes: Drives Like a Maniac is from Expanded Worlds. Max is actually the first pre-gen I created for this, but I held him back because I needed to design the car. Also it was convenient to have a finished character in my back pocket in case I was pressed for time. Anyways, Max is a patrol trooper, so Virtuous seemed like a nice fit, especially when combined with the other assorted characters. Drives Like a Maniac was basically a pre-req for this game. The character is one of the most well rounded of the pre-gens as well thanks in part of a hefty dose of skills from descriptor and focus in addition to those gained from type. As for the Armored Patrol Cruiser, that's designed using the rules I created for CypherCaster Magazine #6. These expand on the vehicle rules from the CSR for games where the vehicle is more center stage than in other games.  I made some terminology modifications because those rules were written for spacecraft, but they apply equally well for road vehicles... for instance the "Truck" type is the same as the "Light Freighter" type.

Max the Dog is a Virtuous Explorer who Drives Like a Maniac

Tier 3 • Effort 3
Might 17 • Edge 1
Speed 15 • Edge 2
Intellect 12 • Edge 1

Cypher Limit: 2

Armor: 2 • Bullet proof vest (medium)

Skills:

• Trained
• Running
• Speed Defense
• Medium Ranged Attacks
• Knowledge: Road Gangs
• discerning people’s true motives or seeing through lies
• Specialized
• Intellect Defense
• driving cars, trucks, & motorcycles
• Navigation
• Vehicular repair 

Abilities:

• Practiced in Armor
• Practiced With Light and Medium Weapons
• Danger Sense (1 Speed point)
• Quick Recovery
• Stand Watch (2 Intellect points)
• Machine Efficiency (3 Intellect points)
• Seize Opportunity (4 Speed points)
• Ignore the Pain
• Driving on the Edge
• Car Surfer

Equipment: Calivada Road Patrol fatigues, a trunk tool kit (heavy tools), roll of duct tape, flashlight, 1x MRE. Armored patrol cruiser. (see below).

Weapons:

• Sawn-off shotgun • special ranged weapon 
• 6 damage at immediate range
• 4 damage to Short range
• attacks as a light weapon at long range (2 damage)
• 9mm pistol • medium ranged weapon
• Knife • light melee weapon 
• Molotov cocktail • thrown weapon • short range • 2 damage plus fire

Armored patrol cruiser - "Sheila" is a Hardy Truck Defends the Weak

• Frame: 18 • Edge 1
• Engine: 12 • Edge -1
• Alternator: 8 • Edge 0
• Armor: 2
• Hardpoints:
• Medium Weapon turret (4 damage, long range) 
• Extra Heavy Frame
• Light Armor 
• Full Throttle (As Fleet of Foot, CSR pg 40)
• Optimized for Armor

• Cargo: None - personal items only
• Crew: 2 (Driver & Navigator/Gunner) + turret gunner
• Weapons: Forward mounted SMG (light ranged weapon, long range)
• Easy to Repair: Recovery takes 1/2 time
• Keep Rolling: Ignore one damage level
• Brick: Trained in Hull Defense
• EMP Shielded: trained in Alternator Defense

Initial Link: It's your job as a sworn officer of the Calivada Road Patrol to protect the roads, and the Road Hogs are the biggest threat to safety in the entirety of the coastal region.

Connections:

• You've worked with Cornelius the Chimpanzee before. On a previous mission you accidentally crashed your vehicle when Cornelius was a passenger. Though you both recovered you still feel guilty about the incident.
• Anthony the Mouse is one of the few people you trust to work on your car.

Furry Road - The Face

Designer's Notes: Ahh, the Face. Face character's can be the ones who run an adventure in weird places, especially if played very cunningly. So an Impulsive face seemed a great way to balanced things by making this character a potential powder keg within the group. Wields Two Weapons at Once is really meant for melee weapons, so I decided to allow its Tier 2 ability Double Strike to use Speed pool when attacking with ranged weapons, but still require might for melee. I don't see an issue with dual wielding guns otherwise so this was a pretty easy fix. Ability wise rabbits don't really need much except a lot of speed which allowed me to focus on social abilities. 

