Bioshock: Deadly Waters (P.E.A.C.H.)

[Chronologist]

I: Introduction

Bioshock – Deadly Waters

(This game is intended for personal use only. Have fun, don’t try and sell it. It’s derived partially from both D&D Gamma World and the Bioshock games by 2K, so it’s a copyright nightmare.)

The year is 1969. The place, the underwater city of Rapture. Built and financed by Andrew Ryan, this underwater city lies somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean, a place where capitalism reigns like a bad Ayn Rand book. The divide between the rich and the poor is great in this city cut off from the surface.

The turning point was not a social uprising, but the discovery of Adam, a substance that can be used to rewrite a person’s genetic code. Strength, intelligence, beauty, all could be yours – for a price. And the price was great, for Adam was addictive, it fragmented the mind and drove the users insane. And society crumbled not with a whimper, but with a bang.

Before Jack arrived, before the fall of Rapture, you stand on the precipice of disaster. Will you use your wits and genetic modifications to survive and retain what’s left of your humanity? Or will the madness of Adam claim you and turn you into a crazed abomination?

Welcome to Rapture.

Table of Contents
I: Introduction
II: Attributes and Character Creation
III: Hit Points, Skills, Eve, Advancement, and Traits
IV: Combat, Uses for Eve (Genetic Recovery and Plasmid Overload)
V: Resting and Recovery, Gear and Money, Safe/Store/Invention items
VI: Saving Throws, Conditions, Bereft, Insanity, and Leveling Up
VII: Talents
VIII: NPCs
IX: Hazards and Game Mastering
X: Mastery Abilities

[Chronologist]

II: Attributes and Character Creation

The system of Bioshock: Deadly Waters functions on the same principles as D&D 4th edition, namely the Gamma World rues. Now, before you start to complain about 4th edition, this game also incorporates ideas and mechanics from 3.5 (namely skill ranks), and I think that it circumvents many of the flaws of 4E (slow combat, equivalent “classes”, leveled gear).

The game is intended to be Survival Horror. If your character feels safe, you should be very, very afraid. This is not a game of gaining tremendous power and fighting gods. This is a game where ammo is scarce, enemies are everywhere, and survival is definitely NOT assured.

The system is incomplete, I’m looking for P.E.A.C.H.ing as much as possible.

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Attributes are the following:

{table=head]Attribute|Benefit
Strength|Lets you wield bigger weapons, add to melee attack and damage
Dexterity|Adds to Reflex defense and ranged attack and damage
Constitution|Adds to Fortitude defense and Hit Points
Intelligence|Adds to Skill Points
Wisdom|Adds to Will defense and Eve pool
Charisma|Adds to Adam Resistance and Overload ability[/table]

Starting attributes are 16, 16, 14, 12, 10, and 8. You get a +2 bonus to any 3 of those attributes.

{table=head]Attribute|Modifier
8-9|-1
10-11|+0
12-13|+1
14-15|+2
16-17|+3
18-19|+4
20-21|+5
22-23|+6[/table]


Characters have a Fortitude, a Reflex, and a Will defense. When an enemy attacks one of your defenses, you roll your save against the Fortitude, Reflex, or Will value of the enemy.

Your Fortitude defense roll is your Constitution modifier + your level.
Your Reflex defense roll is your Dexterity modifier + your level.
Your Will defense roll is your Wisdom modifier + your level.

If your Defense roll is higher than the attack roll result of your attacker, the attack fails to affect you.

Against Melee attacks, characters may choose to roll Fortitude defense or Reflex defense. Against Ranged attacks, characters roll Reflex defense. Against Plasmids, characters roll the defense most appropriate for that plasmid (for example, Incinerate is avoided with Reflex defense).


Characters gain access to four Basic talent groups, and two Advanced talent groups which must be the evolution of talent groups they have access to.

{table=head]Talent Type|Basic Talent Group|Advanced Talent Group
Tonic (Str)|Physique|Augmentation
Tonic (Con)|Resistance|Recovery
Plasmid (Cha)|Elemental|Physics
Plasmid (Wis)|Biological|Security
Tech (Dex)|Vandalism|Robotics
Tech (Int)|Upgrading|Invention[/table]

Your Plasmid points = (Wisdom or Charisma modifier) + (level x Plasmid Talent groups)
Your Tonic points = (Strength or Constitution modifier) + (level x Tonic Talent groups)
Your Tech points = (Dexterity or Intelligence modifier) + (level x Tech Talent groups)

Talents are purchased and modified in Ranks. Use the following table to determine which rank your ability is currently at.

{table=head]Points|Ranks
1|Rank 1
2|Rank 2
3|
4|Rank 3
5|
6|
7|Rank 4
8|
9|
10|
11|Rank 5
12|
13|
14|
15|[/table]

Your maximum Rank is defined by your level. Level 1 can reach Rank 2, level 2 can reach Rank 3, level 5 can reach Rank 4, and level 8 can reach Rank 5. You can invest more points into a Talent, up to the maximum before it ascends to another rank.

Each time you use a Talent, you lose 1 point invested in it. Always round up to determine which Rank the effect is currently at. So, a talent with 4 points in it is rank 3.

[Chronologist]

III: Hit Points, Skills, Eve, Advancement, and Traits

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Hit Points: All characters start out with a number of hit points equal to 18 + their Constitution score. At each level thereafter, they gain 6 hit points + their Constitution modifier.

Skill Points: All characters gain skill points equal to 4 + their Intelligence modifier at each level. All skills are available to all characters. Skills with ranks gain a +3 bonus to checks, but any character can make any skill check even if untrained. The skills are as follows:

{table=head]Skill|Attribute|Use to…
Acrobatics|Dexterity|Balance, jump, or tumble
Athletics|Strength|Push, throw, swim, or climb
Deception|Charisma|Convince others you are telling the truth when you are not
Endurance|Constitution|Hold your breath, keep running, or stay awake
Engineering|Intelligence|See if you know about or can fix hardware
Initiative|Dexterity|Act faster in combat
Insight|Wisdom|Tell if someone is lying to you or get gut feelings
Investigation|Wisdom|Search areas for clues or items, make logical deductions
Medicine|Intelligence|Know about human and animal anatomy, apply first aid
Perception|Wisdom|Perceive your immediate surroundings, see hidden things
Persuasion|Charisma|Get people to listen to your honest arguments
Science|Intelligence|Know chemistry and physics, get more out of Eve Hypos
Society|Charisma|Know about important places, people, and events
Stealth|Dexterity|Hide from enemies or security cameras
Technician|Intelligence|Know about the software side of technology[/table]

Skill checks are d20 + ranks + attribute +- modifiers

Eve Points: Each day, your character gains a number of Eve points. These represents depths of their internal reserves, and can be used to quickly recover uses of Plasmids and other abilities. You gain a number equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier at every level.

Attribute Bonuses: A character gain a +1 bonus to 3 attributes of their choice at level 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.

At 1st level a character gains 2 traits of their choice from the list below. At 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th level, your character gains an additional trait. They cannot take the same trait twice.

At 3rd level your character gains access to an additional Basic talent group.

At 5th level your character gains Mastery over a single Basic talent group they have access to.

At 7th level your character gains access to an additional Advanced talent group.

At 9th level, your character gains Mastery over a single Advanced talent group they have access to.

Traits

{table=head]Trait|Benefit
Educated|You gain 2 additional skill points at every level
Tough|You gain 6 additional hit points, and 2 more at each level past 1st.
Deep Reserves|You gain 1 additional Eve at every level
Hard to Kill|You gain a +2 to Fortitude defense and DR 2/weapons
Resilient|You gain a +2 to Will defense and DR 2/plasmids
Evasive|You gain a +2 to Reflex defense and take no secondary Reflex damage
Trained|You gain a +2 bonus to two skills of your choice
Precise|You gain a +1 to hit with all of your attacks
Heavy Hitter|You gain a +2 to damage with all of your attacks
Fleet of Foot|You gain a +1 to base speed
Persistent|The DC of your Saving Throw effects increases by 2.
Resistant|You gain a +1 to all Saving Throws
Focused|You gain a +3 bonus to a skill of your choice[/table]

[Chronologist]

IV: Combat, Uses for Eve (Genetic Recovery and Plasmid Overload)

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Combat

In combat, you have 3 actions – a Standard Action, a Move action, and as many Minor actions as you want. Actions let you do the following:

Standard: Attack an enemy, Use a Plasmid, Take a Move action, Use a Med-Kit, Use an Eve Hypo, Reload a weapon

Move: Move up to your speed (default speed is 6), Draw or holster a weapon, Partially reload a weapon

Minor: Activate a Gene Tonic, Attempt to Overload, Drop a held item, Speak

When you attack with a melee weapon you roll your Level + your Strength modifier against their Reflex defense. If you hit, you deal damage equal to your weapon’s dice roll + your Strength modifier, plus any bonuses from plasmids.

