Sample File the Roleplaying Game K

Sample file The Roleplaying Game K. Scott Agnew

2 Introduction Editor Richard Ford 6 Characters in the World of Jeremiah 31 Skills Internal Graphics Richard Neale

64 Feats CONTENTS Studio Manager 80 Equipment, Supplies & Trade Goods Ian Barstow 115 Combat Production Director 141 Vehicles Alexander Fennell 156 From the Ashes of the Old World Playtesting Elton Barbara, Mark Billanie, Adam Brimmer, 183 Character Development SampleAntoine file Buttigieg, Simon Galea, Kenneth Gatt, 207 Th e Environment Mark Gedak, Tammy Gedak, Daniel Haslam, Mark Howe, Kent Little, Alan Moore, Mark 230 Jeremiah Episode Guide Sizer, Daniel Scothorne, Michael J. Young

250 Character Sheet Proofreading 252 Index Ron Bedison, Jason Durall, Ashley Tarmin, Mark Quennell 256 License

Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game is trademark and copyright (c) 2004 Platinum Studios, LLC. All rights reserved. (c) 2004 Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Trademark and copyright (c) 2004 MGM Global Holdings Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of non-Open Game Content of this work by any means without the written permission of the publisher is expressly forbidden. Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game is presented under the Open Game License. See page 256 for the text of this licence. All gaming mechanics and statistics derived from the SRD within Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game are designated as open content. Printed in China.

1 INTRODUCTION

elcome to the world of Jeremiah, the world as it New to Jeremiah? is after the Big Death wiped out over six billion Not familiar with the television series Jeremiah? No Wpeople in six months. It is a bleak and sombre problem. Everything you need to know is contained world where children are forced to survive and mature within these pages. Section 11 – The Jeremiah Episode without the guidance and protection of adults. A world Guide will guide you, episode by episode, through the first where most technology is non-functional because there is two seasons of Jeremiah. nobody left to repair it. A world where brute force often dictates who leads and who follows. All that, and yet, it The comic Jeremiah, launched in 1977, is the creation of is still a world of hope. A world where a few individuals award-winning Belgian graphic artist Hermann Huppen. still try to make a difference and rebuild all that was good Published annually in large colour albums, Jeremiah has with the Old World. sold millions of copies worldwide and been translated into 26 languages. Jeremiah was developed for television by In short, it is a world that is in desperate need of heroes. Platinum Studios, which brought in acclaimed television That is where you, the Players, come in. How will you and comic book writer J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5, change the future? Will you strive to right wrongs and Crusade, Amazing Spider-Man, Rising Stars) to reinvent protect the weak or will you carve out your own destiny the concept for an American audience. The MGM-financed with your character seizing power wherever he may find TV series (the first European comic series ever adapted for it? television in the United States) debuted on Showtime in 2002. It is all in your hands. Everything you need to roleplay in the ashes of the Old World is here in this book. So stock In summary, the series stars Luke Perry and Malcolm-Jamal up on canned goods and get ready for adventure. Warner as Jeremiah and his pal Kurdy. These two live in a world devastated by a great plague. Not too far into our own future, the world is struck by a viral epidemic unlike anything seen before. The virus only affected those above the age of Sample file puberty; the children were unaffected. In less than six months, over six billion people were dead and the children were left to bury their parents and survive in a world wracked by riots and chaos. Over the following months and years, food and supplies dwindled. The lights went out all over the world as power plants went offline from lack of care and repair. Fast forward 15 years: most things are now running out. Working cars are rare, as gasoline supplies are now almost non-existent. In short, things are bad. People eke out a living any way they can. Raiders and marauders abound, taking 2 various vehicles operational. These rules are detailed in Dear Dad, the Vehicles chapter. It’s been 15 years since the Big Death wiped out everyone over the age of innocence. What You Need to Play The end of your world... the beginning of mine. To begin playing Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game, all you need is the following: what they need from those weaker than themselves. A few charismatic individuals have established various factions 1. One or more friends to begin playing with and exploring to control the dwindling resources available to them. Most Jeremiah’s world. are nothing more than brutal dictators and thugs but there 2. A character sheet photocopied from this book or are a few rays of hope left. Luckily, our onscreen heroes, downloaded from our website. Jeremiah and Kurdy, locate one of these groups, Thunder 3. A pencil, eraser and notepaper. Mountain. Will your characters strive to spread the hope 4. A full set of polyhedral dice. This includes a four- of a better tomorrow or will they succumb to the evils of sided die, a six-sided die, an eight-sided die, a 10-sided the world? It is all in your hands. die, a 12-sided die and a 20-sided die.