Jessie the Rabbit is an Impulsive Speaker who Wields Two Weapons At Once

Tier 3 • Effort 3
Might 10 • Edge 0
Speed 14 • Edge 1
Intellect 20 • Edge 2

Cypher Limit: 2

Armor: 1 (light, leather jacket)

Skills:

• Inability
• any task that involves patience, willpower, or discipline
• Trained
• initiative
• Deceiving
• Persuading
• Running
• Speed defense

Abilities:

• Dual Light & Medium Wield
• Double Strike (3 Might or Speed points)
• Practiced With Light & Medium Weapons
• Enthrall (1 Intellect point)
• Fast Talk (1 Intellect point)
• Spin Identity (2+ Intellect points)
• Unexpected Betrayal
• Impersonate (2 Intellect points)
• Telling (2 Intellect points)
• Blend In (4 Intellect points)
• Grand Deception (3 Intellect points)

Weapons:

• 2x 9mm Handguns (medium ranged weapon, short range)
• 2x .38 Handguns (light ranged weapon, short range)
• 2x knives (cheap, light melee weapon)

Equipment: Dark clothing, gear harness, flashlight, padlock w/keys.

Initial Link to the Adventure: You requested a team after you heard rumors about the Road Hogs allying with another faction.

Connections:

• You think Cornelius the Chimpanzee is too analytical and needs to be more willing to make quick decisions in the field. 
• You once mistook Nausicaa the Bird for an enemy and nearly killed her with a grenade. You still regret the results of your impulsive actions that day.

Furry Road - The Scout

Design Notes: Let's start with the basics; Soars Across the Sky is found in In Translation. I wanted to ensure that the character had true flight and this was one of the few foci that provided it, and early enough for this to allow for an interesting pregen character. As a scout I needed to get some perception in there and Sharp-Eyed  worked well at that and provided the "Find the Flaw" ability that I thought made an interesting addition to the character and took her in a slightly different direction with a more military intelligence feel rather than a more "traditional" field scout. Adept was a weird fit, but I wanted two of each type and I'd already run out of Explorers. In this case though I think it worked out to make for an interesting set of abilities when combined with the idea of a mor military espionage & intelligence scout. 

Nausicaa the Bird is a Sharp-Eyed Adept who Soars Across the Sky

Tier 3 • Effort 3
Might 10 • Edge 0
Speed 15 • Edge 2
Intellect 17 • Edge 1

Cypher Limit: 3

Armor: 1 (flight suit, no penalty)

Skills:

• Trained
• initiative
• assessing danger
• Sneaking
• intelligence gathering 
• Specialized
• perception

Abilities:

• Find the Flaw
• Hover (1 Speed points)
• Flight Suit
• Flight (4+ Speed points)
• Flying Punch
• Protected Flight (3 Speed points)
• Practiced with Light weapons
• Push (2 Intellect points; SFX: buffet the target with your wings) 
• Scan (2 Intellect points)
• Understanding (2 Intellect points)
• Subterfuge
• Flex Skill

Weapons:

• Custom .45 Carbine (light ranged weapon, long range, 4 damage)
• nightstick (light melee weapon)

Equipment: Aerodynamic flight suit (counts as light armor with no penalty), shotgun microphone, binoculars, gear harness, 2x rations, box of chalk.

Initial Link to the Adventure: You’ve been noticing some strange things going on, and this all appears related.

Connections:

• Anthony the Mouse made you your custom carbine which has served you well in the field. 
• Jessie the Rabbit once mistook you for an enemy and nearly took you out with a grenade. You still have a few scars from the burns.
• You are impressed with, and a bit envious of, Nux the Horse's ability with firearms. 

Furry Road - The Triggerman

Design Notes: I'd considered making this a character a bow user early on, but then changed my mind as I realized that the technological capacity of the After the Bomb universe was more than enough for bullets to not be a rare and prized commodity. Carries a Quiver becomes Carries a Rifle and otherwise remains mostly intact. Horses primary have the traits of speed and/or strength. Swift and/or Strong seemed good descriptor options, but I obviously could only use one. Further, I really didn't need excessive strength or Might because the character prefers firearms and so Strong was out. In the end I also decided to forego Swift as well and rely on training and Edge to represent the horse's inborn speed. This allowed me to focus on adding an interesting personality to the group by way of another quirky descriptor. Enter the "Vengeful" descriptor and a character who has some personal stake in the mission at hand... 

