They are readily available in the Archives, but since I've been an avid
fan of the series, setting, and articles here is the post:
Subject: [3e] GURPS Fallout conversion, part 6: the Environmental Hazards
Note: This is a fairly initial beta version of part 6. Comments
regarding the practical desert heat conditions and such would be
especially useful for me, as I am much more familiar with arctic
than desert survival.. So if you notice any missing detail or spot
a flaw, please do comment.
-Pauli
*************
*GURPS Fallout: the Environmental Hazards*
As if it were not enough that the wasteland is crawling with
hostile mutated organisms and merciless human scum, the environment
itself also poses several hazards for travellers not well enough
versed in survival skills.
After the nuclear exchange, there was a nuclear winter lasting for
a few years, causing a kind of man-made mini ice age over most of
the civilized world. However, after the nuclear winter, the climate
shifted permanently the other way - Many areas on the planet, like
most of the North American continent, became vast desert
wastelands, hot during the days and cool during the nights. Milder
climate zones got pushed further away towards the polar regions,
and this all occurred in the space of less than a decade..
Surviving a typical day in the north american wasteland
environment;
*Heat*
See GURPS Basic Set page 130 for the Heat rules.
A fairly normal peak desert temperature is +100 Fahrenheit
(+38 deg C), it is quite a bit more comfortable during the early
morning and night hours though. As described on Basic Set 3e page
130, roll against HT (or Desert Survival skill) to avoid losing
fatigue due to desert heat.
A likely HT roll scheme for a desert day;
Between 0900 and 1130 hours, roll versus HT five times
Between 1130 and 1430 hours, roll versus HT-1 six times
Between 1430 and 1630 hours, roll versus HT-2 four times
Between 1630 and 1900 hours, roll versus HT-1 five times
Between 1900 and 2000 hours, roll versus HT two times
* For every level of the Temperature Tolerance advantage, add
+1 bonus for these rolls (+2 bonus if the tolerance is only
versus heat, +0 bonus if the tolerance is only versus cold).
* For a more unfavorable situation, like walking outside in
an urban/ruined environment (lots of concrete and asphalt in
the surroundings increases the temperature), apply a -1 modifier
to the rolls.
* For comfortably resting in a good shade, add a +2 bonus and
roll only for the hottest hours between 1430 and 1630.
* A vehicle with functioning air conditioning, like the
Chryslus Motors Highwayman, can maintain a perfectly comfortable
temperature inside. There's no need for extra water supplies,
or Heat HT rolls as long as the AC unit works.
* A fast vehicle with exposed seats (like a motorcycle or
an open top) can provide enough air current for cooling the rider.
This means that there is no need to make the HT+0 rolls at all,
and the other HT rolls are made with a +2 bonus. (OTOH, using this
kind of a vehicle would give a penalty of -2 on any HT rolls
versus freezing, unless going very slow..)
* Choosing a travel route which stays close to a large body of
water like an ocean, lake or a large river evens out
the temperature quite a bit, giving a +1 HT bonus against heat of
the day, and this can also reduce the chances of getting lost on
the way due to inferior orienteering skills or poor quality maps,
at the potential cost of increased overall travel distance.
* Other modifiers for more favorable/unfavorable weather, winds
and the like are of course up to GM discretion.
Each failed roll causes 1 point of fatigue, untill FP
is down to 3, after which each failed roll will cause 1 HP of
actual damage. This heat damage can be reduced by increased water
consumption - Half quart of additional water used will reduce heat
based fatigue losses by 1 FP (no effect on actual HP damage). This
can mean that inexperienced desert travellers will need a caravan
trailer to carry enough water for a lengthy journey.
(Alternatively, it might be possible to find a comfortably cool
resting place, where it is possible to recover lost FP at
the normal resting rate.)
Optional: It is possible to simplify all of the daily heat
related rolls into just one roll, this can speed up gameplay
a lot. Roll vs. HT-2 and in case of failure multiply the margin
of failure by itself to get the amount of fatigue taken, maximum
heat damage being 22 points (Alternatively, player may choose
to roll every single roll after one failed roll for that day).
Sunburn can become a serious problem, if the traveler has skin
exposed to direct sunlight for hours - It is especially important
to wear a wide brimmed hat with a closed crown (or just wrap a rag
around the head), and a good loose clothing coverage can be a lot
better protection from the sun than sunblock.. An insufficiently
clothed caucasian takes D-3 HP of damage after being out in the
sun for most of a desert day. Toughness protects against sunburn
damage at full value. People with more pigmentation (darker skin)
can be practically immune to sunburn, but an albino might die in
a day or two from sunlight exposure, so thick clothing with total
coverage is highly recommendable in that case.
