Introduction
Welcome to the first issue of STOCS3, an irregular newsletter
brought to you by those nice people at Wasteland Games (that’s us).
The newsletter is intended to be a forum for new ideas, both ours and yours,
for the STOCS lite system. In this issue we present some new and updated
rules for STOCS lite. All of these are optional but recommended.
Here at the Wasteland Games building we have numerous projects in production,
however what your likely to see in the near future is a book of short scenarios
for STOCS lite and a STOCS lite supplement that gives a first brush with
horrors contained within the Phase I game.
Character
Generation
Disability Level
The method for calculating DL in the rules gives relatively high values,
which helps player survivability. If you prefer a more gritty, dangerous
game in which the mere sight of a .22 derringer strikes fear into the hearts
of your players, use the formula presented below:
Disability Level (STR + CON) divided by 5
Skills
Something players and referees requested was a longer skill list. In making
the original skill list, it was hoped that players would ask what skills
the character might have, rather than looking at a skill list and seeing
what would be useful. There is a larger skill list within this booklet which
should hopefully satisfy most people. This list also contains some changes
and additions. Some of these changes are discussed on the next page.
Streetwise
This used to be known as Urban Survival and was a specialisation of
the Survival general skill. It is now in a more fitting place, the Criminal
general skill list. The usefulness of Streetwise depends on the game and
referee. It can be used to find drugs, illegal night-clubs, gambling houses,
help spot undercover cops, give knowledge of local gangsters and the names
of the big movers and shakers.
Contacts
This is a completely new skill, one which previously would have been
covered by quirks and character background. The higher the skill the more
useful the contact is in any given situation, i.e. this skill covers both
the contact’s willingness to help and their relative importance. For
example, a character with a 13 in Police contacts could either be an acquaintance
of a helpful Chief Superintendent or be best friends with a local bobby.
The specialisations cover the areas in which the character has the contacts.
A character with ahigh general skill would know people in all walks of life
and with some high specialisations (15+) would have some very high powered
friends.
The length of time and difficulty of obtaining a contact is up to the referee. If a character wants to get in touch with someone they know on the police force in order to ask them some questions about a case, it would be a Normal task with a time of perhaps only 1 hour. If they wanted to get someone on the police force to get them a copy of the current police files on a case, it could be a Hard roll with a time of 1 day. Getting hold of an arms dealer, an assassin or a top class forger could take a week and could be a Very Hard task.
Survival
The areas which this general skill covers have changed. Now only non-urban
environments are covered. This skill is a measure of how competent the character
is in the great outdoors.
In general, two types of specialisations are presented. Environmental skills such as Arctic, Jungle and Desert survival are used when trying to survive in these inhospitable areas. Jungle means knowing which vines produce drinking water and which snakes kill instantly. Desert Survival is used to set up sun stills and knowing where water might be found. Arctic survival involves staying warm, building snow caves and avoiding avalanches.
Secondly, specific outdoors skills such as Hunting are included. The use of these skills should be obvious.
Medical
In the past, Paramedic could be used to treat all eventually fatal
wounds. This meant that no-one ever found the need to go to hospital. Below
you’ll find some slightly more detailed rules that encourage players
to seek out professional medical care for their characters.
Now, a Paramedic task can only be used when stabilising CLASS I wounds (it can still be used to reduce AAM for any wound). It cannot be used to stabilise a CLASS II or CLASS III wounds. Two new skills are introduced: Surgery and Nursing. Surgery is used to stabilise CLASS II wounds and Nursing is used to treat CLASS III wounds. General Practitioner is used in its more traditional role; solving minor ailments, diagnosing diseases etc.
| Example: | Blood in the Jungle |
| Fred, fighting for truth an justice in some green hell-hole, takes a CLASS I wound. The medic treats him and reduces his wound to a CLASS II severity, giving him 1d10 hours to live. This is enough time for him to be medevacced by chopper to a field hospital where a surgery team can take over. His wound is now either a CLASS III (or he dies). If he lives, he gets shipped to a rear-area hospital and starts thinking about tea and medals. |
Research
This skill is used to find relevant information among a mass of files
or books.