Nux the Horse is a Vengeful Warrior who Carries a Rifle

Tier 3 • Effort 3

Might 16 • Edge 1

Speed 18 • Edge 3

Intellect 8 • Edge 0

Cypher Limit: 2

Armor: none

Skills:

• Trained
• Attack: Rifles
• intimidation
• torture
• tracking
• Craft: Rifles
• Jumping
• Lore: Road Hogs
• Specialized
• Craft: Bullets
• Running
• Speed Defense

Abilities:

• Archer
• Covering Fire/Double-tap (1 Speed point)
• Overwatch (1 Intellect point)
• Pierce (1 Speed point)
• Successive Attack (2 Speed points)
• Deadly Aim (3 Speed points)
• Spray (2 Speed points)
• Trick Shot (2 Speed points)

Weapons:

• AK47 Rifle (Medium weapon, long range, rapid fire)
• 2x magazines of 30 rounds
• .308 Rifle (heavy weapon, long range, bolt action)
• Nightvision scope
• .45 Pistol (medium weapon, medium range)

Equipment: Clothing, light tools, functional GPS map, 2x rations, flashlight, duct tape.

Initial Link to the Adventure: Your gang was wiped out by the Road Hogs and you want revenge, plain and simple. 

Connections:

• You are especially taken with Jim the Raccoon's junk-scavenged crafts, and when you use an item in a way that requires a roll, add +1 to the result. 
• You think that Jessie the Rabbit talks too much and wonder if she really understands the threat of the Road Hogs.

Furry Road - The Mechanic

Author's Notes: This one could have been easy but I wanted the mouse to be small in stature and as it turns out there's not really a good Descriptor for small. The closest I could find was the Halfling descriptor from Alternate Origins (The Strange Fractal), but that descriptor was very tied into the cultural aspects of halflings as much as their physical traits. As a result I decided to build a new descriptor which you will find below. As an adept I am justifying much of the type abilities of this character as bits of gear. Scanning tools, weaponry, and the like. Lastly I want to call out the "Duct Tape" skill, which is meant for jury rigging repairs and creations in short time. Think of the kind of things you'd expect out of MacGuyver. This skill can be used in turns where Crafting would take hours, but the result isn't permanent, and may be prone to failure (e.g. GMI).

Small

You are much smaller than your peers, at least half as tall, possibly smaller. Your body is proportional so you are also lighter and then to be less strong as well. You had to learn to look out for yourself and look out for what others were doing lest they harm you accidentally because they failed to notice you. On the bright side you are harder to hit and quick on your feet. 

You have the following characteristics:

Nimble: +2 to your Speed Pool.

Skill: You are trained in sneaking and hiding.

Skill: You are trained in climbing tasks.

Skill: You are trained in perception.

Skill: You are trained in Speed defense.

Smaller Fit: Because you are smaller you find it harder to find equipment your size. All gear that you need sized for you costs 50% more. On the flip side you are able to fit into tighter spaces including reaching into spaces that your larger peers cannot. 

Physically weaker: Whenever you would apply Might effort you must spend 1 additional point from your Might pool. 

Inability: Resisting disease, poison, and fatigue is harder for you. You have an inability with all Might Defense tasks. 

Initial Link to the Starting Adventure:

From the following list of options, choose how you became involved in the first adventure.

1. One of the other PCs saved your life previously, so you’ve (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to help.