Veteran d20 Players Dice Notation For those familiar with other OGL games, you will notice These rules use the following die notations: some changes to these rules. We have made these changes to better reflect some of the aspects of the New World. • d4 = four-sided die The world through which Jeremiah and Kurdy travel is a • d6 = six-sided die dangerous one and changes were made to reflect this. • d8 = eight-sided die Introduction • d10 = ten-sided die Characters onscreen frequently get into dangerous • d12 = twelve-sided die firefights and the likely results are either serious injury • d20 = twenty-sided die or death. If characters get into frequent gun battles, they are not likely to live long. As it is in our own world, if d% = percentile dice. Rolling two different 10-sided dice someone is standing 10 feet from you, pointing a gun, you generates a number between 1 and 100. One (designated are unlikely to do something stupid. If you do, you are before rolling) is the tens digit. The other is the ones digit. going to be shot. Two 0s represent 100.

To that end we have altered both the hit point system and Die rolls are expressed in the format: armour class systems in this roleplaying game. Sample file [#] die type [+/– modifiers] Kenneth S. Hood’s well-thought-out Revised Grim-n- Gritty Combat System has been modified and adjusted Example: 3d6+2 means: ‘Roll three six-sided dice. Add for inclusion in Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game. This the result of the three dice together. Add 2.’ system is a much more realistic one than the traditional combat and hit point system found in other d20 and OGL Rounding Fractions games. For one thing, combat becomes much more lethal In general, if you wind up with a fraction, round down, as it should be in a world as dangerous as the one through even if the fraction is ½ or larger. which your characters will be travelling. This new combat Exception: Certain rolls, such as damage and hit points, and hit point system is fully detailed in the Combat have a minimum of 1. chapter.

While firefights and outright military battles do occur Multiplying in Jeremiah’s world, the real action in the series is the Sometimes a special rule makes you multiply a number or interaction between the characters. The actions of a single a die roll. As long as you are applying a single multiplier, individual can change the world and there will be ample multiply the number normally. When two or more opportunity to show your heroism without reaching for a multipliers apply, however, combine them into a single gun at every opportunity. multiple, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. Thus, a double (x2) and a We have also included new rules for vehicle combat. While double (x2) applied to the same number results in a triple vehicles are initially rare in this world, certain factions (x3, because 2 + 1 = 3). the players may encounter do have the resources to keep

3 Basic Task Resolution These rules assume a standardised system for determining the success or failure of any given task. That system is:

D20 + modifiers vs. Difficulty Class

The type of task determines the modifiers and Difficulty Class.

If the result of the d20 roll + the modifiers equals or exceeds the Difficulty Class, the test is successful. Any other result is a failure.

A ‘natural 20’ on the die roll is an automatic The Score of these Abilities ranges from 0 to infinity. success. A ‘natural 1’ on the die roll is an automatic Normal human range is 3 to 18. It is possible for a creature failure, unless the rules state otherwise. to have a score of ‘none’. A score of ’none‘ is not the same as a score of ‘0’. A score of ‘none’ means that the creature does not possess the ability at all. The modifier for a score What You Can Do of ‘none’ is +0. In Jeremiah – The Roleplaying Game, players assume the roles of characters within the post Big Death world of A character with a CON of 0 is dead. A 0 in any other score Jeremiah. They are the heroes and main characters in the means the character is helpless and cannot move. Keeping story. They are free to play as charismatic leaders,Sample brilliant trackfile of negative ability score points is never necessary. A ‘Brain Boys’ or vicious Thugs. Through their actions, the character’s ability score cannot drop below 0. characters are free to rise to greatness or fall into ruin; it is all up to them.