When you attack with a ranged weapon you roll your Level + your Dexterity modifier against their Reflex defense. If you hit, you deal damage equal to your weapon’s dice roll + your Dexterity modifier, plus any bonuses from tech powers.

When you attack with a plasmid, you roll your level + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier, whichever the plasmid uses, against the defense your Plasmid attacks. If you hit, you deal damage equal to what your Plasmid’s Rank inflicts (or whatever other condition the Plasmid inflicts on its target). Remember that your Plasmid loses a point AFTER you finish attacking with it.

Reloading a weapon lets you fully reload all of the bullets/projectiles/ammo that your gun can hold. Partially reloading a weapon means reloading it enough for one attack roll.

Uses for Eve Points

A player can spend Eve points to gain an additional die when rolling an attack roll, damage roll, skill check, or saving throw. The die rolled depends on how many Eve points you spend.

{table=head]Points|Die Type
1|1d2
2|1d4
3|1d6
4|1d8
5|1d10
6|1d12[/table]

Eve dice are always exempt from the “exploding dice” rule with damage dice.

Eve can also be used for two other purposes: Genetic Recovery and Plasmid Overload

Genetic Recovery allows a character to recover expended points in their Gene Tonics or Plasmids. Select a single Talent that has been used, then you spend Eve points equal to the number of points in that talent you want to recover, up to the maximum number you invested in that talent that day. Talent Recovery takes 1 minute of rest to perform, and each time you use it each day on the same plasmid or gene tonic, it costs 1 more Eve per point to recover, cumulatively. So, use Genetic Recovery Wisely!

Plasmid Overload is a risky move that lets a character make one of their Plasmids far more power for a single use. The character chooses a single plasmid, and a Rank they want that plasmid to operate at for this round. Spend that many Eve points, multiply the difference by 5, add the Rank you’re trying to reach, and make a Charisma check against that DC. Whether or not you succeed, you immediately make an attack with that Plasmid at the rank you have temporarily elevated it to. A character may spend additional Eve points when making the Charisma check to gain additional dice, decreasing her odds of injury.

Boosting a Plasmid to a level beyond how you’ve prepared it is risky. However, going past your limits can be even more dangerous. If the rank you’re trying to boost to is not available to you at your current level, increase the DC by 5, you have to spend an additional Eve point, and you lose 2 points from your talent instead of the normal 1.

When a character fails an Overload check, she receives either mental or physical damage. She must declare in advance if she intends to suffer a physical or mental effect from the Overload.

{table=head]Roll|Mental|Physical
Success|No ill effects|No ill effects
1 to 4|-1 to Overload and Charisma checks (1 hour)|Take 1 hit point per Rank Overload damage (1 hour)
5 to 9|-2 to Overload and Charisma checks (2 hours)|Take 2 hit point per Rank Overload damage (2 hours)
10 to 14|-4 to Overload and Charisma checks (4 hours)|Take 4 hit point per Rank Overload damage (4 hours)
15 to 19|Confused for 1 minute, plus above|Knocked Unconscious, plus above
20+|Driven permanently Insane|Dead[/table]

Overload damage is caused internally by Plasmid backlash, and as such cannot be recovered until enough time has elapsed. It can incapacitate characters for periods of time, but never kill them. That requires failing by 20 or more.

[Chronologist]

V: Resting and Recovery, Gear and Money, Safe/Store/Invention items Incomplete)

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Resting and Recovery

Characters can rest and recuperate by sleeping for 8 hours, which heals all damage and recovers all points invested in Talents.

Using a First Aid Kit heals a character equal to the Kit’s rating times the character’s Medicine skill check. So, a character with Medicine +5, a First Aid Kit (x0.5), rolling 14 for 19, would heal 9.5 hit points rounded down, or 9 hit points.

Using an Eve Hypo lets the character recover Eve Points equal to the Hypo’s rating times the Science skill check. So, a character with Science +8, an Eve Hype (x0.3), rolling 17 for 25, would recover 7.5, or 7 Eve points.

A character can go to a Gene Bank and pay to recover Talent points. It costs a flat fee per Talent Point (usually 1$ per), and sometimes the Gene Bank can be broken for an Eve Hypo.

A character can also go to a Health Station and pay to recover hit points. It costs a flat fee per Hit Point (usually 1$ per 3 hit points), and sometimes the Health Station can be broker for a First Aid Kit.

Gear and Money

Equipment weighs a negligible amount, assume that everything you aren’t holding is in a bag on your back. You can carry a number of objects equal to your Strength score, above that your speed is halved and you take a -2 to Reflex defense.

Armor generally trades Reflex defense for damage reduction versus either Plasmids or Weapons, sometimes a little of both. As you get to higher levels, you should be able to find or buy better gear.

Equipment in Rapture is exponentially more expensive based on its effectiveness. So, a clip of 12 Pistol rounds that deal 1d6 damage might cost 6$, ones that deal +1d6 damage to armored targets would cost 24$ per clip, explosive rounds that deal +3d6 damage to unarmored organics might cost 96$ for the clip – 8$ per round!

Remember that money values are largely useless unless at a well-stocked Circus of Values or Ammo Bandito. As such, money is expressed in 1$ bills, 5$ bills, and 20$ bills.

Weapons have damage values and strength requirements. If you don’t meet the strength requirement, you take a -1 penalty to attack for every 2 points you are different by. So, a strength 9 character using a strength 16 tommy gun takes a -4 to hit.


Basic Melee Weapons

{table=head]Name|Strength|Damage|Critical Range
Knife|8|1d4|20
Butterfly Knife|9|1d4|19-20
Wrench/Pipe|10|1d6|20
Hatchet|11|1d6|19-20
Club|12|1d8|20
Short Sword|13|1d8|19-20
Medium Axe|14|1d10|20
Long Sword|15|1d10|19-20
Large Pipe|16|1d12|20
Deadly Blade|17|1d12|19-20
Huge Club|18|2d8|20
Huge Axe|19|2d8|19-20
Awesome Blade|20|2d8|18-20[/table]

Ranged Weapons

{table=head]Name|Strength|Damage|Critical Range
Derringer|8|1d4|20
Concealed Pistol|9|1d4|19-20
Pistol|10|1d6|20
Crossbow|12|1d6|18-20
Sawed-off Shotgun|13|1d8|19-20
Shotgun|14|1d10|20
Submachine Gun|15|1d10|19-20
Machine Gun|16|1d12|20
Chemical Thrower|18|2d8|20
Grenade Launcher|20|2d10|20[/table]

Base Ammo Costs

1d4 – 1$ for 3
1d6 – 1$ for 2
1d8 – 1$ each
1d10 – 3$ for 2
1d12 – 3$ each
2d8 – 9$ for 2
2d10 – 9$ each

For melee weapons, assume each one is good for about 25 strikes, so to figure out purchase value, find out the cost for 15 rounds of ammo that does the same damage. So a weapon that does 1d8 damage would cost about 15$, and last for about 25 strikes before it starts to break.

Most weapons hold enough ammunition for 2-6 rounds of firing before they must be reloaded.


Plasmids v.s. Tonics v.s. Tech talents

Plasmids are Active abilities. You have to spend talent points to use them, and it takes a standard action.

Tonics are a mix of Active and Passive abilities. They give a small passive benefit, and a much larger one if you spend Talent Points.

Tech are Passive abilities. You invest your talent points, and they stay invested until you rest.

Unless otherwise noted, Tonics apply to melee weapons, and Tech applies to ranged weapons.


Safe and Store Items by Rarity (incomplete)

{table=head]#|Common|#|Uncommon|#|Rare
1|Medical Kit (0.5)|1|Medical Kit (0.75)|1|Medial Kit (1.0)
2|Eve Kit (0.3)|2|Eve Kit (0.45)|2|Eve Kit (0.6)
3|6 Pistol Rounds|3|3 Pistol Rounds (Org +1d4)|3|1 Heatseeker Grenade
4|4 Shotgun Buck|4|3 Pistol Rounds (Arm +1d4)|4|1 Proximity Mine
5|20 Machine Gun Ammo|5|2 Grenades|5
6||6|50 Chem. T. Ammo|6
7||7|2 Crossbow Bolts|7
8||8||8
9||9||9
10||10||10
11||11||11
12||12||12
13||13||13
14||14||14
15||15||15
16||16||16
17||17||17
18||18||18
19||19||19
20||20||20[/table]

Invention Items by Type (incomplete)

{table=head]#|Biological|#|Chemical|#|Physical
1|Chlorophyll Solution|1|Alcohol|1|Brass Tube
2|Enzyme Sample|2|Battery|2|Empty Hypo
3|Raw ADAM|3|Distilled Water|3|Rubber Hose
4|Spider Splicer Heart|4|Glue|4|Screw
5||5|Kerosene|5|Shell Casing[/table]

[Chronologist]

VI: Saving Throws, Conditions, Bereft, Insanity, and Leveling Up

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Saving Throws

Certain plasmids, weapons, and other abilities have secondary effects, from lighting you on fire to controlling your actions in battle. Whenever a condition would affect you, you must make a level check D20 + defender level vs. 11 + attacker level +- condition modifier So, for example, you (level 2) use Incinerate Rank 2 (Ignite -1) against a level 1 enemy. They have to roll d20+1 and match or beat a 12, so they need to roll an 11 to resist the effect.