2. One of the other PCs saw the value of somebody your size and asked you to come along.

3. You made a case for your inclusion based on your abilities regardless of your size.

4. You want to prove that you are just as capable as your larger peers. 

Anthony the Mouse is a Small Adept who Crafts Unique Objects

Tier 3 • Effort 3

Might 11 • Edge -1
Speed 15 • Edge 1
Intellect 18 • Edge 2

Cypher Limit: 4

Armor: 1 (ward)

Skills:

• Inability
• Might defense
• Trained
• Sneaking and hiding.
• Speed defense.
• Perception.
• Climbing 
• identifying the function of any kind of device
• Crafting: Electronics
• Crafting: Blacksmith
• Specialized
• Duct Tape (jury rigging)
• Crafting: Vehicles
• Crafting: Gunsmith

Abilities:

• Smaller Fit: Because you are smaller you find it harder to find equipment your size. All gear that you need sized for you costs 50% more. On the flip side you are able to fit into tighter spaces including reaching into spaces that your larger peers cannot. 
• Tinkerer. 
• Quick Work (3+ Intellect points). 
• Advanced Taser Mk II (Onslaught)
• Proton Decay Instigator (Shatter)
• Armorweave Clothing (Ward)
• Automatic Diagnostic Handheld (Scan)
• Machine Efficiency (Tech Flavor)
• Targeting Eye (Advanced Taser Mk II)

Equipment: You begin the game with a bag of light tools, the tools needed to make your first-tier crafts, and a bag of heavy tools. Mechanic's jumpsuit, wi-fi enabled camera, beat up quadcopter drone, appropriately sized camping gear, 50' rope & grappling hook (rated for your weight), and four rolls of duct tape.

Weapons:

• Pen knife (light weapon)
• .22 Derringer (Light weapon, short range, 4 shot pepperbox)

Initial Link to the Adventure: You want to prove that you are just as capable as your larger peers.

Connections:

• Nausicaa the Bird has a customized rifle that you fashioned for her. 
• You are constantly impressed by the things that Jim the Raccoon can assemble from little more than junk.

Furry Road - The Scavenger

Author's notes: Once more we have an instance of a character that doesn't need much heavy lifting to align their species to the final character. Raccoons are mostly known for being nocturnal scavengers who are rather curious. I decided to buy Specialization in Perception to make up for the lack of a night-vision power, but it also doubles as keen smell and hearing. Certain mentions associate them with a habit of procuring shinies in the same way magpies do. As such Gluttonous Explorer who Scavenges seems a good fit here ...

I should note that Gluttonous is found in Gods of the Fall (p. 126), and Scavenges is found in Expanded Worlds (p. 55).

Jim the Trash Panda (Raccoon) is a Gluttonous Explorer who Scavenges

Tier 3 • Effort 3

Might 16 • Edge 2
Speed 15 • Edge 1
Intellect 14 • Edge 1

Cypher Limit: 3

Armor: 2 (scavenged riot gear)

Skills:

• Trained
• persuasion
• tasks related to the exchange of money, including haggling
• tasks directly related to theft
• resisting the effects of poison
• scavenging
• Craft: armorer
• Craft: metalsmith
• Specialized
• Perception
• stealth 
• eating and keeping down copious amounts of food and drink

Abilities:

• Practiced with Light & Medium Weapons
• Practiced in Armor
• Endurance
• Muscles of Iron (2 Might points)
• Extra Edge
• Eye for Detail (2 Intellect points)
• Serv-o
• Serv-o Defender
• Serv-o Repair
• Tool Mastery
• Think Your Way Out
• Junkmonger (2 Intellect points).
• Survivor’s Advantage. 

Equipment: Clothing, large backpack, lead-lined tent, duct tape, bottle, flashlight, a bag of light tools, the tools needed to make your crafts and an ammo box full of 100 assorted rounds.

Weapons:

• Bolt-Action Rifle (medium weapon, long range)
• crowbar (medium, also an useful tool)

Initial Link to the Adventure: Your greed can be sated only by taking on dangerous tasks in return for great rewards.

Connections:

• You saved Zhan the Cat's life and you now she feels she owes you a debt.
• Nux the Horse is especially taken with your junk-scavenged crafts, and when they use an item in a way that requires a roll, they add +1 to the result. 

