We've beon invaded, and the lnverion is successful. Military INCLUDED 1N THIS BOX ARE: units may or may nat be contlnulng the fight aydilrist the The Character: Rulebook 1 for Freedom Fighters, this invaderi, but valiant bands of Freedom Flghters take up the volume contains al l the data required to create detailed fight lor freedom and liberw. characters in ttit: 1990s. Regardless of thr choice made

A unlque concept in deiim allow tha Garnerneater to select for the nature of the invader, all characters will have the Invader and craitn the details of the sltuetion faced by complete and detailed backgrounds, contacts in many

the Fraedom Figters. walks of life, skills. and professional backgrounds The Resistance: Rulebook 2 for Freedom Fighters, this volume details the rules for combat, equipment, weapons,

rllles. laryi: scale military actions, military organizations, and thc actual organization of the Rusistaiice. Guidelines for

visit - thll t h e better prepared for Earth's bacteria. the diffcreiit style campaigns are also iiicluded for the

radars pretend frlendr A booklet of charts and tables for use in character gen- while m o 6 t citizens are unawire of the true state of affairs.

All of them ar4 on uctory Adventure. uaders could also be uwd, making the list endless.

FGU will be re- leasinu campaign Freedom Fighters

book6 on each of the olro comes complete with a judga's screen and a martar aharac-

above-lilted subjects. Each such osmpaign

tar shwt {suitable for photoeopylng),

Other important

wlll nlro be followed

master forms for the

by numerow adven- t u n boob nnd even boob on the unique equipment ivalla ble listing of milltary

units, vehicles, ate, ace atso included in a farm suitable for ouw ph utacopying.

In rhort, this bok contains everything

to that particular In- vader's forcer.

Freedom Fighten allow for the design of detailed charsc-

full-blow campaign wherein the plsyer- ehar-rr tike part

torr who can fit any style campnign to partielpate in the hirole rtruggle for

In tho ongdng fight for frwLm m d to lihrata Amirlcr from the tyranny of t h e Invading Form.

renewed Amriwn freedom and liberty1 The nrture of the

The nature of the fight is up w the gememaster and t h i

The lnvedrr may be any of the followlng: o Sovlet and Wsrsaw Pact forces wlth Latin Amer

o Thr 'Martland written about by H.G, Weilr in a retur

o A more allent and sacret alien invasion where the i

i vA requird to begin a I

Q - -- Fa

players, as ii the true nature of the in. veiion and pmiblr occupation of North American territory.

Can you save America from the powerful forms of the in- vaders? Will the American will to be free win out in the lono rtruggla mlnst tyranny and oppression? Only your ehsradterr can docIda them issuer as they taka part In the redstance movement and attempt to libsrata thoir hornelandl

rx

I I

b - . - 2

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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Required Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Dice Rolling Conventions . . . . . . . . 1

1 . CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.1 Character Categories . . . . . . . . . 2 1.2 Characters in the Game . . . . . . . 2 1.3 Character Design . . . . . . . . . . . 2

1.3.1 Allegiance . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1.3.2 Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.3 Ethnic Type . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Ethnic Type Table . . . . . . . . 3 1.3.4 Character Age . . . . . . . . . . 4

Base Age Table . . . . . . . . . . 4 1.4 Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.5 Personality Traits . . . . . . . . . . . 5 1.6 Talents and Motivations . . . . . . . 6

Talents & Special Talents Table . 7 1.6.1 Talents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.6.2 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Motivation Chart . . . . . . . . . 8 Phobia Table . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.6 Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 1.6.1 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 1.6.2 Build . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Height. Weight, Build Features 11 1.6.3Senses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Senses Table . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.6.4 Handedness and Off-Hand

Dexterity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.7 Family Background . . . . . . . . 12

1.7.1 Birthplace . . . . . . . . . . . 12 1.7.2 Origin . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 1.7.3 Social Class . . . . . . . . . . 13

