OD&D Can Do Anything - House Rules for Zoopunk [02/12/18 update]
02/12/18 update: slightly changed the rules of Psi Powers acquisition.
Zoopunk is my new thing! It's OD&D with Anthropomorphic Animals and Cyberpunk strapped onto it. Here's what my House Rules document look like at the time.
Characters
Soldiers (fighting-men) are trained in the use of all arms and armors.
They can also attack a number of normal-types (less than 3HD) equal to their level in a round.
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Strength.
Hackers (clerics) are limited to one-handed weaponry and cannot wear combat armor.
In addition to being skilled thieves and the ability to remotely hack simple systems (guns, cars, etc.)
they can breach into and assume control of complex security systems when using their Cyberdecks and netrunning for a full turn. The Turn Undead table is used in these cases, with the consequences for failure being based on the Security System Rating - Skeleton is the lowest (1 - 6 damage) and Vampire is the highest (level drain).
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Intelligence.
Psychics (magic-users) have the same limitations as Hackers and cannot wear helmets when using their powers. Can use one Psi Power per level each day. Roll under CHA for each of the eight powers at character generation to determine whether they are mastered, then roll for one chosen power every time a new level is gained.
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Charisma.
Shabiya (elves) are the elite special forces of the Ecumenic Hegemony: highly-trained Psi Warriors conditioned to serve as spies, diplomats and assassins. They get all the benefits of both the Soldier and Psychic class, do +1 damage when using swords against non-Hegemony foes, and have heightened senses due to their conditioning. The main downside of this type is that PC Shabiyas are the ones who broke the subtle mind control program that the Hegemony uses on their soldiers, making them prime targets for assassination attempts and so on. They also get the usual level limits (Soldier 4, Psychic 8).
Starting Experience for each Class as usual, Starting Cash is the mean between the two XP totals.
Super Soldiers (hobbits) are bio-engineered stormtroopers of the TW Corporate Macro-State.
Their special breeding, conditioning and training grants them deadly accuracy with missiles (+2 to hit) and a higher resilience than baseline humanity (save as four levels higher). Being mutants, they suffer from a shortened lifespan and little potential for growth over the years (max level is Soldier 4).
Kin
All Mammals, Reptiles and Avians (although most uplifted birds can only glide, not fly) and Arachnids are potential choices. There are no known uplifted Insects, and most marine life is also dumb as rocks. Uplifted animals behave like humans, treat each others as such, and consider non-uplifted animals as we consider other animals. Pet names are valid names, although not as common as Human names.
Use common sense for special abilities: cats have nyctalopy, pachiderms have natural armor and weapons, etc.
Origins
All players must pick a country of origin for their character, which will influence their culture and world-view.
PAC - Pan-Asian Confederacy - One Step Ahead
Capital: Shanghai
National Language: Mandarin
Territory: China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe (Ex-USSR) and most of the Pacific Islands
• Transhumanist Libertarian Neo-Multiculturalist Autocracy
• World leaders in Cybernetics and AI research
• Colony on Luna (the earth's Moon) housing the world's first Super AI, "Buddha Dharma"
• Characters from the PAC get free cybernetics at chargen
JIP - Japanese Imperial Protectorate - Towards New Suns
Capital: Edo (formerly Tokyo)
National Language: Japan
Territory: Japan, both Koreas and all non-PAC asian countries
• Isolationnist Empire with a mix of feudal japan Bushido and modern "Zaibatsu" corporate culture
• World leaders in Robotics, Heavy Industry and Aeronautics
• Colonies on Mars
• Characters from the JIP get [undefined at the time of this article]
EH - Ecumenic Hegemony - One Kin
Capital: Jerusalem
National Language: Arabic
Territory: Northern Africa, Middle East, Vatican City, Varanasi, Bodhgaya
• Autocratic Theocracy based around a multi-religions dogma aiming for World Peace in Unity
• Only major world power having forbidden both Cybernetics and AI research
• World leaders in Psionnics and Meta-Psionnic Sciences. Effectively "invented" the discipline
• Through Psi Powers, excel at both Diplomacy and Intelligence, despite their technological lag
• Characters from the EH may be Shabiyas
TAA - Trans-Atlantic Alliance - Remember Tomorrow
Capital: Berlin
National Language: German
Territory: Western Europe, North America
• Fascist Bureaucracy under a thin veneer of Democracy, Neo-Patriotic Ultra-Conservative Culture
• Holding the rest of the world hostage via Death Satellite Odin and huge nuclear stockpiles
• Economy based on selling weapons to everyone around them and letting them fight each others
• Characters from the TAA get [undefined at the time of this article]
TW - Third World - We Are Now
Capital: Buenos Aires
National Language: Spanish
Territory: South America, Central and South Africa
• Criminal Plutocracy evolved from 21st C. Governments infiltrated by Drug Cartels
• Achieved major power status through holding massive amounts of primary ressources
• Masters of Retrogenics, Bio-Engineering and Cloning
• Cultures originating from the countries that compose this Corporate Macro-State have survived surprisingly well compared to others around the world. A strong sense of cultural identity still remains in these areas of the world, and is often the cause of attempted revolts against the corrupt state
• Characters from TW may be Bio-Engineered Super Soldiers
Ability Scores
• Prime Requisites no longer provide a bonus on XP acquisition. Instead, they improve or lower the Starting Experience that determines a new PC's level, as per Jeff Rients' Table:
• Wisdom is now called Education to reflect the setting's modernity.