Furry Road - Road Dice

Since I'm alway looking for neat ways to make the game exciting and unpredictable for myself as GM as much as the players I enjoy using certain random elements. I rarely pre-determine loot for instance. For Furry Road I knew that one of the things that HAD to happen was some vehicular combat, including (I hope) people jumping between moving vehicles and fighting atop them. I considered grabbing a roadway map for the geography that the game will be set in, but that's ... boring. Also this is a post-apocalypse game so I didn't want to have stuff too organized. I also wanted there to be an element of the unknown.

I considered first making a deck of "cards" in the form of geomorphic road tiles with important information drawn in or written. I realized quickly that this would work, but that my artistic skills are a little too limited for such an endeavour for a one-shot. I also wanted something a little more exciting than some flimsy home made cards. Enter these...

Plain white dice/cubes and a black sharpie marker. You can get 25 of these dice to be for cheap on Amazon, like $8 or so cheap. Add a sharpie and off you go making your own dice. I created three types of road representing normal roads (just two parallel lines), high quality/well maintained roads (two parallel lines with a dotted divider in the middle), and broken roads (parallel jagged lines). These will indicate the normal state, driver's advantage, and driver's disadvantage for piloting tests. I also drew in some turns and a few intersections. Lastly I added a couple of sides with "X"s in the roads to indicate a trap or other hazard (pothole, debris, etc.) that could damage a car.

I pretty much drew 3 or 4 straits of various quality and then added turns or intersections for the other two sides. Five dice later and I can roll up a section of road at random during a highway combat for Furry Road. I'm thinking this will make running combat a little more exciting for both the players and myself.

Furry Road - The Feral

Image Source: Palladium's After The Bomb, 2nd Edition

Design Notes: Originally I was looking at Aggressive or Rugged as descriptors here, as I wanted this character to feel like a character who grew up outside of civilization. Thankfully Predation recently came out and features a new descriptor, perfect for my needs: Savage. As a mutant cat the focus Moves Like a Cat seemed a natural fit to catch many of the aspects of the character I wanted to see. Claws is as easy as the T1 warrior ability, Needs No Weapon. In this end this was a pretty easy build. Could I do it without the MLaC focus? Sure, I'd apply pretty much the same skills and pools, and the only thing I'd be missing was the Safe Fall ability. 

Zhan the Cat is a Savage Warrior who Moves Like a Cat

Tier 3 • Effort 3

Might 18 • Edge 2
Speed 19 • Edge 3
Intellect 10 • Edge 0

Cypher Limit: 2

Armor: 0 (none)

Skills:

• Inability
• all pleasant social interactions
• Trained
• all tasks involving intimidation and scare tactics
• smashing and breaking things
• balancing
• Unarmed Attacks
• Survival
• initiative
• perception
• Specialized
• climbing
• jumping
• Speed defense

Abilities:

• Safe Fall
• Practiced With All Weapons
• No Need for Weapons
• Trained Without Armor
• Swipe
• Mighty Blow
• Fury
• Lunge

Equipment: Appropriate clothing, plus one expensive item, two moderately priced items, and up to four inexpensive items.

Weapons:

• knife (light weapon)
• crude pipe club (medium weapon)

Initial Link to the Adventure: You told everyone you were going to join, and no one said no to you, so here you are.

Connections: 

• Jim the Raccoon saved your life and you now feel you owe him a debt that cannot be repaid.
• You love to tease and play practical jokes on Max the Dog but you also respect his ability to drive with such precision and grace

Furry Road - The Brains

So this is the first of the planned pre-gens for Furry Road, my Gen Con "secret game" and an homage of sorts to After the Bomb one of the first RPGs of my youth. My design notes will be included to discuss things like how I represent character traits and any excursions from the standard Cypher System Rulebook basics, this includes Descriptors and Foci from outside of the CSR. 