Each time you make a saving throw against the same condition, you take a -2 penalty to saving throws against that condition until you fail your save. If you are currently suffering a condition, you take a -2 to saves to resist gaining that condition. In addition, the first time each day a character or NPC makes a save against a particular condition, they take a -4 penalty to that save.



Conditions

Ignite: You light on fire, taking persistent fire damage each round. Being covered in kerosene, wearing flame-retardant armor, or dousing yourself in water can grant you bonuses or penalties to your saving throw.

Immobilized: You are frozen to the ground, unable to move, but still able to take combat actions. You lose your move action that round.

Stun: Only applies to organic targets, you are shocked and lose your standard action that turn. Some targets may also lose their move actions. Targets in water suffer higher damage and condition chance (usually between 10% and 30% better chances, depending on the quantity and immersion of water).

Disable: Only applies to mechanical targets. The target loses its standard action, and falls out of the air if possible.

Push: You are moved away from the Push source a certain number of squares. If you hit a solid object, every 2 squares you moved deals 1d6 damage to you and to the object, which may break it.

Pull: You are moved towards the Pull source a number of squares. If you hit a solid object, every 2 squares you moved deals 1d6 damage to you and to the object, which may break it.

Launch: You are thrown up into the air directly, taking 1d6 damage per 2 squares you fall, and 1d6 additional damage per 2 squares if you hit a particularly hard boject on the way up.

Confused: You act erratically, attacking the nearest target regardless of whether they are friend or foe. For all intents and purposes, all other targets are enemies to you while you are confused.

Dominated: You follow the directions of the user of Dominate, essentially the user spends a Standard Action to force you to make a Standard and Move action.



Character Option : Bereft

Bereft characters have access to no plasmids, gene tonics, or tech abilities. They survive with good old fashion survival skills and being tough mother****ers.

Bereft characters start with 24 + 3xCon hit points, 6 + Int skill points, and an additional 2 Eve per rest. They also start with three Traits instead of two. They also gain an additional Trait at every level past 1st, instead of just at every even level past first. Bereft also gain a +1 bonus to any 3 attributes at every level.

At 4th level, a Bereft may take any Trait twice. At 7th level, they may take any Trait three times. At 10th level, they may take any Trait four times.

At 5th level, a Bereft deals an additional 1d6 damage with all weapons he wields. At 9th level, this improves to 2d6.


Adam and Insanity

As a character gains more and more plasmids, and splices up with more Adam, they begin to lose more of themselves. Coupled with “confined environment psychology”, this leads to increased anger, bipolar disorder, and spontaneous acts of violence.

Whenever a character encounters a stressful situation, they must make a Charisma check in order to keep their cool. While Wisdom may represent a character’s resistance to outside influences on their mind, Charisma represents their ability to maintain their own personality and control of their faculties.

Characters with low charisma may suffer from delusions, impacting their ability to fight properly for short (or long periods of time), and often have psychological outbursts after ingesting Adam. Characters with moderate charisma are able to keep roughly stable and sane all the time, though they still have issues when gaining Adam. Characters with high charisma can often use their insight into their Plasmids to learn additional information about people, places, or things, and are nearly immune to Adam overdoses.

Generally, the effects of Adam Insanity are up to the DM to adjudicate, which may lead to a more traditional RPG experience, a highly horror-oriented game, or something in between.


Adam and Leveling

All characters begin the game with access to all Plasmids from their Talent Groups, with as many prepared as they can fuel with their points. All other plasmids are accessible only through Gene Banks. They also start with no Adam. Adam is spent at Gatherer’s Gardens in order to level up. It costs a number of point of Adam to level up equal to your current level times 100. Adam is addictive and thus splicers require more and more Adam to level up. Bereft require only to face 10 equal level challenges to level up, and carry no Adam. In general, PCs should find Adam form encounters equal to the number of player characters times the level of the encounter times 10. So, four level 5 player characters defeating a CR4 encounter should find 160 Adam. Adam does not necessarily need to be split evenly among party members, it can be stolen and looted until spent.

[Chronologist]

VII: Talents

Gene Tonics

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Physique

Sports Boost: You don’t have to be faster than the bad buy – just faster than your friend! Move faster, Use to gain bursts of speed when you need them.
Rank 1 - +1 speed, Use for +2 speed
Rank 2 - +2 speed, Use for a Move action, Use for +3 speed
Rank 3 - +2 speed, Use for a Move action, Use for +4 speed
Rank 4 - +3 speed, Use for a Standard action, Use for +5 speed
Rank 5 - +3 speed, Use for a Standard action, Use for +6 speed

Wrench Jockey: Buff out and take your enemies head on with Wrench Jockey! Deal more damage overall, Use for even more in a pinch.
Rank 1 - +1 melee damage, Use for +2 melee damage
Rank 2 - +1 melee damage, Use for +3 melee damage
Rank 3 - +2 melee damage, Use for +4 melee damage
Rank 4 - +2 melee damage, Use for +5 melee damage
Rank 5 - +3 melee damage, Use for +6 melee damage

Wrench Lurker: Use tactics and allies while hitting weak points! Use to generate an opportunity attack.
Rank 1 - +1d2 Opportunity damage, Use to generate Opportunity (Str -2 vs. Fort)
Rank 2 - +1d4 Opportunity damage, Use to generate Opportunity (Str -1 vs. Fort)
Rank 3 - +1d6 Opportunity damage, Use to generate Opportunity (Str -0 vs. Fort)
Rank 4 - +1d8 Opportunity damage, Use to generate Opportunity (Str +1 vs. Fort)
Rank 5 - +1d10 Opportunity damage, Use to generate Opportunity (Str +2 vs. Fort)


Augmentation

Human Inferno: Ignite your skin to deal extra fire damage to enemies with your melee attacks! Use to have a chance of lighting them on fire.
Rank 1 - +1 fire damage, Use for Ignite 1 (-2)
Rank 2 - +1 fire damage, Use for Ignite 2 (-1)
Rank 3 - +2 fire damage, Use for Ignite 3 (-1)
Rank 4 - +2 fire damage, Use for Ignite 4 (-0)
Rank 5 - +3 fire damage, Use for Ignite 5 (-0)

Frozen Field: Shroud yourself in bitter cold to deal extra cold damage to enemies with your melee attacks! Use to have a chance of freezing them solid.
Rank 1 - +1 cold damage, Use for Immobilize (-6)
Rank 2 - +1 cold damage, Use for Immobilize (-4)
Rank 3 - +2 cold damage, Use for Immobilize (-2)
Rank 4 - +2 cold damage, Use for Immobilize (-1)
Rank 5 - +3 cold damage, Use for Immobilize (-0)

Electric Flesh: Turn yourself into a walking Tesla coil, dealing extra shock damage with your melee attacks! Use to have a chance of stunning enemies or disabling electronics.
Rank 1 - +1 shock damage, Use for Disable/Stun (-6)
Rank 2 - +1 shock damage, Use for Disable/Stun (-5)
Rank 3 - +2 shock damage, Use for Disable/Stun (-4)
Rank 4 - +2 shock damage, Use for Disable/Stun (-3)
Rank 5 - +3 shock damage, Use for Disable/Stun (-2)


Resistance

Armored Shell: Harden your skin, resisting physical damage! Use to reflect some incoming damage back at your opponent.
Rank 1 – DR 1/ weapon Use Reflect 2 Weapon damage
Rank 2 - DR 1/ weapon Use Reflect 4 Weapon damage
Rank 3 - DR 2/ weapon Use Reflect 6 Weapon damage
Rank 4 - DR 2/ weapon Use Reflect 8 Weapon damage
Rank 5 - DR 3/ weapon Use Reflect 10 Weapon damage

Elemental Retort: Increase your tolerance to plasmid and elemental damage! Use to reflect some of that damage at your attacker.
Rank 1 – DR 1/plasmids Use Reflect 2 Plasmid damage
Rank 2 - DR 1/plasmids Use Reflect 4 Plasmid damage
Rank 3 - DR 2/plasmids Use Reflect 6 Plasmid damage
Rank 4 - DR 2/plasmids Use Reflect 8 Plasmid damage
Rank 5 - DR 3/plasmids Use Reflect 10 Plasmid damage