• Constitution's "Chance to Withstand Adversity" percentile score [(CON-3)x10] will be used to determine whether a character that reaches 0 hit points dies on the spot or is "merely" dying and in need of medical attention. A roll of 100 is always a failure.
• Charisma now determines # of Contacts instead of Max # of Unusual Retainers.
Contacts are friendly NPC that will try to indirectly help the PC during their operations - they might also find themselves in need of help, provide additional missions or ask for things in return for their continued support.
Languages
The lingua franca of the world is still English. In addition, characters will be able to speak their country of origin's main language, and any additional languages as determined by Intelligence (INT-10=# of Bonus Languages, ignore negatives). If all languages are not selected at character generation, additional languages may be determined to be known by rolling 5+ on a d6 when first encountered in game, until all known languages are established.
Base Equipment & Cost
This will be revised from my initial draft based on Zaibatsu and Cyberpunk 2020 as I need to re-think price values and the general Cr (Credits) economy of the setting. For now, the main interesting points are that in addition to standard armor (Kevlar, Flak, Combat Armor), helmets and ballistic shields (all behaving as in OD&D except for the names and "skin" changes), Kinetic Shields are available as small palm-sized devices that generate an electromagnetic field around someone's body granting immunity to modern firearms (but not archaic weaponry or bows/crossbows). This is justified by the rule of cool, but also because ID-locked weapons and FOF technology can be hacked remotely.
Encumbrance
Isn't strictly tracked. When in doubt, start counting what you're carrying out loud and if anyone cringes, it's too much (that's another great Jeff Rients rule!). Weapons need to be reloaded after each fight, and low attack rolls might also warrant extra ammo costs (reloads).
Psi Powers
Are taken from Carcosa (although the first session used standard MUs rules):
• Psychics can use any power safely [level] times per day. Any further use causes 1 - 6 damage.
• At character generation, roll d10 for a first power, then roll d20 under CHA to determine whether a second power is known (with a d10 again) and keep doing so until you fail a CHA roll. Whenever a roll indicates a power that is already mastered, no new power is learned.
• Every time a Psychic or Shabiya gains a level, get an additional d20 roll under CHA to get a random power.
Clairaudience: Psychic can hear through solid obstacles and despite ambiant noise. 20m, 2 hours
Clairvoyance: Psychic can see through solid obstacles and despite visual hindrances. 20m, 2 hours
ESP: Psychic can read the thoughts of others, but not through walls or obstacles. 20m, 2 hours
Mental Blast: Causes 3d6 damage. Other Psychics can save to negate all damage. Sight, Instant
Mind Control: Target falls under the Psychics's influence, save to negate the effect and the Psi must focus solely on controlling the target. 40m range, lasts until focus is broken
Precognition: Allows the user to tell what will happen only to himself if he were to do something. No more than 1 minute into the future can be seen.
Telekinesis: Allows the user to move objects using mental power alone. The amount of weight he can lift and move is 10 kilograms per level
Telepathy: Direct mind-to-mind communication with intelligent beings, transcending language.
Pyrokinesis: Allows the user to start, extinguish, control and alter fires within sight.
The effect's intensity grows as the Psychic grows in power (experience level).
Teleportation: Allows the user to "jump" somewhere within sight instantaneously. Jumping multiple times in a row is nauseating and a Save vs. Poison must be passed to avoid being disoriented and helpless after doing so. The user brings everything he touches that isn't bolted down with him when jumping.