Birthplace. Origins and Class . . 13 1.7.4 Family Members . . . . . . . 13

Family Tables . . . . . . . . . . 14 2 . CHARACTER BACKGROUND . . . . 15

2.1 The Background Cycle . . . . . . . 15 2.2 Background Lifestyle . . . . . . . 15

Lifestyle Chart . . . . . . . . . 16 Personal Life Chart . . . . . . . 16 Money Chart . . . . . . . . . . . 17

2.3 Background Events . . . . . . . . . 17 Background Events Table . . . 17 Hazard Table . . . . . . . . . . 18

2.4 Random Skills . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Background Skill Table . . . . . 19 Random Skill Pools . . . . . . . 19

2.5 Continuing The Cycle . . . . . . . 20 2.6 Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2.6.1 The Career Process . . . . . . 21 2.6.2 Career Choices . . . . . . . . 21 2.6.3 Career Requirements . . . . . 22 2.6.4 Entering a Career . . . . . . . 22 2.6.5 Career Branches . . . . . . . 23 2.6.6 Service Length . . . . . . . . 23

2.7 Resolving Careers . . . . . . . . . . 23 2.7.1 The Career Cycle . . . . . . . 23 2.7.2 Career Lifestyle . . . . . . . . 24

Lifestyle Chart . . . . . . . . . 24 2.7.3 Career Events . . . . . . . . . 24 2.7.4 Career Locations . . . . . . . 25

Location Tables . . . . . . . . . 25 2.7.5 Random Skills . . . . . . . . 25

Random Skills Table . . . . . . 25 2.8 Ranks and Promotions . . . . . . . 26

2.8.1 Maximum Rank . . . . . . . 26

2.8.2 Military Ranks . . . . . . . . . 26 2.8.3 Self-Employed Ranks . . . . 26 2.8.4 Special Career Ranks . . . . . 26 2.8.5 Scientific & Medical Careers 26 2.8.6 Political Ranks . . . . . . . . 26 2.8.7 Resistance Fighter Ranks . . 26

2.9 Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Available Hobbies Chart . . . . 27

2.10 Purchasing Benefits . . . . . . . . 27 2.1 1 Aging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Aging Table . . . . . . . . . . . 28 2.12 Term Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . 28 2.13 Special Career Considerations . . 28 2.14 Completing the Career Process . 29 2.15 Entering the Game . . . . . . . . 30

Sample Character Sheet . . . . 31 3 . NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS . . . . 32

3.1 Major NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 3.2 Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Extra Creation Tables . . . . . 33 Size Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

3.3 Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 3.4 Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Animals Chart . . . . . . . . . . 35

BASIC MECHANICS . . . . . . . . . . 37

4.1.1 Attribute Levels . . . . . . . 37 4.1.2 Attribute Ratings . . . . . . . 37 4.1.3 Saving Throws (ASTs) . . . . 37

4.2 Using Characteristics . . . . . . . . 38 4.2.1 Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.2.2 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.2.3 Jumping . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 4.2.4 CarrylLiftIDrag . . . . . . . . 38

Speed Chart . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Strength Use Table . . . . . . . 39

4.2.5 Hit Point Information . . . . 38 4.2.6 Fatigue Information . . . . . 39 4.2.7 Recovery Rate . . . . . . . . 39

4.3 Personality Traits . . . . . . . . . . 39 4.4 Talents and Motivations . . . . . . 40 4.5 Using Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

4.5.1 Skill Levels . . . . . . . . . . 40 4.5.2 Skill Ratings . . . . . . . . . 40 4.5.3 Tasks & Task Rolls . . . . . . 40

Task Diff iculty Chart . . . . . . 41 Critical Outcomes Table . . . . 41

4.5.4 Competition Rolls . . . . . . 42 4.5.5 Skills & Game Interaction . . 42 4.5.6 Skill Saving Throws . . . . . 42 4.5.7 Improving Skills . . . . . . . 43