Image Source: Palladium's After The Bomb, 2nd Edition

Designers notes:
My intent with Cornelius was a team leader of sorts. A planner and enabler who helped make other people better. Unlike the "face" Cornelius's Speaker abilities would be geared toward aid over working people. Since chimpanzees are primates this character would be the one requiring the least effort for "animal traits" mainly just something to represent the opposable digits on his feet, for this I decided to simply replace a single skill purchase with an ability that would grant an asset when the character could use his feet for a task like climbing, holding, or the like. I also selected climbing and balancing to help round out that ability.
**Note: The Resourceful Descriptor is from Numenera Character Options 2

Cornelius the Chimpanzee is a Resourceful Speaker who Would Rather Be Reading

Tier 3 •  Effort 3
Might 15 • Edge 1
Speed 12 • Edge 0
Intellect 22 • Edge 2

Cypher Limit: 3

Armor: 1 (light armor; tough clothing)

Skills:

• Inability
•  tasks to notice danger around you
• Trained
• Tasks that involves learning something new
• History
• climbing
• balancing
• electronics 
• Specialized
• Planning

Abilities:

• Opposable Feet: You gain an asset when in situations where you can benefit from using your feet to hold onto things, such as climbing, picking up objects from below you, and the like. Your feet are strong enough to support your weight if given proper purchase.
• Practiced With Light & Medium Weapons
• Planner
• Applying Your Knowledge
• Aggression
• Encouragement
• Speed Recovery
• Expert Cypher Use
• Discerning Mind
• Flex Skill

Equipment: You have a bag of light tools. Appropriate clothing, nightvision goggles, binoculars, repaired tablet computer, flashlight, duct tape, backpack, package of 20 zip ties.

Weapons:

• Bowie knife (light weapon)
• .38 Special (light weapon)

Initial Link to the Adventure: The Calivada Road Patrol (CRP) approached you to ask you to the mission, because of how resourceful you are. Though you prefer to stay at HQ with your books and maps, you know that the team will need your help and leadership.

Connections: 

• You think that Zhan the Cat is ignorant and uneducated. You have yet to decide if she can be taught more civilized ways.
• You've worked with Max the Dog before. One time you were both involved in a crash that you know he still feels guilty about. 

Furry Road - A Cypher System Homage to After the Bomb

Image Source: http://www.palladium-megaverse.com/cuttingroom/images/atbmap2.jpg via http://www.palladium-megaverse.com/cuttingroom/

Oh man, that pun is gonna be all kinds of trouble. 

I've mentioned before on this blog that I got a lot of gaming mileage out of the old Palladium TMNT game line. Specifically the After the Bomb setting. It didn't make it into my Top 5 game settings when I wrote that blog a couple years back, but it probably should have been an honorable mention. Of course that whole blog is probably in need of a do-over at this point; two years brings a lot of new RPG settings.

Still, with Mutant Crawl Classics soon to come out I've been thinking more and more about the Post Apocalypse. Part of why I backed MCC at the level I did was because of After the Bomb. And for my Gen Con 50 after hours game I decided that I wanted to run something inspired by AtB. Since MCC isn't out and I just cannot stomach trying to make pre-gens and run it in the Palladium system. Ergo I am going with my go-to works for damn near anything system: Cypher System.

Specifically I'm going to go all Mad Max Fury Road on the After the Bomb setting by using the Road Hogs portion of the setting. In the post apocalyptic California there are highways aplenty, roving gangs of mutant animals, and fuel shortages. I think it shows remarkable restraint that author Erik Wujcik didn't do all this in Australia. It's also awesome because Mutants Down Under (the Australia portion of the setting) got to be all kinds of different weird.

I'll be making some subtle changes. Instead of New Americorp the "hero" government will be Calivada (since it's basically a sizable chunk of California and Nevada and this game doesn't hide from goofball place names). The Road Hogs gang will be mostly mutant pigs, because duh!, and a more genuine power than they are implied to be in the setting materials.

Of course the big work is on the pre-gen characters. I'll be posting these here in abbreviated form (e.g. no ability text, just names) starting next monday and going through July. Here are the 8 PCs. If I end up building anything new (like descriptors) or making changes I'll be sure to highlight that in a wrap up post.

• mouse - mechanic
• Bird - scout
• Cat - warrior (melee)
• Dog - driver
• rabbit - "the face"
• raccoon - scavenger/scrapper
• chimp - historian/sage/leader
• Horse - warrior (ranged)

Either way, I hope this proves to be as entertaining for you all as it is for me.