Zoopunk is my new thing! It's OD&D with Anthropomorphic Animals and Cyberpunk strapped onto it. Here's what my House Rules document look like at the time.
Characters
Soldiers (fighting-men) are trained in the use of all arms and armors.
They can also attack a number of normal-types (less than 3HD) equal to their level in a round.
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Strength.
Hackers (clerics) are limited to one-handed weaponry and cannot wear combat armor.
In addition to being skilled thieves and the ability to remotely hack simple systems (guns, cars, etc.)
they can breach into and assume control of complex security systems when using their Cyberdecks and netrunning for a full turn. The Turn Undead table is used in these cases, with the consequences for failure being based on the Security System Rating - Skeleton is the lowest (1 - 6 damage) and Vampire is the highest (level drain).
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Intelligence.
Psychics (magic-users) have the same limitations as Hackers and cannot wear helmets when using their powers. Can use one Psi Power per level each day. Roll under CHA for each of the eight powers at character generation to determine whether they are mastered, then roll for one chosen power every time a new level is gained.
Starting Cash & Experience is based on Charisma.
Shabiya (elves) are the elite special forces of the Ecumenic Hegemony: highly-trained Psi Warriors conditioned to serve as spies, diplomats and assassins. They get all the benefits of both the Soldier and Psychic class, do +1 damage when using swords against non-Hegemony foes, and have heightened senses due to their conditioning. The main downside of this type is that PC Shabiyas are the ones who broke the subtle mind control program that the Hegemony uses on their soldiers, making them prime targets for assassination attempts and so on. They also get the usual level limits (Soldier 4, Psychic 8).
Starting Experience for each Class as usual, Starting Cash is the mean between the two XP totals.
Super Soldiers (hobbits) are bio-engineered stormtroopers of the TW Corporate Macro-State.
Their special breeding, conditioning and training grants them deadly accuracy with missiles (+2 to hit) and a higher resilience than baseline humanity (save as four levels higher). Being mutants, they suffer from a shortened lifespan and little potential for growth over the years (max level is Soldier 4).
Kin
All Mammals, Reptiles and Avians (although most uplifted birds can only glide, not fly) and Arachnids are potential choices. There are no known uplifted Insects, and most marine life is also dumb as rocks. Uplifted animals behave like humans, treat each others as such, and consider non-uplifted animals as we consider other animals. Pet names are valid names, although not as common as Human names.
Use common sense for special abilities: cats have nyctalopy, pachiderms have natural armor and weapons, etc.
Origins
All players must pick a country of origin for their character, which will influence their culture and world-view.
PAC - Pan-Asian Confederacy - One Step Ahead
Capital: Shanghai
National Language: Mandarin
Territory: China, India, Russia, Eastern Europe (Ex-USSR) and most of the Pacific Islands
• Transhumanist Libertarian Neo-Multiculturalist Autocracy
• World leaders in Cybernetics and AI research
• Colony on Luna (the earth's Moon) housing the world's first Super AI, "Buddha Dharma"
• Characters from the PAC get free cybernetics at chargen
JIP - Japanese Imperial Protectorate - Towards New Suns
Capital: Edo (formerly Tokyo)
National Language: Japan
Territory: Japan, both Koreas and all non-PAC asian countries
• Isolationnist Empire with a mix of feudal japan Bushido and modern "Zaibatsu" corporate culture
• World leaders in Robotics, Heavy Industry and Aeronautics
• Colonies on Mars
• Characters from the JIP get [undefined at the time of this article]
EH - Ecumenic Hegemony - One Kin
Capital: Jerusalem
National Language: Arabic
Territory: Northern Africa, Middle East, Vatican City, Varanasi, Bodhgaya
• Autocratic Theocracy based around a multi-religions dogma aiming for World Peace in Unity
• Only major world power having forbidden both Cybernetics and AI research
• World leaders in Psionnics and Meta-Psionnic Sciences. Effectively "invented" the discipline
• Through Psi Powers, excel at both Diplomacy and Intelligence, despite their technological lag
• Characters from the EH may be Shabiyas
TAA - Trans-Atlantic Alliance - Remember Tomorrow
Capital: Berlin
National Language: German
Territory: Western Europe, North America
• Fascist Bureaucracy under a thin veneer of Democracy, Neo-Patriotic Ultra-Conservative Culture
• Holding the rest of the world hostage via Death Satellite Odin and huge nuclear stockpiles
• Economy based on selling weapons to everyone around them and letting them fight each others
• Characters from the TAA get [undefined at the time of this article]
TW - Third World - We Are Now
Capital: Buenos Aires
National Language: Spanish
Territory: South America, Central and South Africa
• Criminal Plutocracy evolved from 21st C. Governments infiltrated by Drug Cartels
• Achieved major power status through holding massive amounts of primary ressources
• Masters of Retrogenics, Bio-Engineering and Cloning
• Cultures originating from the countries that compose this Corporate Macro-State have survived surprisingly well compared to others around the world. A strong sense of cultural identity still remains in these areas of the world, and is often the cause of attempted revolts against the corrupt state
• Characters from TW may be Bio-Engineered Super Soldiers
Ability Scores
• Prime Requisites no longer provide a bonus on XP acquisition. Instead, they improve or lower the Starting Experience that determines a new PC's level, as per Jeff Rients' Table:
• Wisdom is now called Education to reflect the setting's modernity.