4.6 Skill Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . 43 4.6.1 Additional Skills . . . . . . . 55

4.7 Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.7.1 Using Contacts . . . . . . . . 55 4.7.2 New Contacts . . . . . . . . . 55

4.8 Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 4.9 Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Business Benefits Table . . . . . 56 4.10 Character Improvement . . . . . 56

4.10.1 Acquiring Benefit Points . . 56 4.10.2 Benefit Point Expenditure . 56 4.10.3 Training Animals . . . . . . 56

MENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 5.1 Game Time Scale . . . . . . . . . . 57

4 . CHARACTERS IN THE GAME:

4.1 Using Attributes . . . . . . . . . . 37

5 .CHARACTERS IN THE ENVIRON-

5.2 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.2.1 Movement Modes . . . . . . . 58 5.2.2 Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5.3 Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 5.3.1 Terrain Classes . . . . . . . . 58 5.3.2 Determining Terrain Type . . 58

. Movement Charts . . . . . . . . 59 5.3.3 Weather Conditions . . . . . 59

5.4 Fatigue (Optional) . . . . . . . . . 59 5.4.1 Fatigue Points . . . . . . . . 60

Temporary Fatigue Chart . . . 60 Permanent Fatigue Chart . . . . 60

5.4.2 Fatigue Effects . . . . . . . . 61 5.5 Weather . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 5.6 Visibility and Sighting . . . . . . . 61

5.6.1 Standard Visibility . . . . . . 62 5.6.2 Large & Multiple Targets . . 62 5.6.3 Camouflage & Stealth . . . . 62 5.6.4 Alertness . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Sighting Chart . . . . . . . . . . 62 5.7 Survival Requirements . . . . . . . 63

5.7.1 Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 5.7.2 Food . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5.8 Barriers & Barrier Values . . . . . 63 5.'8.1 The Barrier Factor . . . . . . 63 5.8.2 Barriers as Armor . . . . . . . 63 5.8.3 Penetrating Barriers . . . . . 63

Barrier Values Table . . . . . . 64 5.8.4 Breaking Barriers . . . . . . . 64 5.8.5 Breaking Down Barriers . . . 64 5.8.6 Locks and Doors . . . . . . . 64

5.9 Environmental Hazards . . . . . . 64 5.9.1 Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 5.9.2 Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . 65 5.9.3 Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Typical . Diseases . . . . . . . . . 66 5.9.4 Chemical Agents . . . . . . . 68

Typical Chemical Agents . . . . 69 5.9.5 Smoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 5.9.6Acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 5.9.7 Radiation . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Radiation Sickness . . . . . . . 71 5.10 ApplyingEnvironmentaI Rules . . 71

6 . VERBAL INTERACTION . . . . . . . 72 6.1 The Character Interaction Sheet . 72

Sample Interaction Sheet . . . 73 6.2 The Verbal Interaction Process . . 72

6.2.1 Verbal Interaction Overview 74 6.2.2 Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Attitude Table . . . . . . . . . . 74 6.2.3 Verbal Attack: . . . . . . . . 74 6.2.4 Outcomes & Responses . . . 74

Response Tables . . . . . . . . . 75 6.2.5 Counterattacks & Exchanges.75 6.2.6Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 6.2.7 Interacting wi th Extras . . . 75 6.2.8 The NPC as Attacker . . . . . 75

6.3 The Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 . Interaction Guidelines . . . . . 78

6.4 Special Verbal Attacks . . . . . . . 79 6.4.1 Impress Attacks . . . . . . . 79 6.4.2 Public Speaking . . . . . . . . 79 6.4.3 Subcultures . . . . . . . . . . 79 6.4.4 Foreign Languages . . . . . . 79 6.4.5 Insight and Interactions . . . 79

Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 6.5 Verbal Interactions and Player-

Design: J . Andrew Keith . Design Assistance: Tom Kokkelenberg. David Hoffman. Eric W .