*Cold*
On a normal night, it does not get colder than 50 Fahrenheit
(10 deg C) in the north american wasteland. Assuming dry
environment, sensible clothing and fairly limited amounts of
windchill, this does not warrant any HT rolls due to coldness.
Most people without vehicles travel during the comfortable early
morning and night hours - that is, somewhere between 2000 and
0900 hours. Travelers with vehicles often choose to travel during
the day, simply because of the better visibility - they can see
where they are going, and thus can more readily avoid many
potential hazards of driving off-road.
*Weather*
Rainfall amounts have decreased notably after the climate change,
(even in the best places it usually rains only 200mm or so per
year, exception being coasts and edges of major mountain ranges)
but there is an occasional thunderstorm, especially near the
coastlines. Sandstorms are a fairly common occurrence inland,
especially during the driest seasons. Wearing eye protection and
breathing through a respirator (failing that, breathing through
a cloth is better than nothing) will usually bring the traveller
through a sandstorm unharmed.
*Starvation and Thirst*
These two are the number one killer in the postnuclear world.
Without these two basic resources people tend to die in a matter
of days, but many would rather fight and kill others and take their
food supplies instead of dying - This is one of the main reasons
behind the formation of many wasteland raider gangs, for them it
is simply a way to stay alive. Some of the most desperate savages
even resort to cannibalism, a practice widely condemned by human
societies.
An average adult human being needs three meals worth of food
daily (1.5 Lbs of food per day) and at least 2 quarts of water.
See the rules for 'Starvation and Dehydration' on Basic Set
page 128 sidebar.
*Radioactivity*
See GURPS Compendium 2 page 146 for Radiation Exposure rules.
It has been 88 years since the global thermonuclear war, this
means that radiation levels have for the most part normalized.
Only very localised pockets of lethal radiation remain, like
nuclear waste dumping sites, ruined nuclear powerplants and
the craters left by surface impacts of nukes. Of these,
the nuclear waste dumping sites are usually the most highly
radioactive places (frex, plutonium has a half life in excess
of 250 000 years, 88 years does just about nothing to
radiation levels of stuff like this).
Typical radiation levels right outside the primary crater of
a great war nuclear detonation (like in the leftover ruins of
a pre-war city) are mostly around 0.001 or less rads per hour.
Hard/smooth wind-swept surfaces like asphalt or building
roofs/exposed floors are always the least radioactive, while
soil and vegetation can still retain more radioactive particles
and are thus more radioactive.
Whereas a particularly nasty nuclear waste dump with numerous
broken barrels can give up to around 1000 rads/hour to anybody
foolish enough to actually wade through the brightly glowing ooze
wearing only rubber boots for protection. 'Glowing One' ghouls
sometimes like to take hot baths in places like this, though..
Some highly radioactive creatures, like Glowing Ones or Chimeras
inflict radiation damage in close combat. Rads inflicted this way
usually equal the ordinary unarmed damage rolled for the attack.
*Biohazards*
While most bioweapons (like Anthrax) last only 50 years,
superviruses like FEV can stay potent for very long times. Also,
some interspecies viruses (like the bubonic plague or bird
influenza) may find a plentiful carrier species, like mutated
rats, and survive indefinitely.. Getting bitten by a rat is never
a good idea - Most dangerous biohazards are usually spread by
mutated animal plague carriers.
Exposure to small concentrations of FEV virus is not too harmful,
as by now practically all lifeforms have developed a certain level
of resistance to it. Being immersed in the stuff still does change
people into supermutants, and combined exposure to both evaporated
raw FEV and radiation results in ghouls.
Also, serious wounds have a tendency to get infected, since
disinfectants or antibiotics are not always readily available
(although the dry desert environment is a lot safer in this
regard than a jungle would be). This is one of the main reasons
why warriors of the wasteland prefer armors with good overall
coverage instead of maximal protection of vital areas only. In
practice, all hit locations are vital in most post-nuclear combat
situations, just one hit getting through with a simple festering
spear can spell the doom of a fighter without decent limb armor..
*Chemical Hazards*
Many kinds of toxins besides just radioactivity were introduced
into the environment during the great war. Nobody bothered to
clean up the pollution afterwards. Some of the dangerous chemicals
were broken down to harmless compounds in the 88 years after the
war, but others were not.
Not all military bases were nuked. Some storage facilities were
left intact, just waiting for the foolish looters who could not
tell the difference between a persistent nerve gas mortar round
and a normal one.. It is a good idea to wear a respirator with
NBC filters when moving around a ghost town or abandoned ruins
of a military base. Also, if purity of watersource is in any
doubt, wise and often long-lived people prefer to take the time
to filter and boil it before consumption.
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