Indomitable: Become a bastion of defense! Use to gain an extra boost to a saving throw.
Rank 1 – +1 to one defense Use +1 to a saving throw
Rank 2 - +1 to two defenses Use +2 to a saving throw
Rank 3 - +1 to all defenses Use +3 to a saving throw
Rank 4 - +2 to one defense, +1 to two defenses Use +4 to a saving throw
Rank 5 - +2 to two defenses, +1 to one defense Use +5 to a saving throw


Recovery (round up)

Bloodlust: Keep fighting even when knocked unconscious! Use to drain health or eve on a successful melee attack.
Rank 1 – Ferocity 1 round Use Drain 1d4 health OR Drain 1 Eve
Rank 2 - Ferocity 2 rounds Use Drain 1d4 health OR Drain 2 Eve
Rank 3 - Ferocity 2 rounds Use Drain 2d4 health OR Drain 2 Eve
Rank 4 - Ferocity 3 rounds Use Drain 2d4 health OR Drain 3 Eve
Rank 5 - Ferocity 3 rounds Use Drain 3d4 health OR Drain 3 Eve

Eve Saver: Have more Eve points than ever before! Use to recover more Eve from an Eve Hypo.
Rank 1 – +1 Eve per 2 levels Use Rating of Eve Hypo used increases by (0.15)
Rank 2 - +1 Eve per level Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.3)
Rank 3 - +3 Eve per 2 levels Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.45)
Rank 4 - +2 Eve per level Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.6)
Rank 5 - +5 Eve per 2 levels Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.75)

Medical Expert: Have more health than ever before! Use to recover more hit points from a first-aid kit.
Rank 1 – +1 hit point per level Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.25)
Rank 2 - +3 hit point per 2 levels Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.5)
Rank 3 - +2 hit points per level Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (0.75)
Rank 4 - +5 hit points per 2 levels Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (1.0)
Rank 5 - +3 hit points per level Use Rating of Medkit used increases by (1.25)

Plasmids

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Elemental

Incinerate: Light your foes on fire, with a chance of more fire damage over time!
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Cha vs. Reflex
Rank 1 – Use 1d8 + Cha fire damage, and Ignite 2 (-2)
Rank 2 - Use 1d8 + 2xCha fire damage, and Ignite 2 (-1)
Rank 3 - Use 2d8 + 2xCha fire damage, and Ignite 4 (+0)
Rank 4 - Use 2d8 + 3xCha fire damage, and Ignite 4 (+1)
Rank 5 - Use 3d8 + 3xCha fire damage, and Ignite 6 (+2)

Winter’s Grasp: Blast your enemy with cold, potentially freezing them solid!
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Cha vs. Fortitude
Rank 1 – Use 1d6 + Cha cold damage, and Immobilize (-4)
Rank 2 - Use 1d6 + 2xCha cold damage, and Immobilize (-2)
Rank 3 - Use 2d6 + 2xCha cold damage, and Immobilize (+0)
Rank 4 - Use 2d6 + 3xCha cold damage, and Immobilize (+1)
Rank 5 - Use 3d6 + 3xCha cold damage, and Immobilize (+2)

Electrobolt: Fire lightning from your fingertips. It has a chance of stunning people or disabling electronics.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Cha vs. Reflex
Rank 1 – Use 1d6 + Cha shock damage, and Disable/Stun (-4)
Rank 2 - Use 1d6 + 2xCha shock damage, and Disable/Stun (-2)
Rank 3 - Use 1d6 + 2xCha shock damage, and Disable/Stun (+0)
Rank 4 - Use 2d6 + 3xCha shock damage, and Disable/Stun (+1)
Rank 5 - Use 2d6 + 3xCha shock damage, and Disable/Stun (+2)


Biological

Insect Swarm: Send a swarm of bees at your foe. The swarm does additional damage over time.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Wis vs. Fortitude
Rank 1 – Use 1d3 + Wis physical damage, and Ongoing 2 (+0)
Rank 2 - Use 1d3 + 2xWis physical damage, and Ongoing 4 (+1)
Rank 3 - Use 2d3 + 2xWis physical damage, and Ongoing 6 (+2)
Rank 4 - Use 2d3 + 3xWis physical damage, and Ongoing 8 (+3)
Rank 5 - Use 3d3 + 3xWis physical damage, and Ongoing 10 (+4)

Enrage: Confuse your enemies so they cannot tell friend from foe. Chaos will ensue.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Wis vs. Will
Rank 1 – Use Confuse (-2)
Rank 2 - Use Confuse (-1)
Rank 3 - Use Confuse (0)
Rank 4 - Use Confuse (+1)
Rank 5 - Use Confuse (+2)

Hypnotize: Force an enemy to do your bidding. As long as it lasts, you lose your Standard action to force them to take a Standard and Move action.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Wis vs. Will
Rank 1 – Use Dominate (-4)
Rank 2 - Use Dominate (-3)
Rank 3 - Use Dominate (-2)
Rank 4 - Use Dominate (-1)
Rank 5 - Use Dominate (+0)


Physics

Sonic Boom: A short-range blast of sound and compressed air. Knock enemies into each other or off of ledges!
Range 1 + ½ Rank
Cha vs. Fortitude
Rank 1 – Use 1d8 + Cha, and Push 1
Rank 2 - Use 1d8 + 2xCha, and Push 2
Rank 3 - Use 2d8 + 2xCha, and Push 3
Rank 4 - Use 2d8 + 3xCha, and Push 4
Rank 5 - Use 3d8 + 3xCha, and Push 5

Telekinesis: Throw an object at an enemy, or push something away from you, or pull it towards you. The possibilities are endless.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Cha vs. Will
Rank 1 – Use 1d6 + Cha physical damage, OR Push 2 OR Pull 2
Rank 2 - Use 1d6 + 2xCha physical damage, OR Push 4 OR Pull 4
Rank 3 - Use 2d6 + 2xCha physical damage, OR Push 6 OR Pull 6
Rank 4 - Use 2d6 + 3xCha physical damage, OR Push 8 OR Pull 8
Rank 5 - Use 3d6 + 3xCha physical damage, OR Push 10 OR Pull 10

Cyclone Trap: Throw an enemy into the air, dealing damage when they land, or launch them upwards into a low obstacle, dealing significant damage.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Cha vs. Reflex
Rank 1 – Use Launch 2 (1d6 physical damage) OR Impact (1d8 + Cha)
Rank 2 - Use Launch 3 (1d6 physical damage) OR Impact (1d8 + 2xCha)
Rank 3 - Use Launch 4 (2d6 physical damage) OR Impact (2d8 + 2xCha)
Rank 4 - Use Launch 5 (2d6 physical damage) OR Impact (2d8 + 3xCha)
Rank 5 - Use Launch 6 (3d6 physical damage) OR Impact (3d8 + 3xCha)


Security

Security Bullseye: Tag, you’re it! Alert a security drone to the target, which appears at the end of your turn and attacks them. At 2nd and 4th rank, summon an additional drone (up to 3 total).
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Rank 1 – Use Security Alert (+0)
Rank 2 - Use Security Alert (+1)
Rank 3 - Use Security Alert (+2)
Rank 4 - Use Security Alert (+3)
Rank 5 - Use Security Alert (+4)

Decoy: Create an illusionary double of yourself! Enemies have a chance of attacking the double instead of you! Reflect sends ¼ of the damage back at the enemy, Absorb heals you ¼ of the incoming damage.
Range 4 + 2 x Rank
Rank 1 – Use 1 round Decoy (25%)
Rank 2 - Use 2 round Decoy (25%), Reflect (25%)
Rank 3 - Use 3 round Decoy (50%), Reflect (25%)
Rank 4 - Use 4 round Decoy (50%), Reflect (25%), Absorb (25%)
Rank 5 - Use 5 round Decoy (75%), Reflect (25%), Absorb (25%)

Scout: Astral project yourself from your body for a number of rounds. While projected, you are invisible to enemies and security cameras, but you cannot walk through objects, are slowed down as normal by obstructions, and cannot physically interact with the world. At 2nd rank and above, you can use a limited number of Talents while using Scout. If you take damage while using scout, it ends and you return to your own body. Once you use scout, you cannot do so again for 1 minute.
Range 40 + 20 x Rank
Rank 1 – Use 1 round invisibility
Rank 2 - Use 2 rounds invisibility, 1 talent
Rank 3 - Use 3 rounds invisibility, 2 talents
Rank 4 - Use 4 rounds invisibility, 3 talents
Rank 5 - Use 5 rounds invisibility, 4 talents

Tech Talents

Spoiler

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Vandalism

Safecracker: You gain additional chances of finding items in safes, and greater chances of finding items of Uncommon and eventually Rare quality.
Rolls equal to Dex modifier
Rank 1 – Chances: Common Item (50%)
Rank 2 - Chances: Common Item (50%), Uncommon Item (50%)
Rank 3 - Chances: Common Item (75%), Uncommon Item (50%)
Rank 4 - Chances: Common Item (75%), Uncommon Item (50%), Rare Item (25%)
Rank 5 - Chances: Common Item (75%), Uncommon Item (50%), Rare Item (50%)