Jacobson. William H . Keith. Jr . Playtesting: Tom Kokkelenberg. David Hoffman. Bill Nesbit. Doug

Newcomb. William H . Keith. Jr., Michael Lichter. David Fulton. Darrin Lemmon. Deborah Fulton. Dan Larson. Rose Sayre. Mike Calvery. Samir Shyamoni. Carl Jonas. Larry Gniadek. John Nichols .

Dedication: To the Freedom Fighters. past. present and future.'

U.S. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1986 J . Andrew Keith . All rights t o this book are reserved . No part of this book may be

used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission. except in the case o f brief quotations embodied in critical articles or in reviews .

Cover art and interior illustrations are copyright 1986 by William H . Keith Jr . All rights reserved .

For information contact Fantasy Games Unlimited Inc., P.O. Box 182. Roslyn. New York 11576 USA .

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INTRODUCTION Freedom Fighters is a game of guerrilla warfare in the present or near future, wi th an important twist - the struggle for freedom is taking place in our own country, against oppressors who have seized power to turn a peaceful nation into a society against itself. These oppressors can be invaders f rom another world, or foreign agressors who have won a non-Nuclear war, or some political faction which has managed t o acquire power for their own ends through a coup, or even through a peaceful rise t o dominance. Any set of circumstances can be used t o explain the basic situation, that of common citizens with diverse talents and skills banding together t o free themselves and their neighbors from a tyranny imposed without their consent.

This is a role-playing game, in which many players combine under the guidance of a Gamemaster (GM). The players each take the Part of an individual person, receiving various attributes, skills, and benefits through a character creation process which results in a detailed back- ground and a set o f unique abilities. This person, then, is the player's window 9n the world of the game, and carries out in the game environ- ment the decisions and actions desired by the player to react t o various situations, solve problems, or overcome obstacles.

The Gamemaster, on the other hand, is charged with actually run- ning the game. He creates the various situations t o be responded to ' the players, and interprets the results of their actions. Gamemasters are responsible for assembling "adventures" and "campaigns" involving the player characters, and for manipulating the various non-player char- acters who may be encountered along the way. The Gamemaster is an impartial, completely neutral arbiter, a storyteller who interacts wi th the players t o produce a finished tale rather than an opponent t o strive against the players.

As with most role-playing games, Freedom Fighters is a game of cooperation, not competition. Player-characters rarely have talents in every possible field of endeavor, and so must band together so that their various skills complement one another. Although some degree of conflict and competition may arise within a group, success i s more often gained by learning t o work together effectively for the common good.

This game is a complex one, and makes no pretense t o the contrary. The rules are intricate and thorough, and are intended to provide the maximum of realism. The Gamemaster should become thoroughly familiar with them early on; players need not be as familiar, bu t wil l s t i l l benefit from knowing what is, or is not, possible within the frame- work of the game system.

GAME CONTENTS Three Booklets comprise the Freedom Fighters rules set. Book 1, The Character (the booklet you are now reading) contains

complete rules on how to create and use a character i n the game. Book I I , The Resistance, i s a booklet which deals wi th how t o en-

gage in fights, f rom man t o man clashes up t o confrontations involving hundreds of mmbatants an a side. A variety of weapons are covered, as are special rules on combat involving all kinds of vehicles. Other sections handle related topics, such as injury and recovery from wounds, equipment, and notes on running a resistance network.

Book Ill, Character Generation Summary, a handout for players t o assist them through the steps of detailed character creation.

Gamemaster's Screen a summary of the most important and/or most frequently used tables and charts.

Introductory Adventure, a short adventure designed t o fit any style campaign t o help get your game started.

Separate cardstock sheets are also provided in the game, containing work-and-record-sheet displays used t o record important informa- t ion for various stages of the game. These sheets rnay be photocopied (for noncommercial uses only) and passed out among the players.

Dice: Four dice are included in the game. Two are the familiar six-sided variety, while the other two are polyhedral 20-sided dice like those used in many role-playing games. The uses o f these dice are covered elsewhere in the game rules.