Public Speaking
This covers speaking to and trying to change the opinion of large
groups of people. Court lawyers would be expected to take this skill as modern
justice tends to depend as much on a lawyer’s ability to charm a jury
as their knowledge of the law.
Quick Skill Purchase (Highly
Optional)
To speed up character generation players may instead choose skills as follows.
Select a desired skill specialisation and a level of proficiency, eg. Expert.
The player then pays the general skill cost in skill points and receives
both the general skill at the chosen level and the specialisation
at the same level. Any other specialisations in that general area may be
increased at a cost of one skill point per +1 increase in the specialisation.
For example, a player chooses Stealth at Expert, this costs 13 skill points
and gives a Physical level of 11 and a Stealth skill of 19. To add +3 to
the Perception skill would cost an additional 3 skill points.
Updated Skill List
| Skill List | Skill List | Skill List |
| Arts | Criminal | Social |
| -History | -Burglary | -Inter-personal |
| -Literature | -Forgery | -Bureaucracy |
| -Business | -Surveillance | -Public Speaking |
| -Law | -Pickpocket | -Acting |
| -Research | -Streetwise | |
| -Occult | -Disguise | Automobile |
| -Music | -Drive Car | |
| Contacts | -Ride Motorbike | |
| Languages | -Criminal | -Drive Truck |
| -French | -Police | |
| -German | -Business | Boat |
| -Spanish | -Government | -Sailing |
| -Legal | -Powerboat | |
| Sciences | -Conspiracy Theorists | -Jetski |
| -Computers | -Restaurant Trade | |
| -Biology | -Entertainment | Plane |
| -Physics | -Pilot Helicopter | |
| -Chemistry | Combat | -Pilot Light Aircraft |
| -Forensics | -Firearms | -Pilot Jet Aircraft |
| -Unarmed | -Pilot Large Aircraft | |
| Engineering | -Melee Weapons | |
| -Mechanical | -Heavy Weapons | |
| -Electronic | -Demolitions | |
| -Civil | ||
| Physical | ||
| Medicine | -Athletics | |
| -Paramedic | -Stealth | |
| -Surgery | -Perception | |
| -Nursing | -Skiing | |
| -General Practitioner | -Horse Riding | |
| -Psychiatrist | -Football | |
| Trades | Survival | |
| -Machinist | -Track | |
| -Electrics | -Forage | |
| -Carpentry | -Desert | |
| -Plumbing | -Hunting | |
| -Building | -Arctic | |
| -Gunsmith | -Jungle | |
| -Sculpture | -Fishing | |
| -Weaving | -Navigation | |
| -Animal Training | ||
| -Farming | ||
Combat
Scopes
Optical Scopes come in various magnifications, generally from 1X to
10X. Modern rifles such as the Steyr Aug and the G-11 are fitted with optical
sights with a 1.5X magnification. Most SA-80s are fitted with SUSAT optical
sights. Sniper rifles such as the M-40, used by the US marines, are fitted
with 10X sights.
Optical sights give a +5 bonus to hit but only if the firer has aimed one round. They are effective out to 100 metres times their magnification. For example, a 4X sight would be effective out to 400 metres. If a target is more than 400 metres away, then the +5 bonus is lost. Due to the tunnel visions aspect of optical sights, a -5 penalty is received if the target is 20 metres (or less) away.
Extra Damage for Aiming
(Optional)
This could mean a lot of extra deaths so be careful before bringing
this in. If a character aims at a target and hits it, the amount they made
the roll by is added to the damage inflicted.
Magnums
The recoil given for magnum rounds in the rules is extremely fluffy
and doesn’t fully represent the fairly hefty kick of these heavy pistol
rounds. Add 3 to the Recoil of magnum weapons to bring them vaguely in line
with reality.
Miscellaneous
Experience
Experience Points, as well as allowing players to increase their
character’s skills, can be used to give characters a bonus to tasks
during the game. Each Experience Point irretrievably thrown away can give
a +5 bonus to one skill roll. Experience Points can also be used to increase
general skills. The costs for increasing general skills is double (more or
less) the cost of specialisations so allowing players to increase them through
experience is approximately the same as increasing many specialisations.
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