Security Evasion: You gain a bonus to saving throws against Security Alert and the detection abilities of cameras. At later ranks, you gain a chance of automatically hacking security bots, cameras, and turrets whenever you attempt to do so.
Rank 1 – +2 Save versus Security Alert
Rank 2 - +4 Save versus Security Alert, Autohack (25%)
Rank 3 - +6 Save versus Security Alert, Autohack (50%)
Rank 4 - +8 Save versus Security Alert, Autohack (75%)
Rank 5 - +10 Save versus Security Alert, Autohack (100%)

Vending Expert: You gain additional chances and better chances at finding additional items in broken-down vending machines.
Rolls equal to Dex modifier
Rank 1 – Chances: Common Item (50%)
Rank 2 - Chances: Common Item (50%), Uncommon Item (50%)
Rank 3 - Chances: Common Item (75%), Uncommon Item (50%)
Rank 4 - Chances: Common Item (75%), Uncommon Item (75%)
Rank 5 - Chances: Common Item (100%), Uncommon Item (75%)


Robotics

Camera Ally: You have the ability to set up a single security camera, taking as many rounds as your Construct ability. It functions as a Camera with a Challenge Rating equal to the Talent Rank.
Range 1 + ½ Rank
Rank 1 – Construct 10
Rank 2 - Construct 8
Rank 3 - Construct 6
Rank 4 – Construct 5
Rank 5 - Construct 4

Turret Ally: You gain the use of a single Security Turret, which you can place in any square adjacent to you as a move action (and pick up as a standard action). You must direct its fire as a standard action on your turn. Construct represents how many rounds it takes to make a new bot if the one you have is broken. It otherwise functions as a Turret with a Challenge Rating equal to the Talent Level.
Range 4 + 2xRank
Rank 1 – Construct 10
Rank 2 - Construct 8
Rank 3 - Construct 6
Rank 4 – Construct 5
Rank 5 - Construct 4

Securi-Bot Ally: You gain the use of a single Security Bot to aid you in battle. The bot acts independently of you, but you must spend a Standard action in order to grant it a Standard action (it has a free Move action each round regardless). It otherwise functions as a Security Bot with a Challenge Rating equal to the Talent Level.
Range 1 + ½ Rank
Rank 1 – Construct 10
Rank 2 - Construct 8
Rank 3 - Construct 6
Rank 4 – Construct 5
Rank 5 - Construct 4


Upgrading – You can spend a full-round action to switch the benefits of your current upgrade, or upgrades.

Elemental Effect: You can upgrade all weapons you carry with the chance of elemental effects, so long as they are on your person. If you drop them or lend them to another character, they lose all benefits until you regain them and spend a full-round action recalibrating.
Rank 1 – Immobilize (-6) OR Ignite 2 (-4) OR Disable/Stun (-6)
Rank 2 - Immobilize (-5) OR Ignite 3 (-3) OR Disable/Stun (-5)
Rank 3 - Immobilize (-4) OR Ignite 4 (-2) OR Disable/Stun (-4)
Rank 4 - Immobilize (-3) OR Ignite 5 (-1) OR Disable/Stun (-3)
Rank 5 - Immobilize (-2) OR Ignite 6 (-0) OR Disable/Stun (-2)

Customization: You can upgrade all weapons you carry with additional mundane effects, so long as they are on your person. If you drop them or lend them to another character, they lose all benefits until you regain them and spend a full-round action recalibrating.
Rank 1 – +2 physical damage OR +50% maximum clip size OR +50% range
Rank 2 - +3 physical damage OR +100% maximum clip size OR +75% range
Rank 3 - +4 physical damage OR +150% maximum clip size OR +100% range
Rank 4 - +5 physical damage OR +200% maximum clip size OR +125% range
Rank 5 - +6 physical damage OR +250% maximum clip size OR +150% range

Elemental Damage: You can upgrade all weapons you carry with additional elemental damage, so long as they are on your person. If you drop them or lend them to another character, they lose all benefits until you regain them and spend a full-round action recalibrating.
Rank 1 – +1 fire damage OR +1 cold damage OR +1 shock damage
Rank 2 - +2 fire damage OR +2 cold damage OR +2 shock damage
Rank 3 - +3 fire damage OR +3 cold damage OR +3 shock damage
Rank 4 - +4 fire damage OR +4 cold damage OR +4 shock damage
Rank 5 - +5 fire damage OR +5 cold damage OR +5 shock damage


Invention

Makeshift Explosive: You can create small explosives with mundane equipment you find lying around. You can have up to 2 on you at a time, and you can make two more as a full-round action. If you have Upgrading talents, then you may add the benefits of those talents to your grenades.
Range 4 + 2xRank
Burst 1, Clip of 2, Full Round Reload
Is augmented by Upgrading,
Rank 1 – 1d6 + Int physical damage
Rank 2 - 1d8 + Int physical damage
Rank 3 - 1d10 + Int physical damage
Rank 4 - 2d6 + Int physical damage
Rank 5 - 2d8 + Int physical damage

Clever Inventor: Whenever you create two or more items at a U-Invent station, you make additional items of the same kind.
Rank 1 – Get 3 items whenever you make 2
Rank 2 - Get 4 items whenever you make 2
Rank 3 - Get 5 items whenever you make 2
Rank 4 - Get 6 items whenever you make 2
Rank 5 - Get 7 items whenever you make 2

Material Scrounger: Whenever the DM rolls randomly to determine the kind of material (biological, chemical, physical) you find, you gain a chance of choosing the category of that material. At later levels, you gain the chance of rerolling the material gained. You can reroll multiple times for the same material.
Rank 1 – Choose Material Type (50%)
Rank 2 - Choose Material Type (50%), Reroll Material (50%)
Rank 3 - Choose Material Type (75%), Reroll Material (50%)
Rank 4 - Choose Material Type (75%), Reroll Material (75%)
Rank 5 - Choose Material Type (100%), Reroll Material (75%)

[Chronologist]

VIII: NPC Creation

Spoiler

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NPCs are more easily created and run than player characters. The following rules serve as guidelines for how to create NPCs in Bioshock: Deadly Waters.

NPCs do not have attributes like player characters, they only have three. Each of these attributes functions like a combination of two attributes for player characters.

- Might (Strength and Constitution) is added to the NPC’s Fortitude value, melee damage, and hit points.
- Smarts (Dexterity and Intelligence) is added to the NPC’s Reflex value, ranged damage, and initiative.
- Power (Wisdom and Charisma) is added to the NPC’s Will value, plasmid damage, and eve points.

There are four classifications of enemies – Minions, Standard, Elite, and Solo. For the purposes of challenge, four Minions are equal to one Standard, two standard are equal to one Elite, and four standard are equal to one Solo. A standard enemy is an appropriate challenge for a single player character.

Challenge Rating, abbreviated as CR, rates the difficulty of the enemy. Higher CR than a player entails a more difficult fight, lower CR means an easier fight. Remember, however, that any and all enemies can prove deadly, even weaker ones.

Fortitude is the “to hit” value with Fortitude attacks, as well as the value the NPC uses for melee attacks. Reflex is the same with Reflex and ranged attacks, Will is the same with Will and plasmid attacks.

{table=head]Attribute|Minion|Standard|Elite|Solo
Hit Points|1 + Might|8 + 1d6|20 + 2d6|50 + 4d6
HP per CR|+1|+4 + Might|+10 + 2xMight|+25 + 4xMight
Eve Points|1 + Power|0|0|0
EP per CR|+1|+2 + Power|+3 + Power|+4 + Power
Fortitude|8 + Might + CR|10 + Might + CR|12 + Might + CR|14 + Might + CR
Reflex|8 + Smarts + CR|10 + Smarts + CR|12 + Smarts + CR|14 + Smarts + CR
Will|8 + Power + CR|10 + Power + CR|12 + Power + CR|14 + Power + CR
Stats|+2 / +1 / +0|+3 / +2 / +0|+4 / +3 / +1|+5 / +4 / +2
Skills|1 + Smarts|3 + Smarts|4 + Smarts|5 + Smarts
Primary Talents|0|1|1|2
Secondary Talents|2|1|2|2
Elite Powers|0|0|1 + 1/3 CR|2 + ½ CR[/table]

Skill checks are always with a bonus of CR + 1 + relevant stat, as the DM adjudicates.

Talent groups are slightly simplified. Each primary talent group lets a character select a talent group and gain access to two Talents of their choice. Secondary talent groups let a character select only one talent from that group. Those talents have a number of points invested equal to the NPC’s CR + their relevant ability modifier. Might adds to Gene Tonics, Smarts adds to Tech Tonics, and Power adds to Plasmids.