REQUl RED MATERIAL In addition t o these rules, the Gamemaster wil l f ind it useful t o have

on hand such common items as pens and pencils, notebook paper, squaregrid graph paper, colored markers, and so forth. Additional dice are not required, but can speed up the flow of the game consider- ably. An electronic calculator is helpful in some calculations made during the course o f the game, especially in character creation.

USEFUL MATERIALS

As Freedom Fighters is set on Earth in the very near future, the Gamemaster may find it useful t o collect maps, particularly area street maps (such as those commonly put out by real estate offices, for ex- ample, or those available f rom your local city or town hall) of the area in which the adventures are t o be set. Miniature, figurines or card- board counters rnay come in handy in the resolution of combat. There are many other play-aids which can be collected and put t o use; as a general rule, anything which helps the participants t o visualize the action better or resolve situations faster should be used if it i s available.

DICE AND DIE-ROLLING CONVENTIONS Random chance plays an important part in the play of any game.

No matter how good someone is, there i s always the chance that he or she wi l l make a mistake; luck plays a key part in every aspect of everyday life. In the Game, luck is taken into account through the process o f die rolls.

Two basic sets of dice are used in the game. One set is the familiar six-sided dice common t o many games. The second set are 20-sided polyhedral dice, which can be used t o generate a variety of number combinations not possible through the use of standard dice.

Die throws may be called for at various points in the game. Such throws wi l l be of a type shown below. Abbreviations commonly used in the text are given, together w i th the explanation of what these abbreviations actually mean.

Abbreviation Throw D3

D6 D10

D20

Roll a six-sided die, and halve the result. Round fractions up. Range = 1 - 3. Roll a six-sided die. Range = 1 - 6. Roll a 20-sided die. Read the result as a number from 0 - 9. Range = 0 - 9 or 1 - 10, as needed. Roll a 20-sided die. One set of result numbers can be colored differently from the other to give two separate 0-9 ranges. (Read one as 1-10, the other as 11-20). Alternatively, roll a D6 together wi th the D20, as a 'control die'. If the control die i s 1 - 3, the result is 1 - 10. On a 4 - 6 control throw, the result is 11 - 20. As w i th the D10, the ranges wi l l de- pend on the situation. (Unless otherwise indicated, ranges for both types o f throw should be taken as 1 - 10 (or 11 - 20, for 20-sided dice.) Roll two 20-sided dice, reading the f i rs t die result of 0 - 9 as a tens digit, and the second d ie result of 0 - 9 as a ones digit t o produce a number from 01 t o 100. (Treat 00 as 100.) This is used any time percentage results are required.

DlOO

Multiple Dice: Frequently, more than one d ie o f a given type rnay be needed t o resolve a specific throw. In determining damage, for instance, two six-sided dice are thrown; in character generation, t w o D10 are made to determine attributes. The number of dice of any type which need t o be rolled for a given throw are given as part of the d ie abbreviation, so that 2D6 means a roll o f two six-sided dice, while 3D10 means that three D10 rolls are made. When the multiple dice

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are rolled, they are usually (but not always) added together as a result, EXAMPLES so that 206 give results from 2 to 12, 2D10 range from 2 t o 20, and Throughout these rules, examples are provided of how the game so forth. Exceptions t o this general procedure wil l be noted individ- system proceeds through the use of short discussions of the process in ually. irallics. These examples demonstrate various rules procedures, and

should be consulted any time there is uncertainty regarding how a rule is intended to function.

In Freedom Fighters, the focal point of all the game activities is the character. This chapter is devoted t o defining, creating, and devel- oping characters for use in the game.

1.1 CHARACTER CATEGORIES Four basic character categories may be encountered in the course

of Freedom Fighters adventures or campaigns. Player Characters are created and controlled by players. They are,

in effect, the 'heroes' of the story. A player-character i s the most complex form of character in the game, making use of all t he various aspects of the character generation rules. The term 'adventurers' is often applied to mean 'player-characters', as well.

