Ideas and Thoughts

Once more QMx studios made it! The full map of the Serenity humongus triple star system in on beautiful production with pleanty of information that can do any sci-fi roleplayer happy beyond any imagination. The map measures 25 x 38 inches and documents the location, relative sizes and names of the 215 terraformed worlds and moons, seven gas giants, seven protostars and five distinct star systems that comprise the star cluster known as The Verse.

People that bought it have nothing to say but good words for this collective item. Joss Whedon also stated that “this guide is more accurate than mine”, So I suppose it is a “gadget worth having”.

The price is rather reasonable and you can have it either z-folded or rolled. In order to get it visit the QMx Store here.

As mentioned in my previous post I am starting a small side project. Part of this project is of course research on the matter. I have started digging where else but wikipedia and of course my first search was “nuclear bomb” that led to “nuclear war” that became “cold war” and I’ve reached a subject about “civil defense“. Do you guys know what civil defense is? I was pretty amazed when I read about it since I thought it was just a concept in the Civilization series (there is a building called civil defense that protects your population in case of bombings), but that was not just that at all. It happens that during the Cold War the U.S goverment initiated a new department like police and fire fighters that was called Civil Defense or C.D. for sort. During the Cold War the civil defense of the United States of America published a series of brochures and books with advices on how to react in case of a nuclear attack before, during and after the detonation of a nuclear device, how to create and equip shelters in order to get protected from the fallout that follows and general precautions on the subject. Two of these publications was the official U.S. goverment “Survival under Atomic Attack” in 1950 and the “Fallout Protection” in 1961. Apart from these publications that are indeed a really cool thing to read even for fun, the Civil Defense also created an awesome movie called “Duck and Cover” that I believe that it’s also the source of the famous expression duck and cover!

So I am happy to present you the movie itself that it was distributed at that time in every school in the U.S! Enjoy!

The Rules

I remember way back when I was about 18 years old me and some friends of mine playing falloull Table top Role playing game and having so much fun. Today I have tried to find the remnants of this game online. I clearly remember that there was a PDF rulesbook with rules for the game. Of course I was REALLY happy to find an online version of Alternity’s Gamma World (click here to get it). I always loved Alternity and I thought that a good idea would be start converting Fallout III resources using Alternity’s rules. But this didn’t go as well as I thought it could. It seems that part of the Fallout magic is it’s own system. I will try to find the old PDF and I will add to this post if I get lucky.

The Setting

Ok, so far we know what happened to California and Washighton D.C. more or less, but what of the rest of the world. Fallout 3 talks about War Against Communism and the Annex of Canada, so it’s pretty much obvious that in the storyline the U.S. went in War with China (?), Russia and that there was a major front in Canada as well. But what about Europe, Africa, Saudi Arabia or even Australia, the setting of our beloved MadMax Trilogy.

The Project

I thought it would be interesting to start a project that it’s goal will be to create a post apocalyptic setting based on the Fallout saga mythos. So I will start a series of campaigns accompanied by some research on the subject. I wil be posting source material here when available

Blademaster

Role: Striker
Power Source: Martial
Key Abilities:
Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence

Armor:
Cloth, leather, hide, chail, scale, plate
Weapon:
SImple melee, military melee

Bonus to Defense:
+1 Fort, +1 Will
Hit Ponts at First level:
12 + Con
Hit points/level: 5
Surges: 6 + Con

Skills:
Insight plus 4 of the below
Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, Heal, Perception, Insight

Features:
Duelist, Blade Mastery, Fighting Style, Dedication
Duelist: As hunter’s Quarry
Blade Mastery: +2 with light and heavy blades. -2 to all other weapons
Fighting Style: as Ranger’s Two blade fighting style
Dedication: The Blademaster may not multiclass by any means of by any way

Powers:

At-Will
Sure Strike Blademaster Attack 1
You trade power for precision.
At-Will ✦ Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength + 2 vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] damage.
Increase damage to 2[W] at 21st level.

Twin Strike Blademaster Attack 1
If the first attack doesn’t kill it, the second one might.
At-Will ✦ Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Melee or Ranged weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding two melee weapons
Targets: One or two creatures
Attack: Strength vs. AC (melee; main weapon and off-handweapon), two attacks
Hit: 1[W] damage per attack.
Increase damage to 2[W] at 21st level.

Piercing Strike Blademaster Attack 1
A needle-sharp point slips past armor and into tender flesh.
At-Will ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding a light blade.
Target: One creature
Attack: Dexterity vs. Reflex
Hit: 1[W] + Dexterity modifier damage.
Increase damage to 2[W] + Dexterity modifier at 21st level.

Encounter Power level 1

Passing Attack Blademaster Attack 1
You strike at one foe and allow momentum to carry you forward
into a second strike against a second foe.
Encounter ✦ Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Primary Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you can shift
1 square. Make a secondary attack. 1 attack
Secondary Target: One creature other than the primary
target. 2 attacks
Secondary Attack: Strength + 2 vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Steel Serpent Strike Blademaster Attack 1
You stab viciously at your foe’s knee or foot to slow him down. No
matter how tough he is, he’s going to favor that leg for a time.
Encounter ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and the target is
slowed and cannot shift until end of your next turn.

Rain of Blades Blademaster Attack 1
Enemies surround you—much to their chagrin, as you slash them
to pieces with the ferocity of a wounded dire wolverine.
Encounter ✦ Martial,Weapon
Standard Action Close burst 1
Requirement: You must be wielding two melee weapons.
Target: Each enemy in burst you can see
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 1[W] + Strength modifier damage.

Passing Blades Blademaster Attack 1
Using the momentum from your enemy’s blow to fall back or slipto
one side, you make a sudden retaliatory attack as he stumbles
to regain his composure.
Encounter ✦ Martial, Weapon
Immediate Reaction Melee or Ranged weapon
Trigger: An enemy makes a melee attack against you
Attack: You can shift 1 square, then make a basic attack
against the enemy.
Special: Gain a power bonus to your basic attack roll equal
to your Intelligence modifier

Daily Powers level 1

Duel Blademaster Attack 1
You strike your enemy hard and hound him with skilled parries
and stern reprisals.
Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage, and you gain a+2 power
bonus to attack rolls and a +4 power bonusto damage rolls
against the target until the end of theencounter.
Miss: Gain a +1 power bonus to attack rolls and a +2 powerbonus
to damage rolls against the target until the end of the encounter.

Blade Finesse Blademaster Attack 1
You use your weapons to hedge in your foe and trick him into
exposing a weak spot, at which point you strike.
Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action Melee weapon
Requirement: You must be wielding two melee weapons.
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength vs. AC (main weapon and off-hand weapon),
two attacks
Hit: 2[W] + Strength modifier damage per attack.
Miss: Half damage per attack

Utility Powers Level 2

No Opening Blademaster Utility 2
You raise your weapon or shield to block an opening in your
defenses.
Encounter ✦ Martial
Immediate Interrupt Personal
Trigger: An enemy attacks you and has combat advantage
against you
Effect: Cancel the combat advantage you were about to
grant to the attack.

Unstoppable Blademaster Utility 2
You let your adrenaline surge carry you through the battle.
Daily ✦ Healing, Martial
Minor Action Personal
Effect: You gain temporary hit points equal to 2d6 + your
Constitution modifier.