Atomic Highway

Rules

To succeed at a task, draw a card, and multiply by an appropriate attribute plus skill ( both rated 1-5), or twice the attribute when skills do not apply. Divide the resulting draw total by 10, rounding down. This is the number of successes you gain from the attempt. To succeed at a task, you will need get a number of successes based on the tasks difficulty:

Difficult: 1
Extreme: 2
Arduous: 3
Tremendous: 4
Heroic: 5+

If you draw a Jack, then Bad Things Happen… If you draw a Queen, this counts as a 10 and you may redraw and add to the total, before multiplying - drawing a further Jack count as zero, while another Queen adds 10, and a further draw… If you draw a King, set it aside - you may use it as a Fortune point (see below).

Fortune Points

Gain Extra Successes (1 Fortune per extra Success): You can add an extra Success to a character’s action. This can ensure at least one Success or add to those already rolled. Extra Successes gained with Fortune cannot be used to offset Bad Things Happen.
Example: Attempting to sneak past a guard dog, Jane draws and scores one Success. As it’s a competing roll, the guard dog rolls and gets three Successes, meaning it will notice Jane easily! Realizing she simply cannot afford to be noticed, her Player spends 3 Fortune, raising Jane’s Successes to four, enough to beat the dog’s total. Jane manages to sneak past the alert
hound.

[Optional] Perform Dual Action(2 Fortune): Ordinarily characters may only attempt a single
Action in a given Round, but by spending 2 Fortune, a character can attempt two Actions in the same Round, either simultaneously or in a particular order, at no penalty. They might kick one opponent while shooting another, for example. A character cannot perform concurrent Actions and dual Actions in the same turn.
Example: Jane is surrounded by slavering freaks and wants to take them down quickly. Her Player spends 2 Fortune, and describes how Jane launches a kick atthe head of one opponent while she fires her pistol at another! Her Player makes a separate roll for each Action.

Plot Tweak (2 Fortune): You can make a minor tweak or addition to the current in-game environment or situation that somehow benefits the character. Any tweaks should be somewhat believable in the given circumstances. Examples: Rex just happens to find a rusted but usable hammer on the shelf in that decrepit shack when he most needs one. Jane suddenly realizes
that the chains the raiders wrapped her in are partly rusted through on one link, and won’t be too hard to break and escape.

Plot Twist (5 Fortune): You can make a significant twist or change to the current situation that somehow benefits a character. These twists should have some level of vague plausibility as anything too ridiculous can ruin the entire game. This use of Fortune should be carefully considered, and its inclusion should be agreed to by the whole group before play.
Examples: The jailer who comes to feed Jane just happens to be someone who owes her their life and will help her escape. The defeated villain’s body cannot be found, indicating he likely survived or
escaped against all odds.

Reduce An Opponent’s Successes (2 Fortune per Success removed): You can remove a Success from a character’s roll. This can cause them to fail entirely.
Example: Rex is engaged in an arm-wrestling contest with a local bruiser, his reputation on the line. Both contestants are equally matched in all ways, and both achieve two Successes! Wanting this contest done with, Rex’s Player spends 2 Fortune and removes
one of the bruiser’s Successes, reducing him to one Success, making Rex the clear winner.

Reduce Injury/Damage (1 Fortune): You can remove some Damage from a character or vehicle
equal to half its normal full Health. Lethal and Non-Lethal Damage are treated equally, and you
cannot raise the character’s or vehicle’s Health above it’s normal maximum.
Example: Jane has been pretty badly mauled in a savage fight with a mutant cougar, and though
victorious, has been reduced to 3 Health, a fraction of her full 16 Health. She spends a Fortune and
immediately gains back 8 Health (half of her normal full total), bringing her up to 11 Health. Grimacing, wiping away blood and dust, the pained and bloodied Jane rises to her feet in surprisingly good shape given the fight, looking worse than she actually feels.

Redraw Bad Things Happen (3 Fortune): You can completely negate the bad incident that occurs when you roll a Jack. In the unlikely event you redraw another Jack, redraw until you get a
result that isn’t a Jack.
Example: Rex is attempting to leap from the top of a speeding automobile to a nearby truck. To his Player’s horror, he draws a Jack! This could be disastrous in the circumstances, so the Player spends
3 Fortune and redraws.

Character Generation

0) Select Race (Optional)

Although most characters will be human, players have the option of choosing a mutated animal (see later)

1) Concept

2) Assign Attribute Points

Each player must assign 18 points to their 7 Attributes, assigning between 1 and 5 points to each. 2 should be considered an average value. Note: for Non-human races, they may have more or less points to distribute.

Muscle
Understanding
Tenacity
Appeal
Nimbleness
Toughness
Senses

3) Record Natural Skills

All characters start with the following skills at Novice level (1): Athletics, Brawl, Melee, Notice, Persuade, Shoot and Stealth

4) Calculate Health

Unless modified by mutations or flaws, a characters Health is determined as follows:

(Muscle + Tenacity + Toughness) x2

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