Non-Player Characters, or NPCs, are major game characters con- trolled by the Gamemaster. I n creating an NPC, the Gamemaster follows almost all of t he steps involved in player-character creation, for these individuals are in many cases as important as the adventurers t o the course of the unfolding story, and details of their characteristics and abilities can be very important.

Extras are minor NPCs. They can be considered as 'cannon fodder', 'spear carriers', members of a crowd or incidentally encountered citizens of no particular interest or importance. The Gamemaster must s t i l l make several random rolls to create extras, but the process is much simpler than for regular characters, while minor variations in attributes are s t i l l allowed for. The GM needs t o develop specific areas of skill or expertise, bu t this can be handled piecemeal, as it becomes necessary. Many other aspects of character generation are ignored entirely.

1.1.1 ANIMALS A brief section on the generation of animal 'characters' i s encluded.

For the most part, these are pets or trained animals which might be encountered. They share some attributes with standard characters, and can interact fu l ly with them using the same rules, but they lack virtually every other aspect o f the characteristics discussed in this chapter. Like extras, they are drawn from a table, with some random rolls to allow variations.

1.2 CHARACTERS IN THE GAME This chapter details the creation and development of characters in

the game. The individual sections deal wi th specific aspects of these procedures. Character creation revolves around certain basic factors, described briefly below and in detail in seperate sections later.

BASIC ELEMENTS Before anything else is known about a character, certain key points

must be established. These are the foundations of the character creation process

Character Type tells whether the character i s a resistance fighter or an invader. Following this comes gender (male or female), and ethnic type, which tells something of the ancestry and appearance of the character. Finally, the character's age must be established. This i s the age the character wi l l be at the time the adventures begin. Older characters tend to have more experience, bu t lower attributes, than young ones.

Attributes: Attributes are elementary characteristics which define the essence of each character's abilities in the game. Three general areas are established for all characters: Physical Attributes, Mental Attributes, and Special Attributes.

There are five Physical Attributes: Strength, Stamina, Dexterity, Agility, and Health. Each regulates specific aspects of the character's performance in the game, and each is important in i t s own way.

There are also five Mental Attributes: Intelligence, Memory, Wit, Perception, and Will. Like the Physical Attributes, these influence the character's ability t o function in the game world, and have their own individual areas o f importance in the f low of the game.

Five Special Attributes are also set: Appearance, Charisma, Luck, Talents, and Motivations. Unlike the others, these Attributes are less frequently used in the game, being called upon only in special circum- stances.

Personality Traits: Characters are also given a set of ten Personality Traits which reflect the individual's attitudes and beliefs. These Traits include Ego, Sentiment, Greed, Ambition, Loyalty, Independence, Integrity, Adaptability, Stability, and Sophistication. They are used t o regulate a character's performance in the area of Verbal Interaction. In addition t o these Traits, a character's various Motivations may pro- vide special or unusual factors which wil l influence behavior.

Appearance: A character's appearance can be developed in some detail. Build, height, weight, and the color of skin, hair, and eyes can be established (with the first three having a definite application towards several game uses); the quality o f eyesight and hearing are also developed, as is the ctiaracter's handedness. Some of these are strictly optional, but go a long way towards establishing a character in the minds of the players.

Background: There i s no truth in the phrase 'all men are created equal', not when it comes to opporunities and abilities. A character's life i s largely shaped by his or her background, so that a poor ghetto k id and a wealthy country boy wil l have vast differences between them in experience, money, and potential for early achievement.

Various steps in the background process establish information on the character's birthplace, origins, social class, and family, and yield a number of 'benefit points' and other awards that help establish a pool of skills and resources.

It is fully possible for a character t o enter the game immediately out o f the background stage, bu t it is more usual t o undergo several years in the career process instead.

Careers: There are many different careers available, i t i s possible t o fit almost any imaginable job or hobby into the framework o f the game, thus producing characters from practically all walks of life. Characters enter a career, then resolve several steps on a year by year basis unti l they leave it voluntarily or are forced b y circumstances t o move on. In the meantime, each year, characters may undergo events, hazards, or special achievements, and have the opportunity t o acquire Skills, higher Attributes, money, rank, and many other types of bene- fits.