NPCs cannot select Advanced Talents unless they have access to its Basic Talent, just like characters. Recurring enemies can change their assigned Talents at a Gatherer’s Garden so long as they stay within those guidelins, and can use Recover and Overload.

Some NPCs have different stats than the norm. Increasing one stat reduces the other two stats by 2.


Elite Powers are special abilities that Elite and Solo enemies possess, that allow them to tackle multiple players without being overwhelmed. In lieu of an Elite Power, an NPC may instead gain two Traits.


Extra Attack: You gain a second attack action each turn, which suffers a -2 penalty to hit, regardless of type.

Rend: Requires Extra Attack. When you hit a single target with the same attack twice in a single turn, you deal additional damage to that enemy equal to your normal damage plus your relevant attribute (i.e. Might for melee attacks).

Augmented Defense: You gain a +2 to all of your defense values.

Hard to Kill: Choose Plasmids or Physical. You take 5 less damage from all of those sources. You can take this power twice, once for each option.

Accurate: You gain a +2 with all of your attack values

No Drain: Choose a Plasmid or Gene Tonic talent group. You can only Use those talents up to once per round, but the points never drain.

- More Elite Powers to come

[Chronologist]

IX: Hazards

Spoiler

Show

Hazards

Every 15 minutes of play, or whenever a player rolls a natural 1 on a die, the Game Master rolls for a Hazard. Hazards come in many forms, but they are all disadvantages that the players must deal with. A hacker finds a safe heavily encrypted, a climbing character’s footholds crumble, or another enemy joins the battle.

Whenever a Hazard would be gained, the DM rolls 1d6. If he gets a 2 or higher, it is a Minor Hazard, if he rolls a 1 it is a Major Hazard. When rolling Minor Hazards, roll 1d10 and add the relevant character’s level. For Major Hazards, you roll 1d20 and add the relevant character’s level.

Hazards are divided into 4 different categories. The DM chooses the Hazard category before rolling any dice. Usually, the category should be select based on what the character in question is currently doing. For example, rolling a 1 while fighting result in a Physical hazard, rolling a 1 while jumping might require an Environment hazard.

Hazards do not need to be inflicted immediately, the DM is allowed to “save” them for later use, especially if the result would not otherwise make sense in context with the current scene. However, once a DM inflicts a saved hazard on a player, they cannot inflict any more saved hazards on that player for 15 minutes or until that player rolls a 1, whichever comes first.

Physical hazards can inflict a penalty to Acrobatics, Athletics, Endurance, or Initiative checks. They can reduce melee attack rolls and fortitude saves. They almost exclusively generate groups of enemy reinforcements. Additional damage is added onto enemy attacks.

Mental hazards can inflict a penalty to Engineering, Medicine, Science, or Technician checks. They can reduce ranged attack rolls and reflex saves. They usually create puzzle challenges, locked doors, security drones, and some mechanical traps. Damage usually comes form traps.

Social hazards can inflict a penalty to Deception, Insight, Persuasion, or Society checks. They can reduce plasmid attack rolls and Will saves. They create social challenges and intrigue. Damage comes from plasmid backlash and the occasional backstab from a previously trusted ally.

Environment hazards can inflict a penalty to Investigation, Perception, or Stealth checks. The situational nature of environment can inflict a penalty to any sort of roll, but the enemies take ½ the penalty to their next similar action (examples are conver, falling rocks, etc.). Challenges come from environmental challenges, investigation, and stealth situations. Damage simply comes from the crumbling infrastructure of Rapture.


{table=head]Result|Effect
2|-1 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
3|Challenge Rating 1 Encounter or Skill Challenge
4|2d6 damage
5|-2 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
6|Challenge Rating 2 Encounter or Skill Challenge
7|3d6 damage
8|-3 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
9|Challenge Rating 3 Encounter or Skill Challenge
10|4d6 damage
11|-4 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
12|Challenge Rating 4 Encounter or Skill Challenge
13|5d6 damage
14|-5 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
15|Challenge Rating 5 Encounter or Skill Challenge
16|6d6 damage
17|-6 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
18|Challenge Rating 6 Encounter or Skill Challenge
19|7d6 damage
20|-7 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
21|Challenge Rating 7 Encounter or Skill Challenge
22|8d6 damage
23|-8 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
24|Challenge Rating 8 Encounter or Skill Challenge
25|9d6 damage
26|-9 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
27|Challenge Rating 9 Encounter or Skill Challenge
28|10d6 damage
29|-10 penalty to next relevant Skill check or Combat Roll
30|Challenge Rating 10 Encounter or Skill Challenge[/table]

Baselines approximations for the difficulty of skill challenges to come soon

Game Mastering Guide: To be Completed

[Chronologist]

X: Mastery Abilities

To be Completed

The design concept of Mastery abilities is fairly simple. They grant 3 benefits.

1) They grant a passive bonus to the character, either damage reduction, better skill checks, or something else small and comparable to a Trait.

2) They let the character spend Eve points to give an additional benefit to the Talents in that talent tree.

3) They let the character spend Eve points to give an additional benefit to the Talents in trees of the same category.

Example: Elemental Mastery
Benefits
Elemental Expertise: You gain a +1 to defenses against Elemental effects, +1 to saving throws to resist elemental effects, and +1 to attack rolls with Elemental plasmids.
Nova: You can spend Eve points to target multiple nearly enemies with your Elemental talents. Each additional target must be within 3 squares of the primary target, and costs 2 Eve to affect with your Plasmid. You cannot spend more Eve than you level in this way.
Elemental Charge: Whenever you use a non-Elemental Plasmid, you can spend a Point of Eve to add 1d6 elemental damage of your choice to the effect.

[radmelon]

I'm a big fan of the bioshock series, and am glad to see that someone is trying to make a tabletop rpg out of it. I'm a little leery of the 4e influences, but other than that, it looks pretty good. Two things, however: One, the abilities have fairly sparse descriptions, could you please add a littlemore detail? Also, as it is there is no rules for making NPCs, so that'll need to be done before it's playable. Other than that, however, this game looks really nice. I'm interested to see where you're going with it.

[Chronologist]

The 4th edition influence is pretty much limited to having Fortitude, Reflex, and Will defense instead of saves. I know some people prefer to roll for their own defense, so I'm willing to make it an active roll with enemies having a flat to hit value and defenses. There's no healing surges, no simplified skill checks, and no At-Will/Encounter/Daily powers.

Listing for the abilities will be fleshed out as soon as I find the proper descriptions. Where possible, I'm trying to make them sound like advertisement blurbs from the game.

NPC rules will be completed shortly, probably after I finish working on the Mastery abilities. I really should have reserved another post or two, now I might have to consolidate all of the talent groups into one post and use the other two for NPCs and other information.

Most NPCs are built just like characters, but with fewer talent trees. For example, a Spider Splicer is usually a level 3 character who focuses on the Physique talent tree. In contrast, the Big Daddy is built like a Bereft, none less than 5th level, and given custom heavy-hitting weapons.

4th edition concepts like Minions, Elite, and Solo will be used as well to denote particularly hard enemies. For example, Big Daddies are ALWAYS Solo enemies. Striker, Defender, Controller, and Leader are not used, they're too simplified anyway.

Expect more information posted soon. I'm also looking for specific criticisms and comments, so feel free.

[radmelon]

Sounds good! If you really need to reserve more posts, I can delete mine and repost them if it really becomes an issue. I'm excited about this project. One of the few games where I enjoyed being a melee specialist.

[Chronologist]

I think I'll be okay with posts. As soon as I have NPC guidelines and examples set up, I'll fold the all 12 Talent trees into 3 Spoilers in the same section. I intentionally took more posts than I felt I needed just in case.

From a design standpoint, I wanted every style of play in Bioshock: Deadly Waters to function differently than what you get in most d20 games.

Melee characters tend to have the most options in combat, since they can both spend points from their Gene Tonics and they gain passive benefits while points remain invested in said tonics. This makes melee combat the most complex from a tactical standpoint - they have to balance benefits now with benefits later, since it's generally hard to recover Eve points and thus recharge their tonics.

Ranged characters have versatility, but can't deplete their talents like other users. That makes them more consistent over the long run than other characters, but less powerful in a tight spot. They require more finesse than other builds, and deal a lot more with resource management and out-of-combat skills than other characters.

Plasmid users are the most powerful attackers, but their abilities deplete the fastest and don't give any benefit when not active. They also have the option to Overload plasmids, risking health and sanity to unleash even more powerful ranks. They retain versatility by having access to utility Plasmids form their various talents, plus higher Charisma means reduced effects of Adam.

Bereft are also an option, especially for players that prefer brute force tactics and don't want to have to deal with Adam addiction.