• Constitution's "Chance to Withstand Adversity" percentile score [(CON-3)x10] will be used to determine whether a character that reaches 0 hit points dies on the spot or is "merely" dying and in need of medical attention. A roll of 100 is always a failure.
• Charisma now determines # of Contacts instead of Max # of Unusual Retainers.
Contacts are friendly NPC that will try to indirectly help the PC during their operations - they might also find themselves in need of help, provide additional missions or ask for things in return for their continued support.
Languages
The lingua franca of the world is still English. In addition, characters will be able to speak their country of origin's main language, and any additional languages as determined by Intelligence (INT-10=# of Bonus Languages, ignore negatives). If all languages are not selected at character generation, additional languages may be determined to be known by rolling 5+ on a d6 when first encountered in game, until all known languages are established.
Base Equipment & Cost
This will be revised from my initial draft based on Zaibatsu and Cyberpunk 2020 as I need to re-think price values and the general Cr (Credits) economy of the setting. For now, the main interesting points are that in addition to standard armor (Kevlar, Flak, Combat Armor), helmets and ballistic shields (all behaving as in OD&D except for the names and "skin" changes), Kinetic Shields are available as small palm-sized devices that generate an electromagnetic field around someone's body granting immunity to modern firearms (but not archaic weaponry or bows/crossbows). This is justified by the rule of cool, but also because ID-locked weapons and FOF technology can be hacked remotely.
Encumbrance
Isn't strictly tracked. When in doubt, start counting what you're carrying out loud and if anyone cringes, it's too much (that's another great Jeff Rients rule!). Weapons need to be reloaded after each fight, and low attack rolls might also warrant extra ammo costs (reloads).
Psi Powers
Are taken from Carcosa (although the first session used standard MUs rules):
• Psychics can use any power safely [level] times per day. Any further use causes 1 - 6 damage.
• At character generation, roll d10 for a first power, then roll d20 under CHA to determine whether a second power is known (with a d10 again) and keep doing so until you fail a CHA roll. Whenever a roll indicates a power that is already mastered, no new power is learned.
• Every time a Psychic or Shabiya gains a level, get an additional d20 roll under CHA to get a random power.
Clairaudience: Psychic can hear through solid obstacles and despite ambiant noise. 20m, 2 hours
Clairvoyance: Psychic can see through solid obstacles and despite visual hindrances. 20m, 2 hours
ESP: Psychic can read the thoughts of others, but not through walls or obstacles. 20m, 2 hours
Mental Blast: Causes 3d6 damage. Other Psychics can save to negate all damage. Sight, Instant
Mind Control: Target falls under the Psychics's influence, save to negate the effect and the Psi must focus solely on controlling the target. 40m range, lasts until focus is broken
Precognition: Allows the user to tell what will happen only to himself if he were to do something. No more than 1 minute into the future can be seen.
Telekinesis: Allows the user to move objects using mental power alone. The amount of weight he can lift and move is 10 kilograms per level
Telepathy: Direct mind-to-mind communication with intelligent beings, transcending language.
Pyrokinesis: Allows the user to start, extinguish, control and alter fires within sight.
The effect's intensity grows as the Psychic grows in power (experience level).
Teleportation: Allows the user to "jump" somewhere within sight instantaneously. Jumping multiple times in a row is nauseating and a Save vs. Poison must be passed to avoid being disoriented and helpless after doing so. The user brings everything he touches that isn't bolted down with him when jumping.
What an elegant alteration of OD&D! I hope you keep feeding us posts about Zoopunk.
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