The career stage ends when the character reaches an age set for active adventuring at the beginning of the character creation process. When this is done, a final record of the character's abilities, benefits, and history can be filled out, and the character enters the game.

1.3 CHARACTER DESIGN - BASIC ELEMENTS To begin character generation, several initial steps are necessary.

Thes establish certain elementary parameters which determine a great deal about the character's later capabitities.

1.3.1 Allegiance Since this game revolves around a basic struggle between guerrilla

freedom fighters and a tyranny which has seized power over the nation, the obvious first step i s t o establish the basic loyalties of the character in question. Only two allegiances are possible: Government or Resister. There are 'neutrals' in the struggle - mostly citizens with no strong opinion one way or the other - but these are assumed t o be 'resisters' for purposes of character creation.

The government is dedicated to conquest and/or domination o f the country, and may include not only invaders but also native collab- orators, opportunists, and dupes who support them. Resisters are those who oppose the invasion, not only ordinary citizens, but also sym- pathizers among the ranks of the government.

It is the Gamemaster's task to decide basic allegiance of a character, since only the Gamemaster really knows the thrust of a planned adven-

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ture or campaign. For the most part, Player-Characters wil l probably be part of the resistance movement. It is possible, however, that the Gamemaster wil l wish to run an adventure which pits player-characters invaders against a hostile resistance. Such adventures can at least make for an interesting change of pace. So it is up to the Gamemaster to let the players know what sort of adventure i s planned, and thus what types of characters they wil l be running.

These basic rules deal only wi th the creation of citizens - be they resistance fighters or collaborators - of the United States (or most Western nations, with some adaptation. Though the basic rules for creating government characters are much the same, there may be sig- nificant differences in some instances which must be covered in spec- ific campaign books.

1.3.2 Gender Next to be selected is the gender of the character, either male or

female. This i s a choice left entirely up t o individual players, though a table i s provided for those items when random rolls seem appropriate.

Gender has a slight but significant impact on character abilities, and on the charcter's later potential for entering some career types. This is not t o be taken as chauvenism on the part of the game, but merely gives members of each gender their own strengths and weaknesses, and also reflects the real world's limits and potentials.

I CHARACTER GENDER

acters. I f a random roll is desired, use the table below, Players may always feel free t o select the gender o f their char-

Character Gender Table Die Roll Gender of Character 01-45 Male 46-00 Female

ETHNIC TYPES Roll on the Master Ethnic Type Table; i f indicated, make a sec-

ond roll on the appropriate subtable. Results on either roll can be modified at a cost of one Benefit Point per point of change on the die roll.

1.3.3 Ethnic Type This is used t o regulate certain key facts of background and appear-

ance. The statement that a character is o f a certain ethnic type does not necessarily mean that the character is of foreign birth, or even that his parents were foreign immigrants. A character of Germanic ethnic type could s t i l l trace his roots back to early Colonial America. What ethnic types does do, however, is indicate the most likely facets o f appearance (hair, eye and skin color), and also influence (but not ac- tually determine) the character's origins, social class, and family - all facts established later in the creation process.

It is up t o the player (or the Gamemaster) to determine what interpretation t o place upon the ethnic type result. (In playtest, for example, one memorable character of Vietnamese ethnic type, in his mid-twenties in 1991, turned ou t by the player's choice t o be a Vietnamese-American halfbreed, son of an American soldier. This decision led t o many other interesting developments of the character at later points of the process.) EXPLANATION OF ETHNIC TYPES

Most of the described ethnic types are fairly self-explanatory, but the notes below wil l help players grasp the meaning of specific choices available.

Caucasian: A white. There are eight possible subchoices under the general Caucasian heading.