Another element I'm going to be including soon is the notion of Hazards. Hazards are essentially unfortunate turns of events that make the party's lives more difficult. Maybe a pipe bursts and cold water starts to fill the room. Maybe a spider splicer turns the corner and the party has to hide from them. Perhaps the ally the group's been traveling with decided to backstab them at an inopportune moment.

So far, the general guidelines is that a Hazard check is made whenever a player rolls a natural 1 on a die, every 15 minutes a Hazard hasn't been drawn, or (for more malicious DMs) whenever a character meta-games or speaks out of character.

Hazards are about 50% skill checks (the splicer might require a Stealth check to avoid), 40% unfortunate accidents (bursting pipe might inflict 1d6 Cold damage), and 10% cruel twists of fate (betrayal of ally). Hazards are also ranked by effective level, so the DM should roll on the most appropriate table based on the party (or individual).

[radmelon]

From what I've seen so far, CHA is ridiculously vital for splicers, a check required every combat or so to avoid going crazy, as per the 'ADAM and insanity' rule. Unless the DC's are relly low, CHA will be necessary for all characters, which reduces party variety.

[jojolagger]

I've looked this over, will do a more detailed write up in a bit. The main thing I notice is that a Level 2 Bereft can have two ability scores at 20.
I'll provide a more detailed write up later (when I have more time.)

[Chronologist]

Failing a charisma check at the start of combat does not cause Splicers to instantly go crazy. Insanity is generally more slow and subtle. A splicer who critically fails a massive Plasmid Overload CAN go crazy, but the player would have to be very desperate and unskilled for that to happen. I should have posted more specific rules for insanity, but I figure a competent DM can adjudicate imposing certain delusions or phobias, similar to the World of Darkness rules. In general, though, insanity should be temporary and moderate in its effects.

Bereft CAN have two ability scores at 20 at level 2. At level 1, most characters will have two ability scores at 18 anyway, so a +1 modifier above the norm doesn't exactly compensate for the Bereft's crippling lack of plasmids, gene tonics, and tech abilities. Bereft get their real power from gaining more Traits than other characters and being able to take the same Trait multiple times at certain levels, unlike other characters. Depending on how you build him, a Bereft can easily have twice or three times the hit points of any other characters, far more Eve, more skill points, better raw defenses, better attack rolls etc.

Anyway, a Bereft can have a maximum of two 28s in two attributes, where other characters can have up to 23. The +3 attribute modifier is a noticeable difference, especially with defense and attack rolls, but the Bereft will almost always do less damage than other characters and have far fewer options.

[Grimsage Matt]

just wonderng what the scale of crafting will be like. Because, while still using no plasmids, Tonics or Tech powers, you could; Poison weapons, create ammmo and gernades, rig traps, add effects to weapons, make entirely new weapons, make medikits, repair weapons/armor..... It goes on. And besides, allways good to be the non crazy medic/mechanic in the group. Heck, just have a few Berefts with crossbows, some barricades and a hydroponics bay and WHAM. They can make new ammo, improve it, and don't have to worry about ADAM insanity.

[Chronologist]

Basic crafting will be limited to repairing equipment with the Mechanics skill, and fixing wiring and computer equipment with the Technical skill. Grenades are a specific Talent. Some grenades, special ammo types, and med-kits are all found equipment. Additional equipment, especially rarer kinds, can be crafted by characters with the requisite Tech talents. Otherwise, the character does not know what to do with the items. You can compare the Tech crafting talent to magic item feats, you have it or you don't.

The nature of Rapture as a setting would limit the ability of players to "bunker down" and produce something like a hydroponics bay. With splicer attacks, the degrading integrity of the city, and the finite nature of most resources, players will mostly be traveling between several "hub" locations and exploring/scavenging derelict parts of the city.

Augmenting ranged weapons is covered by several Tech skills, there's no feasible way to add permanent special effects otherwise. Tech abilities represent Adam augmentation to a person's intelligence and technical capabilities in specific, quantifiable ways. They're like Savants, they know how to do specific things very well (like make a weapon fire elemental shots, or how to make a larger clip for their gun), but the knowledge is granted by Adam, not ingrained skill. Tech tonics can cause Adam insanity just like Plasmids and Gene Tonics.

Bereft specifically have to survive with whatever equipment they or their allies find, and whatever their allies can craft (should they have an ally who CAN craft). They can't make elemental weapons, since that's the purview of Tech talents. They CAN occasionally find special ammo like Exploding Buck for a shotgun, or anti-personal rounds for a pistol, but otherwise Bereft don't have the insight from Talents to craft complex items, regardless of how intelligent they might be.

[jojolagger]

Level 1

Spoiler

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Plasmid
HP 19 Eve 8(+1) Melee Attack +0/-1, Ranged Attack +4/+3
Stats: STR 8 DEX 16 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 18 CHA 18
Defences: FORT 12 REF 14 WILL 15
Traits: Deep Reserves, Persistent
Skills: Medicine +4, Science +4, Initiative +7, Investigation +8
Talent Groups: Resistance, Elemental, Biological, Vandalism, Recovery, Physics
Plasmids (7/7): Insect Swarm (rank 2/3 points), Telekinesis (rank 2/2 points), Hypnotize (rank 2/2 points)
Gene Tonics (3/3): Eve Saver (rank 2/3 points),
Techs (4/4): Safecracker (rank 2/2 points), Vending Expert (Rank 2/2 points)

Bereft
HP 36 Eve 5 Melee Attack +2/+2, Ranged Attack +5/+6
Stats: STR 10 DEX 18 CON 18 INT 16 WIS 12 CHA 8
Defences: FORT 15 REF 15 WILL 12
Traits: Deep Reserves, Precise, Heavy Hitter
Skills: Medicine +7, Science +7, Initiative +8, Technician +7, Engineering +7, Endurance +8, Stealth +8, Acrobatics +8, Perception +5

Level 5

Spoiler

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Plasmid
HP 47 Eve 42 (+10) Melee Attack +5/-1, Ranged Attack +10/+4 Move 6 DR1/
Stats: STR 8 DEX 18 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 20 CHA 20
Defences: FORT 16 REF 21 WILL 20
Traits: Deep Reserves, Persistent, Evasive, Precise
Skills: Medicine +8, Science +8, Initiative +12, Investigation +13
Talent Groups: Resistance, Elemental+, Biological, Vandalism, Recovery, Physics, Upgrading
Plasmids (21/21): Insect Swarm (rank 4/7 points), Telekinesis (rank 4/7 points), Hypnotize (rank 4/7 points),
Gene Tonics (11/11): Eve Saver (rank 4/7 points), Armoured Shell (rank 2/2 points), Elemental Retort (rank 2/2 points)
Techs (14/14): Safecracker (rank 4/7 points), Vending Expert (Rank 4/7 points)

Bereft
HP 80 Eve 25 Melee Attack +7/+4, Ranged Attack +11/+8 Move 6 DR 4/
Stats: STR 14 DEX 22 CON 22 INT 16 WIS 12 CHA 8
Defences: FORT 25 REF 21 WILL 20
Traits: Deep Reserves, Precise, Heavy Hitter, Hard to kill+, Resilient+
Skills: Medicine +11, Science +11, Initiative +14, Technician +11, Engineering +11, Endurance +14, Stealth +14, Acrobatics +14, Perception +9

Level 10

Spoiler

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Plasmid
HP 116 Eve 92 (+25) Melee Attack +10/-1, Ranged Attack +16/+5 Move 6 DR4/-
Stats: STR 8 DEX 21 CON 12 INT 10 WIS 23 CHA 23
Defences: FORT 23 REF 27 WILL 28
Traits: Deep Reserves, Persistent, Evasive, Precise, Hard to kill, Resilient, Tough
Skills: Medicine +13, Science +13, Initiative +18, Investigation +19
Talent Groups: Resistance, Elemental+, Biological, Vandalism, Recovery, Physics+, Upgrading, Security
Plasmids (46/46): Insect Swarm (rank 5/13 points), Telekinesis (rank 5/12 points), Hypnotize (rank 5/13 points), Scout (rank 3/4 points)
Gene Tonics (21/21): Eve Saver (rank 5/11 points), Armoured Shell (rank 3/4 points), Elemental Retort (rank 3/4 points), Bloodlust (rank 2/2 points)
Techs (25/25): Safecracker (rank 5/11 points), Vending Expert (Rank 5/11 points), customization (rank 2/2 points), Elemental Effect (rank 1/1 points)

Bereft
HP 146 Eve 45 Melee Attack +16/+8, Ranged Attack +20/+12 Move 7 DR 6/
Stats: STR 19 DEX 27 CON 27 INT 16 WIS 12 CHA 8
Defences: FORT 34 REF 28 WILL 27
Traits: Deep Reserves, Precise+, Heavy Hitter+, Hard to kill++, Resilient++
Skills: Medicine +16, Science +16, Initiative +21, Technician +16, Engineering +16, Endurance +21, Stealth +21, Acrobatics +21, Perception +14

A few quick characters I made. Note that the level ten plasmid user can reasonably safely elevate a plasmid to rank 6 via overload, and that at just about all levels, the Plasmid user can somewhat reliably dominate the Bereft using Hypnosis and auto-win.
Also, the Bereft will constantly burn through money while fighting, while the Plasmid user can easily stock up and via tech talents acquire more money than the Bereft would.