The Role of the Games Master On September 3rd, 2006, fi ve people died of unknown The Games Master is the narrator, the scriptwriter and causes in New Delhi, India. the director of the production. They portray the world in which the players adventure. The Games Master rules on By September 14th, ten thousand more had died. the actions of the characters, presenting the players with obstacles and challenges. By September 23rd, the Big Death had claimed over a million vict ims throughout India, Europe, Asia and the United States . Ability Scores Every character has six basic Ability Scores: The Big Death took the lives of everyone over the age of puberty. Strength (STR) Dexterity (DEX) By the end of the year, six billion people were dead. Constitution (CON) Intelligence (INT) Only the children remained. Wisdom (WIS) Charisma (CHA)

4 Ability Modiﬁ ers primarily in ranged attack rolls including firearms, bows Each ability will have a modifier. The modifier can be and shoulder-fired missiles. Perhaps most importantly, the calculated using this formula: Dexterity modifier is used in calculating the character’s Defence Value (see the Combat chapter for more details). (ability/2) – 5 (round result down) It is also used in Reflex saving throws and many skills such as Balance, Hide, Move Silently and Tumble. The modifier is the number you add to or subtract from the die roll when your character tries to do something related Constitution to that ability. A positive modifier is called a bonus and a Constitution represents your character’s overall health negative modifier is called a penalty. and stamina. The Constitution ability directly affects a character’s hit points and is therefore important to all character classes. If a character’s Constitution changes Ability Modiﬁ ers enough to alter his Constitution modifier, his hit points Score Modifier also increase or decrease accordingly at the same time. 1–5 Any living creature has at least 1 point of Constitution. 2-3 –4 The Constitution modifier also affects skills such as Concentration and Fortitude saving throws. 4-5 –3 6-7 –2 Intelligence 8-9 –1 A character’s intelligence represents how well he learns and 10-11 0 reasons. Any creature that can think, learn or remember has at least 1 point of Intelligence. The Intelligence 12-13 +1

modifier affects the number of languages the character Introduction 14-15 +2 knows as well as the number of skill points gained at each 16-17 +3 level. The Intelligence modifier also affects skills such as 18-19 +4 Appraise, Disable Device and Knowledge. 20-21 +5 Wisdom 22-23 +6 Wisdom describes a character’s willpower, intuition and 24-25 +7 common sense. As such, the Wisdom modifier is added to Will saving throws as well as affecting such skills as Heal, Use of Ability Scores Listen, Sense Motive and Survival. Any creature that can perceive its environment in any fashion has at least 1 point of Wisdom. Strength Sample file Any creature that can physically manipulate other objects Charisma has at least 1 point of Strength. Strength measures a Charisma is a measure of a character’s force of personality character’s physical power. As such, it limits the amount of and magnetism. Charisma is important in interaction with equipment a character can carry. The Strength modifier is other individuals and groups. It directly affects such skills used in melee attack roles and damage roles for both melee as Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate and Perform. Any creature and thrown-weapon attacks. Skills such as Climb, Jump capable of telling the difference between itself and things and Swim also use the Strength modifier in determining that are not itself has at least 1 point of Charisma. success. Dexterity Changing Ability Scores Any creature that can move has at least 1 point of Dexterity. Ability scores can increase to a maximum of 25; creatures Dexterity measures things such as agility, reflexes, other than human beings may have Ability Scores over hand-eye co-ordination and balance. A creature with 25 however, poisons, diseases and other effects can cause no Dexterity score cannot move. If it can act, it applies temporary ability damage. Ability points lost to damage its Intelligence modifier to initiative checks instead of a return naturally, typically at a rate of 1 point per day for Dexterity modifier. The creature fails all Reflex saves each affected ability. When an ability score changes, the and Dexterity checks. The Dexterity modifier is used modifier associated with that score also changes.