Black: A character of black ancestry. Skin, eye, and hair color wi l l generally be dark. Black characters are often from the city, have a lower average social class, and larger families than white characters. There are no subchoices t o this ethnic type.

Asiatic: A character of Asian ancestry. There are six possible sub- choices under the general Asiatic heading.

Amerindian: A character of American Indian ancestry. Amerindians have a tendency t o dark hair and eyes and ruddy complexions, smaller families, rural origins, and slightly lower social class than the average. There are no sub-choices available to Amerindians.

Polynesian: A character of Hawaiian or other Polynesian ancestry. Dark hair and eyes again prevail, along with an olive skin tone. Poly- nesians tend t o have larger families than the average, and are more like- ly t o come from a rural setting, There are no subchoices available.

WASP: White, Anglo-Saxon Protestant. A subclass of the Caucasian type, the WASP i s basically the nondescript person of English/Western

3

European ancestry. The WASP tag covers the 'average' character. Hispanic: A character o f Spanish or Spanish colonial ancestry.

Spanish characters tend to more swarthy appearance, and are more likely t o be from larger families and/or lower social classes.

Slavic: A character of Eastern European ancestry, including Rus- sians, Poles, Czechs, Slavs, and many others. They share the tendency towards the darker hair, eyes, and skin of the Hispanics, and tend towards large families, but have a pronounced bias towards an urban origin.

Mediterranean: A character of south European ancestry, including Italians, Sicilians, Greeks, Turks, and similar groups. I n appearance, this group shares many characteristics in common with Slavs and Hispanics, have an even larger average family size and a less signif- icant urba . IC than the Slavic norm.

1 acter of Irish. Scots, or Welsh ancestry. Aopearance tends towards lighter complexions, red or blond hair, and lighter eye colors, wi th a slight leaning towards urban origins.

Germanic: A character of central European ancestry. The Germanic type leans towards very fair complexions -qd hair, and shows a slight bias to rural origins.

Nordic: A character of Norse (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) ances- t ry. The appearance characteristics are identical t o those of German ethnic types, bu t no pro-rural modifier is given.

Semitic: A character of Middle Eastern ancestry, including Arabs, Jews, and North Africans. This ethnic type tends towards a swarthy complexion with dark features, wi th a slightly larger family size than the average being usual.

Japanese: A n Oriental of Japanese ancestry. Families tend to be slightly larger, and an urban origin is most usual.

Chinese: An Oriental of Chinese ancestry. Families are usually even larger than the Japanese norm, the tendency towards urban origins i s more pronounced, and, in addition, a lower average social class is common.

Vietnamese: An Oriental of Vietnamese or other southeast Asian ancestry. Large families, urban origins, and lower social classes are all likely for such characters.

Korean: An Oriental of Korean ancestry. They share the other Asiatic tendencies towards larger families and lower social classes, but have less of a city-based bias.

Phillipine: A n Asiatic character of Phillipine or Malaysian ancestry. Phillipine characters do not share the appearance characteristic of most Orientals. They do, however, tend to the usual larger families, urban origins, and lower social classes common to other Asiatics.

Indian: Indian characters of Asiatic Indian ancestry, and, like PhiUipine characters, are not true Orientals. Smaller families and urban origin are the norm for such characters.

Celtic: h

ETHNIC TYPE TABLE: MASTER TABLE I Die Roll Character Appearance Family Origins Class l D l O O Ethnic Type Code DM DM D M

H -10 +15 -10 Amerindian

= See appropriate subtable.

I Ethnic Type Table: Caucasian I Die Roll Character Appearance Family Origins Class I Die Roll Character Appearance Family Origins Class I

I I I 42-49 Slavic B +10 -10 0 I

95-99 Nordic D 0 0 0 I I . -

I I 95-99 Nordic D 0 0 0 1

Semitic E +5

Ethnic Type Table: Asiatic I Die O0 Roll Character ADDearance Familv Ckiainc f1-m

+15 -10 -15 1 48 -55 Vietnamese F

I I

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