I would strongly advise allowing Bereft to 'emulate' Some tech/tonic effects based on skill checks, as that is the only way I can see the bereft holding it's own as an equal.

Also note the Plasmid used should be able to use eve with reckless abandon.

Looking at this, the best bereft build would likely focus on Dex, Con, and Will, so Saves, Defenses, and ranged attacks are really powerful. Which sadly means throwing money into combat.

On the other hand, Plasmid users want to focus on Wis and Cha, to avoid adam insanity and maximize Eve.

Finally, what kinda of sick item does one invent with Glue and an empty hypo?

P.S.Eve dice bit mentions something about exploding dice, which isn't mentioned elsewhere, and the launch condition mentions something about bojects.
I'd also restructure the OP's a bit, actually building those characters took a lot of scrolling back and forth to find stuff.

[DrewVolker]

I must say, I am loving this.
I have only had a chance to skim over the basics so far, but I am already loving the system you laid out and I like how it fits the bioshock feel.

You should make a character option for playing a big daddy :) I would wanna play one if I ever had the chance to play a game using this system, haha.

So far though, Really good work.

[Chronologist]

I have been busy the last week, and have only bits and pieces of time for the next few days. I'll do what I can to update the document and respond to everyone's comments.

Jojolagger, that's a good break-down of the two character builds. I've been considering a replacement for the Bereft's lack of Mastery abilities. I'm considering granting them the following ability:

Hardcore: Whether through physical improvements, precision, or simply brute strength, a Bereft can inflict more damage with all of their weapons. At 3rd level, they roll twice as many dice of damage for their melee and ranged weapons, before adding additional damage from special ammo types. For example, a level 4 Bereft with a Medium Axe instead inflicts 2d10 base damage with the weapon, when using a Pistol with +1d6 Armor Piercing, they deal 2d6 + Dexterity modifier normal damage, plus 1d6 damage to heavily armored targets. At 6th level, the Bereft instead rolls three times the dice. At 9th level, they instead roll four times the dice.


The Exploding Dice rule wasn't fleshed out or tested, but it states that any dice other than dice granted from EVE points spent are "exploding", i.e. if you roll the maximum value on the die, you roll it again and add that value to the result, ad infinitum. This is to replicate how sometimes even a stray pistol shot can blow a character's head clean off. It makes fighting more deadly and unpredictable.


Hurled objects usually deal a base 1d6 damage + Strength modifier (dexterity modifier for smaller, sharper objects like knives). Objects propelled by powers like Sonic Boom, Telekinesis, and Cyclone Trap deal 1d6 damage for every 10 feet traveled to whatever they first hit, and the object takes the same damage in return, potentially breaking it.


By the way... these rules cover the first 10 levels of play. There are another 5-10 levels coming, where you choose your Advanced Class. Options include such things as Houdini Splicer, Sentry Master, and yes, Big Daddy. These classes present additional unique powers like Teleport, Sentry Swarm, and Drill Charge, and improve specific talents at specific levels.

Levels 1-10 prove you can survive Rapture. Levels 11 onwards are to see if you can SAVE it.


More updates as soon as I have them. The plan is for:
1) NPC rules, in a clear way so that DMs can understand.
2) Hazard system, with easy tables for the DM to roll on
3) General fixes, like making players actively roll their Defenses, added Bereft benefits, and fleshed out descriptions of Talents
4) Completed items and crafting system
5) Advanced classes
6) Clean-up

I'll try and get one of these every few days, and check the thread a few times a day for comments and suggestions.

Thank you all for your support!

[DrewVolker]

By the way... these rules cover the first 10 levels of play. There are another 5-10 levels coming, where you choose your Advanced Class. Options include such things as Houdini Splicer, Sentry Master, and yes, Big Daddy. These classes present additional unique powers like Teleport, Sentry Swarm, and Drill Charge, and improve specific talents at specific levels.

Woohoo, you made my night when I read that.
I am so looking forward to seeing this done and trying to talk my favorite rp group into playing.
Seriously, I support this 186%!

[radmelon]

On that note, how will the little and big sisters be represented in the game? Will they be playable, or NPC-only monsters, or what?

[Chronologist]

Little Sisters will not be playable. Finding one and defeating its Big Daddy allows you to harvest it for Adam, should you desire (and if you're fighting Big Daddies, which are never hostile unless you attack first, that's expected). The Adam they hold is essentially the XP you'd get from defeating the Big Daddy. Higher CR ones protect Little Sisters that have more Adam.

Big Sisters only appeared in Rapture years later, and since the game's default setting is 1969, one year before the first game, they haven't been created yet. I'll write up their stats in case the DM wants to run the game during Bioshock 2, but expect them to be CR 8 Solo enemies at a minimum. There will also be an advanced class to play as one, exclusive to that setting.

I have no plans to create a Delta Big Daddy enemy or advanced class, honestly the idea of Big Daddies throwing around Plasmids was pretty silly in Bioshock 2. However, there WILL be an advanced class called the Jack, essentially gaining access to all of the Basic and Advanced talent groups and serving as a jack-of-all-trades character with no particular specialty, just like Jack from Bioshock.

I'll write up some DMing guidelines for running the game in the Bioshock 2 years, but it's a significantly more inhospitable and combat-focused setting that Before the Fall. At that point, the players can still try and save Rapture before it's too late.

More as soon as I have a free moment.

[Chronologist]

NPC rules have been posted. They are basic enough for the GM to make whatever creature is required, but I plan on writing up examples of two Minion type enemies, two Standard enemies, one Elite enemy, and one Solo enemy for each Challenge rating from 1 to 10.

The focus is on quick, easy combat rather than complexity. I managed to write up a few level 1-3 Splicers in about three minutes each, and a level 5 Solo Big Daddy (Drill-type) in about 5 minutes. It had something in the range of 230 hit points, and hit like a rocket-propelled truck.



Hazards will take a while, simply due to the sheer volume of Hazards needed. I'm aiming for 30 for each category, aiming for 6-10 categories in total. Here are a few so far, more would work as well.

Environmental (Pipes burst, ceiling caves in, floor falls out form under you)
Social (ally starts to lose faith in group, the next group of survivors is one step lower in attitude, )
Physical (extra damage taken on the next blow, sprained ankles)
Mental (Hallucinations, delusions, headaches)
Technical (Doors jam shut, rooms are unexpectedly locked< booby-traps)
Talent (Plasmids become temporarily unstable, forced Overload, temporary mutations)
Equipment (weapon breaks, gun jams, tech power stops working)

Current mechanics are that the DM determines the most relevant kind of Hazard, rolls 1d10 (minor screw-ups) or 1d20 (major screw-ups) and adds the character's level. The lower the result, the less of a problem the Hazard turns out to be. Sometimes a pipe you're climbing up snaps off. Sometimes a vending machine dispenses half a dozen live grenades at your feet. I find the truly random keeps the players, and DM, on their toes.

General mechanic is that each natural 1 generates a Hazard check. 2-6 means a Minor hazard (1d10), a 1 means a Major Hazard (1d20). Each time a Minor Hazard is gained without rolling a Major Hazard, the chance of rolling a Major Hazard increases by 1 (i.e. 1-2, 1-3, 1-4, up to 1-5 at most).

I'm considering adding a mechanic for a way to compensate a player for gaining a Hazard.

I feel kinda scatter-brained. I hope this makes sense.

Any thoughts? And thanks for your support, everyone.

[radmelon]

I like the npc rules. Simple, yet contains all that is needed for gameplay. I'll take a closer look at them later, but my first impression is good.

[Chronologist]

Sorry for the delay with Hazards, but I've been fairly busy playtesting D&D 5th Edition (it's not that good, honestly. Too old-school in tone and scope). Now that I'm taking a hiatus from that system, I can concentrate on B:DW.

I will upload the tentative Hazard rules as soon as possible.

Thank you all for your continued support!

[radmelon]

Don't worry, a delay between updates is entirely reasonable, even if only to prevent burnout, which happens all too often. I myself think that 5th edition looks okay, a reasonable apology for 4e. I've been playtesting it with Jojolagger and others, and while we haven't done much, it seems workable.

On a more relavent note, if you need ideas for hazards, I'm sure that myself and other watchers could easily supply a good deal of them.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

I'm liking what I've seen so far! Once I'm finished reading, I might say more, but as of now, I had a question you might perhaps clear up: What is "P.E.A.C.H."? I've seen it a lot, and I'm curious what it means...